The Sunday Times Mirror - A twist in the tale

Alfred Hitchcock once interpreted drama as, “Life... with the dull bits cut out.”

Extremely relevant in terms of present theatre as well, audiences will soon be able to witness life at its most intriguing and satirical best in one of the latest productions to hit Colombo. Two plays, completely different to each other, but both dealing with the fascinating human mind and behaviour, will be performed back to back, taking you on an interesting thespian journey.

Titled The Twisted and The Twist, the production is an interesting portrayal of two tragic Shakespearean masterpieces. Organised by Wesley College, Colombo, the theatrical evening is scheduled for September 25 and 26 and will be held at the Bishop’s College Auditorium at 7.15pm. The production is directed by Juanita Beiling, and is a perfect opportunity for past as well as present students to get actively involved with drama on a larger scale.

Having worked with Wesley College before, having trained them for the Shakespeare Drama Competition over the years, Juanita was involved with this year’s performance as well. “Since a school production wasn't done for quite a while, once the Shakespeare Drama Comp was over, I suggested to the principal that maybe Richard III, done for the competition, should be restaged,” she said. With just-passed-out old boys getting involved in the production, another play too was picked to be performed. “We had to select something suitable, and which had an element of Shakespeare, as well as the comic element, a relatively modern play being the choice.” And so an excerpt from Richard III titled The Twisted, and Tom Stoppart’s Macbeth, a one act play titled The Twist, will be performed back to back, giving the audience an interesting insight into the mind of the characters. Set to enthral you with its dark, seductive plot, The Twisted will be the first play to be performed. An excerpt of Richard III, the play will focus on the portrayal of the twisted mind of the ruler. One of the Bard's historical plays shows how Richard uses his twisted mind to get to the throne, eliminating and seducing various members of the monarchy during his journey toward succession. The cast of The Twisted consists of over twenty members, while the storyline of the play will be the same as the original. King Richard brought to life by Muheed Jamaldeen (19), will essentially be a portrayal of the character’s two-sided nature. “During the play, the audience will see how Richard shows one face to his fellow characters, and a completely different one to the audience. There will also be quite a lot of interaction between Richard and the audience, for instance a number of powerful soliloquies,” he said. Playing Lady Anne in The Twisted, Brandon Ingram (21) describes his character as complex. “It’s quite a challenging character to play since at the start of the play she is dealing with the deaths of her father and husband, both killed by Richard, and subsequently has to deal with Richard attempting to woo her, while convincing her that he killed them for her.” Lady Anne's character is a mix of innocence and revenge, but also one that is naïve enough to believe Richard, who ultimately succeeds in convincing her of his motives.

The second play The Twist, which is Tom Stoppart's Macbeth, is a satirical play set in Czechoslovakia during a period where public performances were considered against the law. And to counter this problem, people performed inside their house and in their living rooms – this play being one such instance. "Playing my character is quite challenging since I have to keep getting in and out of my original part,” says Praveen Jayasuriya (19) who plays Macbeth in the performance. With the play beginning with a scene from Macbeth, the performance is interrupted when the law steps in. “The play is quite humorous, with many puns on words in the dialogue, making it quite difficult at times to express its full meaning, and also causing chaos and mayhem on stage.”

Playing the role of a police officer, Ramzi Zaindeen (22), describes his character as “a dork trying to be The Man!” “Portraying the character has been fun and quite interesting. He is a typical inspector who is trying to be smart, but is not, and is both humorous and sarcastic, a quality that runs throughout the play.”