Christmas party to remember

It's hard to imagine Indu Dharmasena ever having to struggle with something as mundane as writer's block. Forty-two plays down the road, he is counted amongst Sri Lanka's most prolific, high profile playwrights, actors and directors. Despite this, Indu appears to not take anything very seriously, and this includes his own reputation – "I think of myself as an entertainer," he says – and therein lies the key to his appeal. Indu's plays have been staged before hundreds, and his trademark over-the-top, earthy humour has inspired shrieks of laughter and horrified gasps from his audience every time. So there are plenty of devoted fans out there who are going to be delighted to hear that Indu's got an unusual Christmas party planned, and that Tommiya will be attending.

Early this week, just before rehearsals began in a house off inner flower road, Indu made some time to meet up and talk about his newest play – Madai Tommiya Naththal Kava. The play marks a return to a series of plays based on Tommy, the village bumpkin. This time around Tommy, played by Indu himself, will help organise a Christmas party to remember, complete with a dress code that demands cross-dressing, and a nearly homicidal husband for entertainment.

When "hairdresser cum dress designer," Andana Silva takes Tommy under his wing, you know chaos is sure to follow. Andana hopes to give Tommy a little bit of polish and introduce him into Colombo high society. When the likes of the fashionable Monica discovering Andana's new project, Tommy is subjected to the kind of scrutiny that would make Eliza Doolittle blush. However, the irrepressible Tommy can hold his own and soon gets himself neck deep in the arrangements for Andana's "Pansy Dress Farty." Monica is also on the board of organisers, having been invited by Andana and his assistant Tania. Eros, event producer extraordinaire is also brought in to make this the most happening party of the season. But Monica's participation means that things must be complicated just a little bit more. In order to convince her husband Shelton to allow Monica to do her thing, the entire event is turned into a fundraiser for Shelton's Lion's Club.

Of course, behind this laudable aim, pandemonium reigns. And arguably, Andana's attempt to civilise Tommy is doomed, but who's complaining? It's typical of Indu's style, that while watching Tommy's interactions with all the oh-so-sophisticated crowd, the audience is brought to a renewed appreciation of sincerity, straight forwardness and acceptance of people's differences. It's probably the closest that Indu can bring himself to moralising on the Christmas spirit and Madai Tommiya Naththal Kava still sounds very far from being preachy.

Indu's wicked sense of humour, as always is his best weapon. It's been in fine form through all nine of the Tommiya plays. Tommiya is obviously a personal favourite of Indu's, and this play, the fifth in the series, is easily the most appropriate for the holiday season. Madai Tommiya Naththal Kava, was last staged nearly 10 years ago, says Indu, explaining that the script has been reworked and made more relevant to contemporary audiences. Like all of Indu's other scripts, you can expect the new Tommiya to be peppered with references to the socio-political situation in the country. "Most of my plays touch on something current, and you look at a few years down the line, and it's outdated," he says, adding that restaging a play after a few years always means an update as allusions in the play are so dated that younger audience members may not even know what the actors are talking about.

In this sense, Indu's plays are always evolving – and that's what keeps it new for him. His inspiration as always seems to come from everyone around him. "I just watch people, and if I think it's funny I file it away in my brain," he says. And this means everyone around him watches themselves says cast member Sanwada Abeysirigunawardena. Along with almost all the other cast members, Sanwada has acted with Indu before.

The resulting chemistry between director and actors is obviously a comfortable and rewarding. Indu inspires trust, so much so that actors like Javin Thomas are willing to get into drag (for the first time) at his request. This, however, doesn't stop Javin from worrying about the revealing dress he's going to put on. But as the likes of Abbasali Rozais (who plays Andana) can tell him, getting into drag is "absolutely thrilling once in awhile."

But the person who does it most, and arguably does it best, is Koluu – who to the delight of his fans may be staging one of his famous dance numbers, playing Monica. Watching from the sidelines will be Andana's unshakeably grounded assistant Tania played by Sanwada. Primali, a Colombo 7 socialite is played by Neidra Williams, while Roma, the widely travelled wife of a minister is played by Priyanka Holsinger. Eros, the event manager who must pull the whole thing off is played by Danu. Jehan Bastians will play the possessive, deluded Shelton while Chithranga Kariyawasan plays Lucy the Dubai returnee. A guest at the party Lal alias Lolita is played by Harendra, and Nihal another guest whose looking for a good time is played by Javin.

In the end, it's easy to see that the audience and Nihal will have at least this motivation in common, and considering Indu's reputation for wily, flamboyant enactments of the absurdities of life, we can safely say that Madai Tommiya Naththal Kava is bound to deliver. Indu's latest offering will go on the boards at the Lionel Wendt Theatre on December 7, 8 and 9 at 7.30 p.m.

Electronic media sponsors for the production are Channel 1 MTV and Yes FM, while the print media sponsor is The Sunday Times. The show on December 7 is in aid of Multiple Sclerosis, while the production on the December 8 is presented by the St. Peter's College Welfare Society. Tickets are available at the Wendt. Limited parking will be available at Women's International, and in addition, parking is also available at Maitland Crescent with a shuttle service to and from the Wendt.