Exploration of art

Colombo, in the midst of all her madness and mayhem, continues to showcase a fair share of tasteful, and otherwise, artistic performances. From vocal performances, to dance recitals, to theatre productions, they – thankfully for the art-lover – keep coming...

But like with anything, us human beings always tend to search for something different, even when it comes to entertainment. And if you're one of those people looking for a laid-back, yet intense, artistic diversion to add a bit of spice to your otherwise routined life, this might just be the thing for you. In a Shadow, a showcasing of performance poetry, is essentially, an interesting exploration of art – a musing of sorts, on life, love and human desire, among many other defined and undefined themes. Scheduled to be held from November 23 and 24, at St. Andrew's Scots Kirk, Colombo 3, this might just fit into that little niche you've been looking to fill, where you can honestly relate to what's being performed in front of you.

"This performance came about from a need to just basically perform something that audiences would feel is worth watching. The cast is quite varied in every way almost, be it age-wise or even physically, adding to the unstructured sense of the whole thing," says Jake Oorloff, Director of the performance, adding that this would be the first time he would be teaming up with Ruhanie Perera, the producer of the evening of poetry, to put together a performance. The diverse cast consists of Anushka Pereira, Arrvinda Salwatura, Asoka De Zoysa, Dilsiri Welikala, Izhara Huzair Zubair, Rukshani Weerasooriya, Sashi Mendis De Costa, Marisa De Silva, Ruhanie and Jake.

Speaking a bit about the director himself, according to him, his preferance is to work in non-traditional theatre settings. "And this isn't really a new thing in Sri Lanka. Also, I couldn't see this being performed in a proscenium-arch theatre or any theatre for that matter. I have worked with children with developmental needs, and youth of marginalized communities. The idea of working with non-actors to produce dramatic works appeal to me. Everything is an experiment," said Jake.

Focusing on poetry by three poets, two of them being Sri Lankan – Vivimarie Vanderpooten and Afdhel Aziz, In a Shadow, deals with a number of themes according to Jake. "Though we're performing poetry by three poets, the subject matter sort of weaves so well into each other, that it could quite well be by one poet. While parts of it deal with shared experiences from our troubled past, we also explore the idea of being human, the desire to feel loved, and so on."

As for the title, it sums up that sense of loneliness and sense of loss, or helplessness, that every one of us has felt at some point in our lives. "It basically gives a feel of the production. Something intangible...momentary flashes of being, so to speak," says Ruhanie, further explaining the title of the performance. Around 15 poems will be performed during the evening, with the duration of the performance being around one hour and fifteen minutes.

"The set is almost minimalist, with it being as far from the traditional theatre setting as possible. When the performance was initially thought out, I had a church in mind as the setting, but the poems are not in anyway religious," said Jake. According to him, they are not working with a hard and fast script, but rather, played around with how each poem would feel, placed next to each other. "We don't have a script in that sense of the word, but the poems are held together by a kind of structure that is more or less fluid," added Ruhanie.

The venue offers a unique audience experience, enhanced by the atmosphere that is sure to give you something out of the ordinary. So for a reflective evening of classy art, make sure you keep these dates free.Electronic media sponsors for In a Shadow, are TNL and TNL Lite, while the print media sponsors are The Daily Mirror and The Sunday Times.