| Namel Weeramuni, veteran director and playwright is embarking on what he calls ‘one of the most challenging projects of my career’. Considering that Namel, the founder of the Punchi Theatre has been a name to reckon with in the local theatre industry for decades, that’s saying something.
‘Outcry’, by famous American playwright Tennessee Williams is also known as ‘The Two Character Play’ because the cast consists of only two characters.
Though Williams considered it one of his best works, the complexity of the script is such that, performances by actors the world over have fallen short of the ideal and so ‘Outcry’ has never been considered by critics as one of Williams’ successful plays.
This is the challenge Namel has set himself - to succeed where other directors the world over have fallen short.
The story is basically of a brother and sister, he a playwright and actor, and she a wasted actress. Known to be autobiographical, it was written when Williams’ star was waning as a playwright. He was especially close to his sister Rose, who spent most of her life in and out of mental asylums.
The concept is of a ‘play within a play’. Clare and Felix are brother and sister, still living together in the house where their father killed their mother and then committed suicide. They have been traumatized ever since and both can be seen to be highly schizophrenic. They support themselves with a career in the theatre but are so crazy that the rest of the cast has abandoned them but Felix still convinces Clare to carry on with the show.
The roles of substance abusing, hard drinking schizophrenics are by no means easy to portray. The two actors, Mark Hager and Hasini Somawardhana have been rehearsing intensely since January. Both are fairly new to the theatre and according to Namel talented as well as dedicated and professional in the time and effort they put into their intense, gruelling rehearsals.
 |
| Namel Weeramuni |
Says Namel, “The play could be said to reflect real life in that all theatre people are prisoners to their passion for the theatre, they are addicted. I am addicted and even some members of the audience are addicted.
This is an autobiographical work by Tennessee Williams that requires a lot of effort to bring on stage and it’s my dream that our little theatre in Sri Lanka will succeed where many others have not.”
The play is sponsored by the American Center and will be staged at the Punchi Theatre, Borella on May 22, 23 and 24 at 7 p.m. The show’s costumes and set designs are by Mark’s wife, Upeksha Hager while the lighting is by Prabath Manoharan.
Tickets are available at the theatre box office priced at Rs.300 and Rs.500. | 
E-mail