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Arts The Bard comes
alive under the stars, under the tree And why is
this important, you ask. Because, the Ladies' College production
of "A Midsummer Night's Dream", will revolve around the
'Twin Trees'. The play will be performed not on stage, but out in
the open - literally under the stars and under the tree. "Since
most of the play takes place in a jungle setting, we thought it
would be perfect to use the tree," said one cast member. The school
had long wanted to stage a Shakespearean play, and since they don't
usually participate in the Shakespeare Drama Competition, this seemed
like a perfect opportunity to try their hand at one of the Bard's
most popular works. "We knew
"A Midsummer Night's Dream", would be a huge challenge,"
said a cast member, adding that "it just had to be spectacular,
considering the fact that it's performed quite frequently at many
famous venues." The play consists
of three movements. The first, based in Fairy Land, revolves around
a quarrel which takes place between King Oberon and Queen Titania.
As a result of the unpleasantness, many disasters take place in
the enchanting kingdom. It is obvious that all is not well in Fairy
Land, when summer is suddenly interrupted by winter and floods occur
at unexpected times. The second
scene takes place in the court of Theseus, the Duke of Athens. Here
a father has complained to the Duke, of his daughter Hermia's refusal
to marry Demetrius, the father's choice. Instead, she wants to marry
Lysander. To complicate matters, there is Helena, Hermia's dear
friend, who is infatuated with Demetrius, who though is in love
with Hermia. In the midst of it all, Hermia and Lysander elope and
end up in the enchanted forest, followed by Helena and Demetrius. The third and
final scene sees a group of artisans preparing to perform a play
in the Court of Theseus. They too wind up once again, in the forest.
Thus all the characters meet and, "from there on, it's pure
comedy," says a senior cast member. As another
cast member put it, "The whole story revolves around a love
quadrangle and in the end, every thing is sorted out thanks to the
intervention of the Fairy King." The play is
directed by Dylan Perera, who is assisted by his wife Vaidehi, a
past pupil of the school. "The good thing about this particular
play is that it doesn't have just one main role, and so gives a
chance for more children to explore their talent," says Ms.
Perera. The cast of
22 are between 14 and 18 years. The crew, described as "excellent"
by the cast, has 18 members. The costume designing is handled by
the students themselves. The student
stage manager, who has had exposure in this role before, says that
when dealing with the location, the safety factor in using the tree
was foremost. "It has been a different experience because it's
set outside. Normally we have props and sets, but this time we have
to rely totally on the tree for effect," she said. The entire
play is performed on two levels; while some characters perform at
ground level, others have to climb up on to a platform erected quite
high up in the tree. This aspect had to be dealt with carefully,
since it was a compromise between safety and effect. Replying to
the forbidden question of "what if it rains", the cast
ruefully says that a back-up plan is ready! For those who
have passed through the gates of Ladies' College and all Shakespeare
buffs this would surely be a memorable experience. A Midsummer Night's Dream will be performed on October 3, 4 and 5 at Ladies' College. Capturing
the spirit of 'Pow Wow' A highly publicized
photographic exhibition is now on view at the "Great Plains
Gallery" in Lincoln, Nebraska titled "Pow Wow Plains".
It is the work of Tom Tidball who has captured the imagery of the
native Americans of Nebraska and their deep-rooted traditions of
socializing and dancing in the context of "Pow Wow". The
photographs are portraits, group shots and bodies in motion. Thousands
of shots were taken by Tidball to portray the diverse facets of
the four Nebraska tribes from Omaha, Winnebago, Sante Sioux and
Ponca, during a period of four years. The photos exhibited were
chosen from these. Tom Tidball's
name is familiar to Sri Lankans. He is married to a Sri Lankan,
Sriyani Candappa and spends half the year in Sri Lanka and the other
half in the United States. His photographs of Sri Lanka range from people, culture, wildlife, landscapes, seascapes to rituals and historic sites. He has published a book on Sri Lanka and two more are in the final stages of production. Away from the
'crash-boom-bang' "Thicker
than Blood" written and directed by Delon, which went on the
boards earlier this month, stunned our jaded audiences, by proving
that elaborate lighting technique and flashy costumes (not to mention
the lately quintessential "special effects") were not
always necessary to convey powerful and relevant messages through
modern drama. On the contrary,
the entire technical crew comprising a Brawny Knight and A Fair
Lady, managed very well, with the exception of a single glitch with
a certain video tape-but that was easily overlooked. Armed with
a bunch of trusty soldiers (who displayed amazing versatility, taking
up the roles of actor/backstage crew/Front of House crew as the
situation demanded it), a video camera and a couple of fake guns
fished out from under someone's bed, monsieur le directeur/playwright/lead
actor managed to put on a production that left his audience pondering
over the validity of certain age-old moral and military perspectives.
The cast was
hardly star-studded, and in fact included some new faces, but they
proved themselves adept at dealing with the rather serious nature
of the play. Delon himself played Suresh with all the passion and
understanding expected of the actor in whose mind the character
was born. With his crisply delivered lines and his indifferent air,
Suresh was depicted classily as the embittered, jaded soldier he
was. One wondered
though at the wisdom of a single person donning all these caps in
a dramatic production, given that it is often easy to lose perspective
and objectivity, in the passion and whirlwind of the moment. This
is where the play suffered, for while the actors played their parts
with style, and the script was a hit, directorially at least, things
could have been much smoother, in terms of scene-setting and blocking.
This was most keenly felt in the flashback scenes to the battlefield;
they were effective, but, it was easy to see the untapped dramatic
potential. While you could close your eyes and live the scene in
your mind with the lines alone, the recreation on stage was somewhat
inadequate. The story?
Simple really. A young war hero Suresh, injured in battle in the
Wanni, is rescued by an old stranger, who changes this soldier's
perspective on war and politics forever. The plot revolves around
Suresh's life as a "war hero" and a cripple, as he grapples
with his new awareness and the traditional pressures exerted on
him by his family, who attempt to use him as a tool in their political
campaign, advocating war. The plot had
all the ingredients for an evening of heavy theatre, but on the
contrary, the sarcasm and wit woven into the lines and carried through
effectively by almost everyone onstage, left the audience wanting
to laugh out loud and groan at the irony at the same time. And some
of us did. Although the
single female role of Maithrey, wife of Suresh's brother Harsha,
was played dispassionately at best, with the actress lacking some
amount of understanding and empathy with the character, the cast
pulled together effectively. Mohammed Adamally as Harsha, the political
aspirant displayed his characteristic restraint on stage, while
Shanaka Amarasinghe playing the conniving politician uncle to the
brothers was a veritable barrel of laughs and a convincing villain-certainly
several water balloons would have come his way this time, had they
been made available! Amarasinghe
or Kithsiri Bappa in this case, managed to capture effectively the
politician's win-at-all-cost attitude. As far as on-stage rapport
went, the scenes between Suresh and his nephew, Dinesh (Suranjith
Tillekawardene) stole the show with a rarely seen "connection"
between the actors. The two calling
each other "Sudu" and "Putha" held the attention
of the audience with their casual banter, and throughout the build-up
to their big showdown, when Dinesh announces his decision to enlist.
Suranjith, new to the stage displayed an ability to act both with
control and passion. Perhaps we will see more of him in the near
future. With a couple
of video clips at the beginning and a fire cracker that resulted
in damage to most ear-drums in the auditorium, thrown in for effect
in the final scene, the picture was complete. It was certainly a
"questioning" play; the lines were of the kind you could
mull over before hitting the sack at night, and the irony the kind
that haunts you for a long time after. A distinct change from the
"crash-boom-bang" nature of most theatrical productions
today. And it certainly warmed the cockles of this heart to know
that if a playwright could ignite such literary sparks at this amateur
stage, the future of original Sri Lankan theatre is not so bleak
after all. Unfolding
a shining past of gold coinage His presentation
of the subject matter is so lucid and comprehensive that it seems
to have virtually exhausted the subject. I would unhesitatingly
recommend this publication not only to the serious collector of
ancient and medieval coins of Sri Lanka, but also to the research
student who is making the study of Sri Lanka numismatics his specialty.
Kala
Korner by Dee Cee
When
daughter Deepthi turned up to say she was inviting 'Thaththa's old
friends' for the inaugural show of the new production directed by
herself and brother Taranga, my thoughts went back to the mid fifties
when Gala (as we all fondly called him) was very much part of our
campus life in Peradeniya. While we led a happy- go- lucky life,
Gala preferred to be by himself most of the time, and was a keen
student of theatre. He was a disciple of Sarachchandra and not long
after 'Maname' was staged, he wrote and produced 'Sanda Kinduru'.
We were all there to applaud his effort when it was presented by
Jana Ranga Sabha (President: Ediriweera Sarachchandra) on January
12, 1958 at the Havelock Town Senior School hall (now Lumbini Theatre).
Gala had the
backing of the better known names of the day - Basil Mihiripenna
to create the dances with the assistance of Charles Silva Gurunnanse
of 'Maname' fame and G. K. Peter Appuhamy from Alawwa; Amaradeva
to compose the music based on folk verse; Siri Gunasinghe to design
the costumes and make-up; and Mahinda Dias for lighting. Gala described
his effort as "an opera-in-verse based on a Sinhalese folk
play in traditional style and adapted to the modern stage". While Gala
reached the zenith of his career with the highly successful 'Mudu
Puttu' (1962) based on 'Yerma', the tragedy by Frederico Garcia
Lorca, the Spanish poet and dramatist, he obviously liked 'Sanda
Kinduru' very much, so much so he revived it several times. Sleek production 'Sanda Kinduru'
is a sleek production and a disciplined presentation. The young
boys and girls from the University of Fine Arts, Colombo showed
commitment. The same speaks for the other players who had been picked
from Lumbini Vidyalaya, Ananda Sastralaya, Kotte and Dharmapala
Vidyalaya, Pannipitiya. While Buddhika
Ranaweera excelled as Brahmadatta, the Kindura couple, Taranga Kumari
Karunanayake and Sampath Priyanga played their roles convincingly.
They should pay a little more attention to the singing - to be heard
better. The orchestra could tone down. The chorus did their job
well. 'Charitha
Hathak' again
Wilson Gunaratne
has become synonymous with top class comedy. His ever popular 'Charitha
Hathak' is a highly entertaining play which can be seen and enjoyed
over and over again. He updates the events constantly so that the
audience is treated to something new with every performance. For
those who have missed the play or wish to see it again, it will
be staged at the Elphinstone Theatre next Saturday, October 5, this
time in aid of the Ananda College Past Teachers Benevolent Fund. |
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Copyright © 2001 Wijeya Newspapers
Ltd. All rights reserved. |
will
surely smile. Confused? Allow me to explain. Easily over 80-years-old,
the giant Mara tree in the back garden of the school, is etched
in every girl's memory. The unique feature of the tree is that its
trunk has branched in two, making it seem like two trees, rather
than one. 
