A mythical adventure that aims to bridge gender gaps
Come along on a magical adventure as spirited heroine Maya attempts to restore the balance of her beloved homeland. Witness her journey as she fights to undo the chaos into which a conqueror known as The Prince invades their land subjecting the spirits and people of ‘O’ at the Lionel Wendt from Sept. 6-8.
The cast of Maya Magazine cover and pix courtesy Deshan Tennekoon
Following a workshop with Joel Reuben Ganz who worked with the Mind Adventures team on Movement and Aesthetic theatre earlier this year, a collaborative effort together with director/writer, Tracy Holsinger and the cast, led to the creation of ‘Maya’.
Maya is the work of devised theatre where the script comes to life through a series of improvisations and collaborations.
The Mirror Magazine had the chance to chat with the Mind Adventures ensemble about their respective roles in the production.
Shala Amarasuriya takes the lead, as she plays the role of Maya. In Shala’s words, Maya is “childish,stubborn, fearless and strong.” As audiences get to witness the journey of Maya growing up and taking on the responsibility of saving the people of ‘O’ Shala admits that the strength of the character she plays is what she enjoys most about her role. “Maya is different to my personality, but I think her fighting spirit and her response to seeing someone in danger is something very similar to what we share. I don’t care about the consequences at that time regardless of what happens,” says Shala.
“I play Nambi one of the women who belong to the people of ‘O’. She has a bit of a spiritual role and she is the one who takes Maya under her wing and is sort of her maternal figure,” says Tehani Chitty. While an unfamiliar character for Tehani, she enjoys, however, to be able to tackle something that is new to her. She tells us that it is through physicality and movement that she attempts to understand the character she plays.
Tracy Jayasinghe plays Queen Devi, the ruler of ‘O’ who is captured and imprisoned over a period of time. It is her capture that sets in motion the quest or undertaking for Maya and Nambi. Like many of the cast, Tracy will also be playing multiple background roles. “What is interesting for me – is that without just playing the Queen, having to balance out the different roles and being able to switch in between and the ability to go back and forth,” she says.
The weaving of the different characters in the course of the story and finding the physicality for the different characters she plays is something that she absolutely enjoys she tells the Mirror.
The Prince who conquers the land of ‘O’ is played by Hidaayath Hazeer. “It’s a whole new approach, from characterising to building a story. Even what we decide to say, we have to keep in mind that it should be physically shown. There are so many things you can’t just show with your bodies so I look into the relationships with the other characters to show who and what we are,” he says.
Lihan Mendis plays the role of Ravi, a childhood friend of Maya. Lihan’s character proves that not all men are evil and there are those who are noble and good. “The entire rehearsal process has been fun and entertaining as we get to trace the journey of Ravi. One of the challenges I have had to face was to be aware of my physical presence on stage,” Lihan shared.
“It is a non-verbal play so we have to rely heavily on our physicality. Of course we have our costumes and masks but because some of us play multiple roles in some of the scenes, our physicality and how we bring these characters across is really important,” shares Vindhya Fernando who plays Thaju.
Ryan Holsinger explains his role as Narrator, “telling the story from the point of the Prince, which is not really true, thus making what the audience sees versus what the audience hears – two very different things. He is a propaganda mouth piece.” He further revealed that with devised theatre, it kept things fresh and new as the story had the chance to change just days before the curtain call.
Tashyana Handy is part of the ensemble and plays multiple characters as well. “It is something I have never done before in terms of theatre, movement and style. I not only have to embody characters but I have to understand how different characters will move in certain spaces.”
Sachini Gnanapragasam who plays the role of Maatha, trained as a classical dancer and immensely enjoys the soundscaping that is being done for the play. “The live music creates more energy and drawing from our folklore and heritage gives the play a more mystical feel,” she says.
Captain of the Royal Guard is one of the main roles that Andre Howson takes on in the play. “A strong, aggressive, fierce character that also plays a slight double role for the prince. There is a lot of movement and fight scenes involved,” he says adding “it is not something I am used to playing.”
Tickets for the show are available at the Lionel Wendt Theatre and priced at Rs.2,500, Rs.2,000, Rs.1,500, Rs.1,000 and Rs. 800. A discount will be given to university students who present their student ID.