Bringing back the 80s with ‘Like You Like It’
Article pix and Magazine cover by Dilanjan Seneviratne.
Visakha Vidyalaya are bringing back the “Radical” and the “Tubular” musical adaptation of Shakespeare’s loved pastoral comedy “As you like it” with a “righteous” amount of the glamorous 80s with “Like You Like It.”
If you want to bust out your parachute pants, over the top hair and accessories “Like you Like It” is a must see on May 25 – 26 at the Bishop’s College Auditorium.
The musical mashup of John Hughes and the Bard is brought together by this energetic cast that guarantee a unique experience for the audience.
Taking place in 1985, Arden Mall is hosting a school dance –timid and clever Rosalind and varsity wrestler Orlando shy away from confronting each other with their true feelings. Enter three more couples, Rosalind’s web of lies and her alter ego “Corey” together with memorable 80s inspired show tunes, trciky situations and a lot of laughter.
Yalindee Ratnapala (17) will be taking on the chameleon role of Rosalind in the adaptation. She has performed in school adaptations of “Brothers Grimm Spectaculathon” in 2014 and in their crowning moment when emerging Director ChalanaWijesuirya took on his first directorial debut back in 2013 where Visakha Vidyalaya was placed first at the Inter-School Shakespeare Drama Competition for their play “As You Like It.” It was during this period that Yalindee who was 13 at the time had just entered into the drama circle. Yalindee who describes her portrayal of Rosalind Duke as “initially shy” says what she enjoys most about the role is the character development she gets to invest in. “You can really bring out the dynamics of Rosalind,” Yalindee says recalling her awe at watching old girl Zeithum Hakeem playing the role in 2013 and bagging the role of Best Actress as well. The usually extroverted Yalindee is controlling her outspoken nature to play an initially timid Rosalind who later expands her wings under her guise of “Corey” and conditions herself to channel her inner confidence to ultimately “Be a Little Wild” – one of the musical numbers Yalindee performs on the show.
Rolling up the sleeves to her varsityjacket to play hunky athlete and Rosalind’s love interest Orlando Bateman played by Sashini Mudalige is the oldest member of the cast at 20. She began acting by taking part three years ago at the Shakespeare drama competition, going on to compete in the 2015 and 2016 competitions and winning the Best Actress award for her portrayal of Romeo from another Shakespearean classic Romeo and Juliet in 2016. Apart from this Sashini has also taken part in ‘Brothers Grimm’ where she played a lead role. Masculine roles seem to be of second nature to Sashini and now now finds her latest role in a high school in 1985, playing the character of the school’s star wrestler, all- round golden boy – Orlando. Orlando and his brother Oliver are suffering from the loss of their parents who died in a car crash. Under his exterior Orlando hides the steady currents of confusion his parent’s loss brings making him question everything about his life – friends, dreams, and achievements. His older brother Oliver and he are constantly at ends with each other as they don’t know how to confront each other’s grief. Having harbored a crush for Rosalind for the past three years, Orlando – Sashini says, identifies Rosalind as “someone who relates to him on a different level.” Orlando’s ability to emotionally invest in Rosalind whilst being surrounded by the superficiality of the culture exposes the cleverness of the plotline. With Chalana’s interest in doing a musical really allowed the girls “to test our boundaries,” Sashini shares. “I’m not a singer or a dancer,” she giggles “I kept telling them I’d ruin the production,” but determined not to let her school or cast down and abiding to her mantra “Practise Practise Practise,” Sashini is ready to show the audience that anything is possible. With the motivation from fellow cast mates- most of whom are singers and choristers – Sashini says “she doesn’t need anything else when it comes to a push and shove,”. In portraying the role of Orlando Sashini simply puts herself in his shoes attempting to see the world from Orlando colouredlenses. “I simply embody the emotions and mannerism of any teenager” she says. “We still have cliques, we still loveand we still cry that’s what makes them really relatable raw teenagers” she adds.
Rosalind’s right hand and co-conspirator Celia Duke will be played by Ama Jayasinghe, a talented vocalist, who at 15 will be making her debut on stage.Ama describes her character as “the ultimate matchmaker”. Celia embodies all the qualities of an exceptional best friend described by Ama as a “sassy, kind, sweet girl with a bit of an attitude problem.” The character adds her own spice into the plotline taking on dual love interests – the geeky Touchstone and the senior hothead Oiver Bateman. Ama’s supportive cast mates refer to Ama as their “class therapist” always attentive to others problems making her the perfect fit for the supportive Celia.
The geeky stereotype Walter “Touchstone” James will be played by Theruni Indrapala (15). Theruni who has performed in the schools production of ‘Candide’ last year expresses her enthusiasm to return once again to stage. Theruni portrays Touchstone as someone “very open in their intentions and opinions, a fun and confident character”, she compares him to an almost similar interpretation of “Joey” from the much loved sitcom “Friends” as he’s devotion towards Celia and Rosalind – although things don’t initially work out to his romantic advantage – he becomes one of the most loyal characters on stage.
‘Like You Like it’ will take place on May 25 and 26 at the Bishop’s College Auditorium from 7.30 PM. Tickets are priced at Rs.750, Rs.1,000, Rs.1,500 and Rs.2,000 and are available at the venue and at the school gate.
Shehara Gunarathne (17)bagged her first role as Little Red Riding Hood in Visakha Vidyalaya’s 2014 production of ‘The Brothers Grimm Spectaculathon’ and now returns to stage filling in the shoes of the typical 80’s “mean girl”. Channeling her inner “Queen bee” Shehara describes her character Audrey Shepherd as privileged. “She wants popularity, believes that she has a lot to live up to and doesn’t get the admiration she deserves.” However on entering Arden Mall in Act Two Audrey goes through a transformation by singing an“intense rock number” titled “I Wanna Know Why” one verse in the song where Audrey laments her frustration over her superficial popularity with poignantly acknowledging “Everyone’s wants to be me but no one wants to be with me.” Revealing that inside her shallow exterior lies a “self-conscious girl.” “She’s completely insensitive towards others.” Shehara adds mentioning that Audrey brings most of the obstacles to the play and constantly changes the flow of the action of the plot. A catalyst for pushing characters away from each other but never really succeeding.
If the audience recall the Shepherd “Silvius” and the Shepherdess “Phoebe” the best-friend turned boyfriend cliché from “As You Like It” they will identify with the next two cast members.
Here “Like You Like It” takes on an interesting twist with a gender swap. For the show Danuki Perera will be playing the hopeless romantic, MTV influenced “Sylvie Feldman” and Siyum Thuyacontha takes on the role of movie buff and slightly confused “Phil Lipschitz”. Another couple added to the mix, this relationship breaks the stereotype of a happily ever after and instead explores the complications of unrequited affection and platonic love.
Playing the 19 year old antagonist Oliver Bateman, Orlando’s jealous older brother, is 17 year old SachiniWijewardane. She justifies Oliver’s jealouslyand he’s initially hotheaded and odious Behaviour in Act One as results of his competitive and comparative nature towards Orlando – the school’s golden boy. She describes Oliver as “Uptight in nature” drawing inspiration for her character from the pompous “Percy Weasley” from the Harry Potter franchise. Oliver’s transformation happens in Act Two Sachini elaborates, his affection for Celia softening him in nature and ultimately making him “find himself in the makeover” Sachini states. A coming of age cliché we all love to watch.
This united cast all ranging from ages 10 up are all musical newbies but through their hard work and dedication are excited to bring to light this wonderful, energetic new adaptation under the tutelage of their director ChalanaWijesuriya – a talented young creative who has taken the girls under his direction for the past four years. Although it’s a “new ballgame” as Yalindee shares for the girls the entire musical has “a rhythm you can’t forget” Danuki adds. The cast a significant portion who are gifted vocalists can’t wait to perform their adaptation in honour of Visakha Vidyalaya’s centenary year. ‘Like you like it’ will allow audiences to take home some memorable show tunes, a relatable plotline and a lost culture from this extraordinary musical cliff notes.