‘He Comes From Jaffna’ back on stage
Perhaps one of the most striking features of Sri Lanka, to the rest of the world is its multicultural society. It’s quite a beautiful thing to see people come together from all walks of life, to live in harmony. E.F.C. Ludowyk’s play ‘He comes from Jaffna’, directed by Jith Peiris, despite being a comedy, has always carried with it a deeper message of a united community.
The first production of ‘He Comes from Jaffna’: Cast members and director Jith (fourth from right) pose for a picture with President Premadasa
The production was first staged by Jith more than twenty years ago and saw successful runs both in Colombo and outstation. Since then Jith has done several reruns of it over the years, the last being in 2013. The vintage production will be staged once again on February 15, 16 and 17 starting at 7.30 pm at the Lionel Wendt theatre.
“I want the newer generations to be aware of the past and hope in a small way that we could contribute to cement relations between our communities,” Jith tells us as we sit down for a chat at his home in wardplace. A record player softly plays in the background as we walk in. Jith sits in his study, surrounded by his collection of books and a beaming smile on his face.
He tells us the intention behind reviving this play is because it’s very relevant to the present day. It represents that once upon a time, Sri Lankans accepted a multicultural society in the best sense. “Every community could occasionally make jokes at each other’s expense, and no one would take offence.” But of course times changed and the people with it. Jith finds, “surprisingly” that the attitudes and approach of today’s youth are different and the communities mix much more.
We talk about how Jith came about to directing the play to which he tells us, the request had come from the late President Ranasinghe Premadasa, who was himself a fan of the production. We talk about how Jith came about to directing the play to which he tells us, the request had come from the late President Ranasinghe Premadasa, who was himself a fan of the production.
He had met Jith at a function and had asked him why he hadn’t done the play. The reply that followed was that despite making several trips to the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA), Jith could never get the script.“You do the play and I’ll look after the rest, he told me,” Jith says.
At 7.15 am the following morning, Jith had the President on call. Profusely apologizing for ringing him up so early, the president excitedly told him, he had managed to acquire the script. He had sent the Presidential Security Division over to the YMCA who had, (together with the staff) managed to find the script in the library.
The President helped him to organize everything within a short period. As things progressed, one day the President had rung up Jith and had asked him, if he (Jith) could include the then Attorney General, Sunil De Silva in the play. “Now Jith I’m going to ask you something. But only do so at your discretion. Please don’t think I’m forcing you,” he said. He added that the Attorney General was too shy to ask Jith himself.
Jith Peiris
This was how Mr. De Silva had become a member of the cast. Sooner, we are shown a picture of the original cast together with the then President Ranasinghe himself. Describing the present to be the “evening of his theatre journey,” Jith tells us he had originally planned to stage the renowned play ‘Well Mudaliyar’ once again. However, this time he was approached by the Old boys association of St Thomas’ College Mount Lavinia, who had managed to convince him to stage ‘He comes from Jaffna’ once again.
The cast this time around features Anuruddha Fernando, Hans Billimoria, Swasha Malalasekera, Danu Innasithamby, Biman Wimalaratne, Michael Holsinger, Saranie Wijesinghe, Kovindu De Seram and Dilushka De Mel.
Jith adds the cast also brings their own vibrant touch to the production and have adapted to the roles with ease. Especially when it comes to the ‘father’ in the play, Jith explains the actor has to be dominating and should also have a great stage presence. All of which Anuruddha has mastered. Both he and the ‘brother in law’ in the play, portrayed by Hans share an extremely good repo up on stage.
Tickets for the play are priced at 3000, 2000, 1500, 1000 and 650 (Balcony) and are available at the Wendt.