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Exchanging all things French and all things Lankan
It has been a vibrant 50 years for the Alliance Francaise in Colombo
By Smriti Daniel
The lights go off and the drums begin to roll. Everyone turns, craning their necks towards the door, and the next moment as the cake laden with candles comes into view; someone begins to sing “happy birthday” but the words suddenly change and everyone is singing “joyeux anniversaire!” It’s fast becoming obvious that this is going to be a birthday party to remember. Alliance Française – centre of French culture and excellence – invites you to join in celebrating 50 years of vibrant existence.

The first committee meeting of Alliance Française De Ceylon was held in 1954. Alliance Française de Colombo, has been around for nearly half a century, no small achievement. In that time they have achieved a great deal; following through on their ideal of promoting all things French in Sri Lanka. This has included not only the poetic French language, but the introduction of French art, artists, movies and musicians to Sri Lankan audiences as well. The reverse is also true, with Alliance Française paving the way for the introduction of Sri Lankan arts and crafts to the French.

This exchange has strengthened the ties of understanding and support between the two nations. As the President of Alliance Française S. Abdul Rahuman noted, “it is a centre for exchange between Sri Lanka and France…we have been bringing people closer and closer together”.
Making these ties is a long line of people, each of whom have taken pleasure in exploring each other’s culture. Rukmani Dias is a perfect example. She was present to join in on the birthday celebrations and even stepped forward to cut a slice of the cake. The elegant 78-year-old was the first student to sign up for a French class at the Alliance Française in 1957. Ms. Dias who was already familiar with French, thanks to a stay in England, had no trouble learning the language and was soon fluent.

She put her learning to good use when she became a guide for French tourists visiting Sri Lanka. “I met so many wonderful people during that time,” she reminisces, “but the best part was how those people would return to their homes and then send their children or friends to see Sri Lanka.” Ms. Dias, formed strong bonds of friendship with many of these visitors and often remained in touch with them even after they had left the country.

Ms. Dias was part of a small batch and was charged only Rs. 10 a month for her classes. Today Alliance has expanded, changed location several times and now, 80,000 students later, is still in the business of exchanging, exploring and promoting culture.

Over the years Alliance has established a reputation for fine and innovative teaching – largely thanks to their adoption of the latest methods along with their determination to teach French “the French way”.

In this matter, Maryanne de Silva is the voice of experience, having taught French at Alliance Française for 32 years now. She looks back on her years with Alliance Française with pleasure, recalling the trials and tribulations of teaching innumerable students. Apparently, helping them tackle tenses was among the hardest while “simply conversing in another language…understanding each other,” was the most rewarding. Maryanne loves her work and says she wants to stay with Alliance Française “for as long she can contribute something”.

Alliance Française has obviously come a long way, but in many other ways it remains unchanged. For instance it is still a veritable hub of cultural exchange. Yasmin Rajapakse, long time host of the television show Bonsoir, describes how in the last fifty years Alliance has promoted activities as varied as conferences on fashion history and musical recitals. “It was quite a chic gathering place,” she says laughing.

The powers that be at Alliance Française intend to give this tradition a little boost with the celebrations for the 50th anniversary. Jean - Philippe Roy, the new Delegate General for Alliance Française islandwide as well as the Director in Colombo, revealed plans for the year-long festivities which would begin this month. Three concerts by the well known Ferré Brothers are planned for today, (October 9), 10 and 12, each to be held at the Barefoot Café in Colombo, Alliance Française in Kandy and Alliance Française at Matara. Known as the "Gypsy swing" guitarists from France, the Ferré Brothers – Boulou and Elios - have successfully wooed audiences all over the world.

A concert by Jean-Jacques Milteau is planned for November 3. “Jean-Jacques Milteau is one of the best – if not the best – jazz harmonica player in the world,” said Mr. Roy. “We have also managed to have a fantastic exhibition of 35 prints of soft ground etchings called “Chalcographies Du Louvre,” said Mr. Roy adding that the exhibition would be on from mid- December to mid- January.

They want more of ‘Oh Colombo’!
"Oh Colombo!" the new comedy written and directed by Indu Dharmasena staged from September 23 to 25 will be staged again on October 13, and 14, at the Wendt on popular demand. Indu’s latest offering deals with the hypocrisies and foibles of Colombo society.

Harold Kahapitiya wants his nephew, Suresh, who is happy being a confirmed bachelor, to get married and settle down. Harold gives an ultimatum to Suresh: Get married soon or else he will appoint Jeevan (Suresh's cousin) as the chairman of their family business instead of him. Since Harold feels his nephew's lady friends are not marriage material, he arranges a match and wants Suresh to meet the prospective bride. But Suresh has no intention of falling in line with his uncle's plans.

The inimitable Koluu is back on stage to entertain Colombo audiences along with Angela Seneviratne, Sanwada Abeysirigunawardena, Sanjana Selvarajah, Michelle Herft, Michael Holsinger, Gehan Cooray, George Cooke, Shohan Chandiram, Isuru Perera and Ishkey Irshard not forgetting Indu playing the main role of Suresh.

Mark tackles Maupassant
Maupassant Meets “Le Horla” when Mark Amerasinghe presents his version of this classic at the Alliance francaise de Kandy on October 14.Guy de Maupassant (1850-1893) is considered by many to be one of the foremost, if not the foremost short-story writer of all time. His literary output was indeed impressive.

Over a period of 10 years, it amounted to 300 short stories, six novels, three travelogues, one volume of poems and several newspaper articles. Maupassant’s writings are characterized by a vivid feeling of authenticity, clarity and remarkable brevity. “Le Horla” appeared in the collection entitled “Contes Fantastiques” in two versions, the core of which remains the same. In the first version (1886), a medical man presents to his colleagues an inmate of his nursing home, who relates his frightening experience.

In the second and expanded version of 1887 used here, the narrator is a seemingly healthy, well-to-do man of the world, who relates what he experienced in his own home, carefully recorded over those terrible days in his journal.

Maupassant had attended the famed Professor Charcot’s lectures and demonstrations at the Salpétrière hospital, and had consulted the great man over his mother’s state of nerves.

In Mark Amerasinghe’s adaptation, Charcot presents Maupassant as a case-study, where the well-known French writer relates his horrifying experience to a group of leading medical men and women, at one of the world renowned neurologist’s celebrated medical gatherings which, according to eye-witnesses, at times assumed the glitter of an “Evening at the Opera”…

Adding more colour to our theatre
Clueless at the Lionel Wendt. Reviewed by Lasantha Rodrigo
There’s so much talent in this country. It never ceases to amaze me. Showbiz in Colombo is a classic example. We have countless obstacles that tend to thwart even the most daring thespian/producer/director. But theatre keeps evolving. Into this world that keeps assuming a more professional definition by the day, walks in a young and daring director. It must be the first time in Sri Lanka that a 17-year-old has undertaken to write, act in, direct and produce a full length play. So we gather at the Wendt, a small but highly supportive audience to witness what Abbas has to offer.

Abbasali Rozais is the name, the play is “Clueless”, the venue, Lionel Wendt Theatre. When the curtain opens, we see a great looking set (a unit set) that is to remain there for the whole play (good choice, given the number of scene changes). So all 15 scenes take place in one location, the Latapatagoda household. I’m sure if the playwright paid some attention to the issue, the number of scenes could have, at least been halved. While the scene changes were swift and tireless, they still did interfere with the flow to quite an extent. But more importantly, unnecessary scene changes affected character development.

Oh what a marvellous Bolawathie! While decidedly a stock character from Colombo theatre, this Bolawathie’s portrayal was a treat to watch. Very few guys in drag can sustain the comedy beyond the first half hour, but Uditha Silva‘s wonderful stage presence and glib articulation transcended the norm.
The director had handled this character well, except maybe in the final scene where she stole all the attention from the ultimate summing up of the case, stirring her tea with the lollipop! But the audience was in stitches of laughter every time. Well done! Hopefully we’ll see more of you on stage.

The playwright used language fairly well. However, a note on the excessive use of profanity is in order. While it is important to have characters use the language that reflects their station, background, etc. overuse of words like “bloody,” “hell,” “damn,” etc. can be a little too much to digest, and dilute the punch consequently.

The space was skilfully used and the director had paid due attention to the all-important pace of the comedy. It’s not easy handling a bunch of youngsters on stage (or outside for that matter) especially when the director himself is not defined by a wealth of years or experience. I was deeply moved when I caught a glimpse of this passionate group just before the play opened. From a tight huddle of made-up faces emanated words like “great working with you”, “break a leg”, “have fun”, etc. A highly ardent bunch of shining faces to add more colour to our theatre.

The young director/producer could perhaps have paid more attention to the marketing/advertising of the play. Colombo is a busy place and a play essentially needs to be marketed well to attract numbers. As mentioned before, a comedy works best with a good audience. So next time, advertise. It pays off in the end. And Abbas, Colombo theatre awaits your second coming with open arms.

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