Fun and laughter with 'Hot Cakes'

By Alfreda de Silva

As Susan Maingay, the Council's Director pointed out, this production was the outcome of several months of intense and enjoyable work, co-ordinated by many people - starting with the Centre's project director, Ranmali de Silva. 

There were 27 girls and boys in the cast, their ages ranging from nine to 14 and the preparatory activities in which they were involved were not the rehearsals of the play only. 

Palitha Silva had taken them through the paces of children's theatre: its need for relaxation, happy team work, voice projection, body movement, facial expression to match the spoken word, pleasing posture and gesture, the clear articulation of words, the quick response to cues, the stamina to go through rehearsals and be alert at all times to what was going on on stage. 

The learning experience had included an introduction to sets and props, lighting and stage management.

The play opened with a conversation betwen the hot-headed, but dynamic and positive Maria Foster (brought exuberantly to life by Sunari Sooriyarachchi) and her mother. The latter, a tall pleasant and willing character was played by Adilath Ismail. 

They were discussing the latter's recent divorce and wondering who would run their father's bakery now that he had left them. 

Maria succeeded in overcoming every argument and making her mother see that she, her daughters and their friends could do it. Behind them is an attractive set of their bakery and kitchen. Lenny (Rabindranath Moraes), the bakers' assistant, a lanky youngster as funny as he is good natured, is seen cleaning up. 

Maria is determined to change the old name of the bakery. Lenny comes up with 'Crumms' though he means 'Crumbs'. So 'Crumbs' it is. But they need more hands at the mill. 

They enlist the help of loyal and willing school friends. Patty de la Tour (Dinendri Indatissa) who calls herself a genius is fashion conscious. 

Other buoyant characters are Maria's older sister Elaine (Kanishka Jayanethi) in love with the horrid rival baker.

Also helping is Maria's best friend Clare (Pumi Perera) Vicki (Devaka de Silva) and Tracy (Shehadri Kottearachchi) as the bakery's delivery service on skate boards. The early attempts of the young ones at bread-making are hilarious but they succeed thanks to Lenny. And soon 'Crumbs' is doing so well that the skateboard delivery service goes on its rounds later with baked goodies. 

But Rick the scheming rival, is determined to add this bakery to his own, and unwittingly Maria plays into his hands, by agreeing to buy some flour from him at half-price. 

This is after he learns that Mary Bunthome (Kishani Seneviratne), the daughter of the Lord Mayor (Binu Jayawardena), a rollicking figure of fun and the Lady Mayoress a fine foil to him (Shanella de Livera) are to be married. 'Crumbs' has been given the honour of being their caterer. 

Rick's cheap flour does the trick when the bridal party with a drunken groom, Archibald Snokes (Kaveendra Jayanetti) arrives at the reception. The fun and frolic begin. The stage on which the wedding guests are seated goes wild as their mouths set in odd shapes. 

The young players enjoyed their roles and went through their paces, naturally and freely. 

The costumes, especially when the young ones pretended to be old, to fool the Health Inspector after the bakery had been reported for employing child labour was splendid. 

I learned from Harrison Perera, Assistant Director, Information, of the British Council that willing support for the making of sets and props and helping with the lights and sound effects and other activities had come from the staff of the British Council. 

All this team work greatly added to the exuberance of the play, so deftly crafted and handled by Palitha Silva. 

Keep your eyes open

By Norm(an) De Plume 

But quite apart from attractive members of the opposite sex, there are other quite entertaining diversions. 

May I suggest keeping your eyes open for various painted notices and shop nameboards. These at the worst (from an amusement point of view) amount to simple bad spelling. For instance the 'multy-phamarcy' and the 'loundry' which presumably cleans your clothes. And as for the occasional 'cattering services', they do provide some food for thought. 

But if you're lucky, you may come across some especially intriguing examples. One notice in Dehiwela offers 'Comfartable' rooms at very reasonable rates. What exactly is on offer, and what would be a reasonable price for it; I shall leave up to your fertile imagination. 

A very common instance would be places selling 'Chicken body parts' - while what they mean is quite clear, it distinctly reminds me of a Motor Spare parts store.

Another board on a shop along the Galle Road proclaims its location as 'Gall Road'. Well, I must admit, during traffic hours it certainly is. 

You need not limit yourself to roadside notices either. One private bus had painted on its side '...... tours and travails'. Perhaps all private buses should carry this notice, you know just to let the prospective traveller know what he's in for. 

But the best that I've as yet come across is not a spelling mistake or anything. It's the name of one of the many roadside inns in Sri Lanka. I suppose someone thought that his little place offered greater comfort than any other, and named it..."Eternal Rest". Perhaps it's our own local Hotel California - 'You can check in anytime you want, but you can never leave'. 

Now, I'm not in anyway trying to make fun of people whose English is less than perfect. All I would like to say is that when people set about making public notices, they should perhaps take a peek at the dictionary if they're not too sure. But then again, let's hope they won't be too precise - for entertainment's sake. 

Ethno music on the web

Ethnic Music is the composition of any group of people classed according to common racial, national, religious, tribal or cultural origins. Such music has reappeared in its modern hip form and is termed ethno. 

The web site opens a new frontier in the realm of hypermedia. It relates undoubtedly to familiar music, but music that communicates clearly through its own universal language of the listeners' roots.

This web site will host a varied group of activities - such as a chat room, a fan club, a place where a fan can buy concert tickets and albums and will be invaluable to all lovers of ethnomusic.

'Veg' craze hits Hollywood

Why does Julia Roberts bring her own soy milk to coffee shops? Why is singer Christina Aguilera's dressing room stocked with organic milk and soy cheese? And why does Winona Ryder request organic cola? 

Obsessing over healthy food is commonplace today in Hollywood, where there's a compulsive feeding frenzy for organic, holistic, vegetarian and other diets and a trendy belief that the only food truly worthy of its moral salt is that which has been produced locally, seasonally and sustainably without pesticides and herbicides. 

Declaring, "I believe in eating only all-organic fruits and vegetables," Woody Harrelson and his companion Laura Louie founded Yoganics, an organic-produce delivery business that's grown steadily. 

Carrying it even further, Harrelson insists on wearing 100% hemp clothing, including his shoes. "Hemp looks like linen," he says. "I have a clothing company called Hempstead. If you look at the fact that over 50% of all the pesticides are used on cotton, it makes more sense to use some material that doesn't require pesticides. " 

"Everybody knows that eating healthy is good for you," says Steven Bratman, M.D., author of "Health Food Junkies" and medical director of tnp.com (The Natural Pharmacist), a science-based natural-health website. 

"However, what seems to happen to a surprising number of people is that when they get into eating healthy, they get into it in a really obsessive way." 

Nick Nolte might fall into this category. As he tells it, a few years back, when he was filming Affliction, "I had a frozen shoulder that I had to shoot with cortisone. My knee joints were starting to go, and it was becoming difficult to get thin again." Now, at 59, his daily regimen includes a multitude of vitamins (taken orally and through an IV), testosterone patches (he believes it repairs tissues), and human growth hormones, a controversial therapy that he believes heals cartilage. He ingests tyrosine, an amino acid, followed by 1,200 mgs. of Vitamin E and herbs. After working out in a nearby gym in the early morning, he makes his breakfast out of the garden. His snacks consist of cherry tomatoes, slices of cabbage, beets, carrots, lettuce and cilantro, all rolled up. And his daily intake of vitamin supplements begins with 25 to 30 pills. Medical and nutritional research has shown that numerous foods promote well-being, although no food group, in itself, can ensure a lifetime of good health. Vegetarianism dates back to ancient Greece, where the mathematician Pythagoras advocated a meatless diet and his followers, called "Pythagoreans," have included Plutarch, Socrates, Plato, Buddha, Leo Tolstoy, and Percy Bysshe Shelley. Leonardo da Vinci was such an ardent vegetarian that he would buy caged birds from poultry vendors and set them free. 

Organic foods have become steadily more popular as the public has become more concerned about health risks associated with chemicals in food products. 

For years, people have recognized and acknowledged the relationship between eating a balanced diet and maintaining good health. During the early 1800's, Sylvester Graham, an American minister, lectured on the benefits of eating whole grain flours and invented Graham flour and the Graham cracker. American surgeon John H. Kellogg and his brother Will promoted Graham's ideas. They were the first to introduce the ready-to-eat breakfast cereal, which they advertised as a health food. American writer Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) noted, "I have no doubt that it is a part of the destiny of the human race, in its gradual improvement, to leave off eating animals." His sentiments were echoed by Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894) and George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950), who said, "Animals are my friends - and I don't eat my friends." 

Interest in health foods grew substantially during the 1960s and 1970s. And celebrities have fuelled this interest in food awareness, led by former Beatles George Harrison and Paul McCartney and his late wife Linda. And wrestling star Killer Kowalski, the first American professional athlete to go vegetarian, observed, "No one who eats the flesh of animals can progress spiritually beyond the average." 

Other avid vegetarians are said to include Jude Law, Cloris Leachman, Meredith Baxter, John Cleese, Rachael Leigh Cook, James Cromwell, Willem Dafoe, Michael J.Fox, Mariel Hemingway, Ashley Judd, Steve Martin, Ian McKellen, Joaquin Phoenix, Julia Stiles, Tiffani-Amber Thiessen, and Jonathan Taylor Thomas. 

Drew Barrymore notes, "I don't eat meat, fish or dairy, but I love fake bacon. It's the best of both worlds." (One must assume she's never read the chemical content on the package.) 

Brad Pitt and his wife Jennifer Aniston swear by The Zone Diet. Aniston claims, "For me, it's an eating plan that works. It advocates a relative balance among low-fat protein, 'good' fats and low-density carbohydrates, such as fruits and vegetables - all with the goal of regulating insulin and hormone levels. " 

Gwyneth Paltrow's yoga instructor makes her macrobiotic lunches and other famous folk employ personal chefs to whip up nutritious delicacies. According to vegetarian chef Tiffany Brown, Asian food, especially Thai, is very popular along with California-style Vietnamese. She routinely stocks Steven Seagal's kitchen with precooked rice for quick lunches and sushi rolls. 

- Asia Features

Go to the TV Times

Return to Mirror Magazine Contents