Plus - Arts

CHECKPOINT - Three Strangely Normal Plays will be performed by the Stages Theatre Group in the new state-of-the-art British School Auditorium, from September 1 to 5. Checkpoint is directed by Ruwanthie de Chickera and produced by Amal de Chickera.

Forum Theatre – I am here today to watch them weave memories from nothing at all; to watch them build entire personalities – thought by thought, word by word. I am here to watch them build lives that will make you question your own, that are so real and so true that they will not melt under the glare of the spotlight. I feel almost as if I have stumbled upon a secret, and in a way I have. This is what the audience never gets to see – the making of the play.

When it comes to Forum Theatre, the process is taken to an entirely different level. The concept is simple – the actors perform a ‘stem’ scene which is taken to a state of crisis and then stopped. The resolution to the problem is then placed in the hands of the audience. The rest of the play unfolds according to the suggestions of the audience, made then and there. Taking it from there, the actors improvise audience suggestions, and the drama unfolds.

Understandably, for the actors, the challenge is tremendous. There’s no knowing what the audience might throw at them and so each actor is required to have a firm grip on the role he/she is playing. Would so and so really do this? How would they react to this suggestion or that option?

Part of knowing the answers lies in building characters and their shared memories – a process which demands hours of exploring incidents in their past “lives”, creating scene after scene, learning reaction by reaction. The audience will never see all this, in fact nothing beyond the stem scene will be presented to them, but this shared knowledge will make all the difference to the actors.

Tracy Holsinger, who is in two of the three pieces, says that Forum Theatre is a wonderful way to challenge people to think about issues they would otherwise avoid. “There are issues that need to be addressed, and this is a creative, different way of doing it, it’s almost like therapy in itself,” she says.
Forum Theatre is powerful because it brings the community together to solve a problem, she reveals, adding that it crosses many barriers and boundaries – appealing to people from varied ethnic, economic and social backgrounds. Essentially, as an art form it encourages honesty and openness – people are not only unafraid to reveal their opinions and prejudices (this is only ‘acting’ after all), they also come together as a community, however temporarily, to address complex, sensitive social issues.

Performing in the Forum Theatre will be Mohamed Adamaly, Tracy Holsinger, Nimmi Harasgama, Shanaka Amerasinghe and Piyumi Samaraweera Ryan Holsinger, Gihan de Chickera, Ruhanie Perera, Dylan Perera, Niran Anketell and Jake Oorloff.

Last Bus Eke Kathawa – Gihan de Chickera has played this role nearly thirty times, and by rights he should be weary of it and yet today it still challenges and inspires him…as it does anyone who watches it. This role is in many ways Gihan’s tour de force, one that he has played for international audiences from New Delhi and Tokyo to Manchester.

Based on a true story and set during the 1989 JVP insurrection, Last Bus follows the life of Amarawansa – a labourer – whose 18-year-old son is abducted during the insurrection. In desperation, Amarawansa and his wife seek the help of a Chief Minister to find their son. The Minister, taking a fancy to the wife keeps her with him, refusing to let her leave. He financially supports Amarawansa who, unable to cope with the situation, is driven to drink.

A one man show, Last Bus has Gihan playing three roles – the narrator, Amarawansa and the Chief Minister. All he has in the way of props is a cap – he wears it as the narrator, holds it as Amarawansa and has no use for it as the C.M. Simple though the telling is, the acting and the story itself have a timeless and powerful appeal. As we see Amarawansa make the transition from anger at the minister, to anger with society and finally into anger at himself, we – society – are made aware that indirectly we are responsible for what is happening to the man before us.

“Last Bus is a commentary on political corruption and society’s apathy towards it,” says Gihan, explaining that Amarawansa’s story highlights the tragedy of Sri Lanka’s political culture and the plight of the common man.

24 hours: On the evening of August 14, the cast and the director of ‘The 24 hour Store’ sat down and rethought their decision to stage the play. It was as Ruwanthie said, ‘a fabulous play,’ but as a witty, bold statement on the insidious nature of advertising and consumerism, it was inappropriate in the current context. A little thought gave birth to its replacement – 24 hours.

As a piece of Verbatim Theatre, the new section consists entirely of verbatim snippets from media reports, reveals Amal de Chickera. Working within a 24 hour slot, beginning at 7 a.m. on the morning of the 14th itself and going right through to 7 p.m. the next day, the entire cast collected all the information they could, sweeping newspapers, radio broadcasts and the internet for stories.

Jake Oorloff, who helped put together the script for the piece reflects on how wide the discrepancies between various sources were. Our reliance on ‘processed information,’ as Piyumi puts it, is one of the things that keeps us from really engaging with what is happening. In the end, there is no single person to credit for this piece. Instead Ruwanthie says that “the script is a group effort as is the research that preceded it”. The result is a strange comingling of the absurd and the serious – one in which the suffering, the little absurdities, the confusion and the drama that reign supreme in the moments after an incident all take centre- stage.

CHECKPOINT will raise funds towards the KPMG Foundation Tsunami Housing Project. The main sponsor for the event is Mobitel, while the TNL Radio Network is the electronic media sponsor and The Sunday Times the print media sponsor.

Tickets are available at Cargills Staple Street, Kollupitiya, Thimbirigasyaya and Nawala. For more details visit the blog site - https://stagestheatregroup.wordpress.com

An exhibition of watercolour paintings by Thilak Kalu Liyanage will be held from August 28 to 31, at the Lionel Wendt Art Gallery. Titled “Once upon a time, in Sri Lanka”, the paintings capture many moods of Sri Lankan life.

A student of St. Joseph’s College, Grandpass and Isipatana College, Colombo, Thilak first received guidance under his school art teacher, Kalyani Wijesinghe. Displaying promising talent at a young age, he later studied under well known artist Lionel Ranaweera, honing his abilities to a greater degree. With water colours as his preferred medium, Thilak has mastered a variety of techniques that have helped to enhance the depth and meaning of his carefully crafted creations.

What separates this from being just another exhibition on Sri Lanka is Thilak’s choice of subjects. While touching on popular attractions and familiar scenes from the country, he has placed a special focus on scenes that evoke a nostalgic response.

With careful attention to detail, and a well placed brush stroke or two, he has fittingly captured scenes from ordinary Sri Lankan life.

The exhibition will also pay tribute to five distinguished persons Prof. J.B. Disanayaka, Kalasoori Sathishchandra Edirisinghe, Veteran journalist Edwin Ariyadasa, Parawahera Somathilaka and Mr. Greshon who have contributed their diverse talents towards promoting arts in this country.

In addition two young artists Ruvin Samarasundara and Sudeepa Thanapathy will also display their work alongside. A song specially written upholding the beauty of the human spirit will also be launched on that day. The lyrics are by Thilak and the music by Rohan Perera.