Arts
Living in a familiar land of picketocracy
A young Sri Lankan orphan gets caught in a flood and lands in an alternate reality – a ‘picketocracy’ where the country runs on picketing. He travels through the country with the help of a prisoner, a prison guard and a lady tuk driver and sees the many issues facing people. There is the student union discontented with the standard of education and facilities, the leader of a racist group fighting to annihilate other races, the porcelain people who are armchair protesters taking up the latest trending cause and the two political leaders. One characterised by her liberal values, but also a control freak who wants things exactly so, while the other one has nationalist policies but is more charismatic – both interested in furthering their own personal goals.
The cast at rehearsals. Pic by Indika Handuwala
Do these issues sound familiar? The cast of ‘Picket Republic’ hope that their play will explore the issues surrounding the protest culture in Sri Lanka through comedy.
The play is written and directed by Ishtartha Wellaboda, Rajitha Hettiarachchi and Nishantha de Silva. “The country is a symbol for Sri Lanka,” says Ishtartha. There’s a lot of mirroring of issues between that country and our country, he says.
The directors explain that they were inspired by the Kuliyapitiya incident (and so many other issues in 2016), where a child was refused education at a school in Kuliyapitiya because it was rumored that one of his parents was HIV positive – an issue which was sensationalized, leading to others protesting without looking for solutions, they feel.
“The play has a series of layers which try to depict individuals and their struggles within the country and how different these struggles are and how each struggle is manifested in the public sphere,” says Rajitha. The play is bilingual, and the issues will be brought out through comedy. “The idea is for people to have fun and enjoy themselves but to also think a little bit,” says Nishantha.
“Picket Republic” will be held on December 16 and 17 at the Lionel Wendt. Tickets will be available from December 7.