Arts
‘Picket Republic’: Meeting the citizens we can all identify with
‘Picket Republic’ hopes to depict the protest culture in Sri Lanka through the travels of a young orphan from Sri Lanka who lands in an alternate reality and travels through the republic, learning of many issues along the way. While the play is written and directed by Ishtartha Wellaboda, Rajitha Hettiarachchi and Nishantha de Silva, the cast has contributed a lot to the final script and have lots of insight to share on the issues their characters deal with and what it teaches them.
Dmitri Gunatilaka as the charismatic politician with student leaders
Leeth Sinhage plays the role of the orphan boy who gets caught in a flood and lands in a parallel universe. “I find out about all these problems in the republic,” he says, explaining that his character travels with a group of people who help him out. There’s the lady tuk driver, the soldier and the prisoner. Dinoo Wickramage is the lady tuk driver – a forthright character who thinks on her feet. “She brings in the girl power aspect to the play,” says Dinoo, adding that her character ‘calls the shots’ within the group, while also having great depth in character.
Lakshitha Edirisinghe acts as the prison guard, a seemingly hardened man who takes a liking to the orphan and decides to help him. “I’m not a person who shows emotion but I feel bad for the boy,” explains Lakshitha. Hidaayath Hazeeer assumes the role of a prisoner, his character bringing in what could be perceived as the comic element, he explains. Hidaayath feels that each character in the group who help the young orphan can easily be found in daily life.
There are also the different protestors. Pasan Ranaweera plays the leader of the student union. He explains that the cast members who are part of this student union have made every effort to represent the behaviour of the typical student unions of Sri Lanka. “They’re always motivated by something happening around them either inside or outside the university,” explains Pasan.
Lithmal Jayawardena takes on the role of the leader of the racists. Lithmal attributes the direct nature of the play (and the cast) for his unabashed reference to his character as racist.“They feel threatened and what we realized while playing these roles is that their racism stems from fear,” he says, adding that the characterization isn’t overtly comic, something he notices in many other productions.
Sachi Gamage plays the leader of the porcelain people. “These are the kind of people who would attempt to solve issues using social media at a superficial level… We’re trying to be a part of an empathetic society but without actually contributing anything,” he says, explaining that he hopes people will learn how to genuinely help people.
“If you want to try and solve a problem you can’t solve it by posting about it on social media,” he says.
In the spotlight: Tasmin Anthonisz as one of the political leaders
There are also the politicians of the republic. Tasmin Anthonisz plays the role of a politician who’s in power in the republic. “I’m a bit of a control freak, and that’s putting it mildly, so my overarching goal is to have everything the way I see it,” she explains.
Dmitri Gunatilaka plays the role of a political leader who she describes as the exact opposite of Tasmin’s character. Her character is more charismatic and charming, while her policies are nationalist, she explains. Ishthartha explains that the two political leaders aim to portray how they are both interested only in their own agendas.
The characters bring out the roles different people play in the many protests which take place in Sri Lanka, and they hope that people will come and enjoy their play while learning something important about Sri Lanka’s protest culture. “Because it’s not set in Sri Lanka hopefully people will get a new perspective of protest culture,” says Pasan.
Picket Republic will be held on December 17 at 3.30 p.m., and on December 16 and 17 at 7.30 p.m. at the Lionel Wendt. Tickets are priced at Rs. 800, 1200, 1500, 2000, 2500 and 3000 and will be available at the venue.
On a journey of learning: Leeth Sinhage as the orphan meets everyday characters. Pix by Indika Handuwala