A date with
Charley’s Aunt
By Ruwanthi Herat Gunaratne
Two devious minds plot to enlist the help of an unassuming heiress
to lure two unsuspecting young girls to their university. Want to
know more?
‘Charley’s
Aunt’, a presentation of the Past Pupils Association of Bishop’s
College, is sure to delight the theatre fan’s heart. “Charley’s
Aunt is a quaint comedy that is guaranteed to keep you in tears
of laughter,” smile Nafisa Amirudeen and Claire de Silva,
of the production committee. “The idea came about initially
as the PPA wanted to pay tribute to Ms. Irene Wanigaratne, a past
pupil who has been a part of the Bishopian stage nearly all her
life.” Incidentally ‘Aunty Irene’, as all Bishopians
call her, acts as consultant for the show.
Charley and
Jack are two young Oxford undergraduates who are far from satisfied
with their lives. Their summer holidays are fast disappearing and
they are yet to come up with a “cost effective and foolproof”
method to get their girlfriends down for the day. Why should that
be a problem? Charley’s Aunt is set in Oxford of the past
when it was unheard of for ‘respectable’ girls to spend
the day with “male friends” without a proper chaperone.
But therein
lies the rub. It is impossible if not impractical to enlist the
help of a female chaperone if one is a resident student of a university
that is unlikely to consider “Chaperone Search” a part
of the student counselling programme. Suddenly, thankfully and out
of the blue appears a short telegram informing the two that Charley’s
Aunt is on her way.
“It is
Jack who conjures the initial plan,” grins George Cooke who
plays Jack Chesney, “He is a great example of ‘still
waters run deep’, he’s the shrewd and calculating one
and he carefully puts the idea into Charley’s mind.”
With the advent of the telegram the entire scenario changes. The
duo decide they will enlist the help of Charley’s Aunt, a
rich heiress from South America who is sure to oblige and play the
part of the “Female Chaperone”.
It is the perfect
solution, or so it seems until a second telegram comes in, announcing
that Charley’s Aunt has been unfortunately delayed. “That’s
when the fun really starts,” laughs Shanuki de Alwis who plays
Amy Spettigue, one of the “unsuspecting young girls”.
“I am
the ‘dumb blonde’ of the play, who is completely spaced
out, extremely giddy and the ideal character to add to the comic
element of the play.” She feels that even though it is a period
play, it is easy to interpret Amy in a modern context. “There’s
no restriction of movement, except for walking in a ladylike manner.
Amy is different to Kitty (played by Minuka de Silva) in nearly
every way for she is afraid of their guardian (played by Manoj Singanayagam)
but she is not “under pressure” like Kitty. The two
girls are very close.”
Charley and
Jack know very well that their inability to conjure up an elderly
female chaperone will land them in the girls’ bad books. “It
will be the second such occasion and all their noble marriage proposals
would most certainly be flung out of the window.”
The devious plans are ruined, or so it seems. “That’s
when I appear,” laughs Dominic Kellar who plays Lord Fancourt
Babberley, another batchmate who conveniently pops in. “Babbs
is a fun-loving guy who is an amateur thespian. Jack quickly realizes
his worth and promptly casts him as Charley’s Aunt. It is
a very advantageous position to be in. But during the latter part
of the play Babbs’ position is not to be envied.”
Add to this
muddle, the arrival of Jack’s father, a retired Army General,
fresh from India. “I’m a nice old British Army chap
who is completely and totally oblivious to everything that is going
on,” says Sir Francis Chesney played by Shanaka Amarasinghe.
“He’s a distinguished gentleman capable of ruining all
the plans that are in place.” That is until Jack’s mind
begins its dance once again and decides “it’s high time
that his poor father got a break and hitched himself to a rich bride.”
Past pupils
of the school play all the female roles and the male stars count
some connection to the school. “I was very offended when I
was not taken into Bishop’s College, as I would have been
the fourth generation there,” grins Shanaka.
Charley’s
Aunt (Dona Louise), the centrepiece of the entire catastrophe does
finally put in an appearance. “She is a very humorous person
who goes along with the farce,” says Swasha Perera. “She
is very formal, very English and is the one person who brings everyone
together. The only difficulty for me has been to play a 45-year-old
woman!”
How has it been so far? “It’s been a different experience
– the script is great and it is different to the kind of play
that we usually act in,” they chorus, “But there’s
a lot of chemistry and we’ve all worked together before. Though
it is a period play, it’s not too stiff in word and deed.”
It’s complete
entertainment that you simply cannot afford to miss! The cast also
includes Kisholi de Mel (Ella), Andrè David (Charley Wykeham)
and Dulika Jayamanne as Brasset the Butler. Costumes are by Jojo
de Silva whilst makeup is by Buddhi Galappaththi and Shyami and
Dilani de Silva. Oosha Sarvanamuttu handles the choreography and
Ranjith Karunaratne the sets. ABC Radio Network is the electronic
media sponsor while The Sunday Times is the print media sponsor.
October
4 and 5 at the Bishop’s College Auditorium at 7:00 p.m. Box
plan and tickets available at the auditorium.
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