Arts
It’s contemporary and relevant to Lankans
The soft notes of a piano greet me as I walk into a practice session of the musical ‘Fun Home.’ This is soon followed by someone singing “I’m changing my major to Joan.”
The lyrics of the song, as I’m soon to find out describe an important memory of Alison Beschdel, on whose life ‘Fun Home’ is based. The musical written by Jeanine Tesori and Lisa Kron will be presented by StageLight&Magic from May 3 to 7 at the Lionel Wendt Theatre.
As the cast of ‘Fun Home’ pick up the tempo, Johann Peiris the Musical Director interrupts them to make a few changes. A few feet away from him, Sashane Perera, the Director paces, occasionally stopping to make a few observations before finally giving his feedback.
Sashane is known for his unique productions (Men Without Shadows, Lungs, Every Brilliant Thing). As we sit down for a chat, he explains that if he really wants to invest in a play, he has to like it first. Then he looks at it from the context of whether it’s relatable and if there is story to be told, which will appeal to Sri Lankn audiences.
Finally the play should also be a challenge and ‘Fun Home’ matched this criteria.
“This show in simple terms has kicked me in the rear. And it keeps doing it each time, because there is always a new element which you have to figure out,” he says with a chuckle. Sashane looks at this as a unique opportunity.
He explains that the themes of the musical are relevant in a Sri Lankan context. This is because anyone who watches it will relate to at least one aspect of it.Be it the relationship Alison has with her father, the connection she has with her family or what she goes through in life.
Some of us do not have the best relationships with our parents. And there are also times where we’d probably look back and realize that we are more like our mother or father, whether it’s for good reasons or bad. That’s why the play will resonate with many, Sashane believes. Alison the protagonist is searching for those answers.
“That’s the genius of the play as well, because they’ve really figured out how to relate a story, which is confined to one person but is also universal.”
Johann Peiris
Sashane Perera
According to Sashane, there are certain aspects of the play that appealed to him. First of all there’s the critical acclaim element to it and the fact that it’s won five Tony awards. “It is also probably one of the best musicals to come out in the last decade along with ‘Hamilton’ and ‘Book of Mormon’.”
Aside from this, ‘Fun Home’ is a memory play and if you look closely, there are instances where Alison goes back in time to different stages of her life. From an acting point of view, Sashane feels this is a difficult task to portray because sometimes one element is not related to the other in terms of the progression of events.
“It’s hard to build a character throughout the play because it’s not sequential, so when you perform it, it’s tougher.”
Johann joins us, remarking that as a music director he finds himself in a place where sometimes he’d see actors overcome with emotion at the first rehearsal, or realise how characterization brings new layers to the music. But at times he also finds himself being frustrated thinking, “how can the kids forget the words of a simple song?”
Aside from this, sometimes puberty hits just at the wrong time, affects the voices and you need to find alternates, he adds. However, Johann loves his role as the Musical Director for numerous reasons, the biggest of them stemming from the fact that he’s a strong feminist.
This is because both the musical and the graphic novel on which it’s based are “carved by creative women-geniuses, Lisa Kron and Jeanine Tesori and of course Alison Beschdel. The story is also told from the point of a woman and she is a lesbian,which appeals to my inner social and gender-conscious outlook,” he says.
Johann feels that as a team the writers have done well by creating their own language, whilst adapting a graphic novel to a musical. “It’s not just the atmospheric music (orchestrated by the un-sung hero John Clancy) or text-painting or creating a certain emotion, but it’s been an intellectual exercise for both myself and the director to understand the psychology and intent of the score.”
Fun Home: The cast at rehearsals (above and top). Pix by M.A. Pushpa Kumara
Some of the lyrics are simple and beautiful, but at the same time the delivery also implies “an ironic, almost sinister juxtaposition” he feels. Johann’s approach is to let the music speak for itself. He feels that the singers themselves are so talented and most of them have performed before, so he lets them bring out their own interpretation of the song.
As Johann together with Sashane prepare for the final run up to the show, they firmly believe that ‘Fun Home’ will certainly be an exciting musical that will also carry a much deeper message to its audience.
Tickets priced at Rs.3500, 3000, 2500, 1500 and balcony 800 and are available at the Lionel Wendt.
(Parental guidance is recommended).