Well Mudaliyar, How! first went on the boards at a time when the British Governor here was more or less a dictator, and the British government agents acted like kings throughout the provinces, throwing their weight around with the help of Ceylonese Headmen. The village chief was called the Ratemahatmayas in the Kandyan areas and Mudaliyars in other areas.
The Mudaliyars were paid government servants with much influence and esteem and as a tribe they were conservative and proud of their lineage. This was because the colonists – the Dutch and the British, chose their native aids from the oldest and the most influential families.
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| Anuruddha Fernando with Jith Peiris |
However, things began to change with the advent of the State Council, as more and more power was delegated to the elected representatives of the people. With it came the demand to abolish the Headman system, which was seen as a protest against British officialdom.
This is the background to the well known play Well Mudliyar How! by E.M.W. Joseph, this time directed by theatre veteran Jith Peiris. “It is a hilarious comedy which over the years has become unbelievably popular,” says Jith. “The twists in the English language which, one might call “broken English” is popular even today,” he adds. An example of the broken English which has now become a part of our colloquial English is the phrase “from the frying pan in to the deep blue sea.”
Jith goes on to say that many who were involved in the English theatre scene, have played a role in this production over the years. “So the play is a cradle for a lot of English theatre actors and actresses,” he says.
The play was written 75 years ago and has been staged by veteran thespians including E. C. B. Wijesinghe, Arun Dias Bandaranayake, Sampath Srinandalochana and Indu Dharmasena, and with Jith bringing it back to life this time round, it will be his third instance. Meanwhile, the Postal Department will be issuing a stamp to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the play, that falls this year.
Anuruddha Fernando plays the Notary this time while the other members of the cast include Hans Bilimoria, Sashi Mendis, Dila Weerasinghe, Sajith Amendra, Pasan Ranaweera, Ashini Fernando and Brendon Ingram.
The play revolves around Notoris Ralahamy (Notary Abraham), a typical middle class man in the village who is the social inferior of the Mudaliyar. However, the Notary has a lot of wealth and has advanced money to the Mudaliyar. The Notary, Abraham, is a Sinhala scholar who insists on speaking English, considered a language of prestige and value.
The humour comes in when Abraham translates the Sinhala idiom directly in to English which is interspersed with old proverbs and analogies thus giving Abraham’s style of English a complete graphic richness. Charges are levelled against the Mudaliyar due to corruption and bribery and the play unravels as the State Council begins discussing the abolition of the Headman system.
“I have a co-orperative cast and their enthusiasm is encouraging to me,” Jith says of the talented bunch, adding that if all goes well, he hopes to take the play to certain towns in the island.
Well Mudaliyar, How! goes on the boards at the Bishop’s College Auditorium on August 20, 21 and 22 at 7.30 p.m.
The electronic media sponsors for the production are Yes FM and MTV, while the print media sponsors are the Sunday Times, The Daily Mirror and the Hi Magazine. |
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