M.A.D night at the Wendt
Promising young playwright Dhisal Kapuge brought his dark comedy M.A.D: Murder at Dharmarama Road to the seasoned stage of the Lionel Wendt in Colombo recently. Presented by Gateway College Kandy and its students, the play had its maiden production in the hill city, and owing to the overwhelming positive response by the audience, bagged its place in Colombo to take the stage for a second time.
Murder At Dharmarama Road, was a timely and well thought out trilingual production, delivered by a cast that made the story both memorable and moving. The story starts with the death of Sachin Siriwardana, the “nice guy” whose damning vice is undoubtedly his hatred towards the Muslim community.
The detective investigating was the career balancing mum; Nabeela Hanaffi, portrayed by Suha Hamza, who battles male perspectives of how she should stay at home and do her duty as mother and wife, as opposed to be exposed to what Sri Lankan society considers an “inappropriate” profession for a Muslim female. She rallies the suspects: The Wife, The Neighbour, The Best Friend, The Maid, The Boss and the Peon. The play took the audience on a riveting journey filled with mystery that held the attention of all to the very last moment of uncovering the perpetrator, which came as its own unpredictable shock, a rare asset to the predictable murder mystery theme we have all seen through the years.
Dhisal continued to stay true to his signature of adding rock music with a touch of jazz to enliven the moments of the story, using the music to jump back and forth between the flashbacks of each of the suspect’s stories during the day of the murder, gave a humorous twist to the overall seriousness of the play.
M.A.D was bold in its approach to what society considers topics best not discussed in public: racism and stereotypes , sexism, body shaming, fragile relationships in the modern age, loyalty, domestic violence, importance of gossip in our society and most intriguingly, how domestic workers are treated and how they are perceived as less educated and inferior, disregarding their circumstances.
It also touched on the attitudes of the Police, where most consider crime as an inconvenience to their personal plans. Through this, the play hit all the right notes that it so rightly should.
Dhisal and the cast deserve applause for their excellent delivery and how in tune they were with their characters, which was attributed to Dhisal’s flair for method acting. It was interesting that the most highly racially stereotyped character of the play: Nafaz Marzook, was portrayed by Santhush Bandara, who explained that he had to learn how to speak Tamil for the lengthy Tamil conversations in scenes and connect with his Muslim friends, that made him sensitive to the plight of the Muslim community in the country and step out of his role as part of the majority.
Pictures courtesy Ushan Malshika/ Kandy Zone
The audience favourite was undoubtedly The Peon, Freddie Selvanadan from Jaffna, deftly portrayed by the talented young actor: Rishigaran Nagendran.
His characterization of the quirks and dialect of the “typical” Jaffna resident, serving as the comic relief truly deserved applause. The play did end as a tragedy, but it was more towards the murderer, revealed to be the severely ill- treated timid Maid: Deepthi, that the sympathy was due to, rather than the victim. It was a sombre end to a brilliant play, leaving the audience with the grave realisation of how it is the most victimized that often pay the ultimate price and is further crushed by the unfair rules of society.
The cast was unanimous in their opinion that their characters had opened their eyes to what it means to be a minority in Sri Lanka, and how they had struggled between being able to relate to the situations and not being able connect with it, but most importantly stressed that it was a learning experience to not to take anyone for granted.
As school students who are still learning about life and society, the play had given them an eye opener to the harsh realities of a traditional society that had its fair share of vices, which is an important lesson that all young adults should learn, without being shielded to the truth.
Following the success of ‘Murder at Dharmarama Road’, and the talent behind it, Dhisal Kapuge has proved himself as a playwright and director that will definitely make his mark in the theatre scene, and shows how young blood can make a difference and get the attention of both the young and the old. Surely, art that seeks to change all that is harmful in society is what is needed, especially in this day and age.
In that light, kudos to ‘Murder at Dharmarama Road!’
