By Nirmalie Alahakone

“We haven’t done a production in a very, very long time. In January this year when Covid was low, Lihan [Mendis, Director] suggested to our Drama Society and Teacher-in-Charge about doing a production. This was a good opportunity, and the cast really clicked. Everything fit perfectly,” says Sarah Hashim (17).

“When Lihan came with the script, the two schools had a read together online and we all really enjoyed it and thought it was a great idea. We’ve come so far from where we started; and with everything that’s going on, we are really excited in the lead up to the show, we feel it’s going to be a success. Lihan and the cast have put in a lot of hard work,” she added.

Rasindu Rabel (15) agrees: “What makes this production interesting is the number of characters in it. The play can be performed by a few actors performing many characters. We each get to play multiple roles. It’s a challenge for us to stay in character.”

“Every actor gets to play 2-3 roles, which is really amazing,” reiterates Sarah.

“Usually one actor plays one character. So this is challenging, costume change, especially, can be tricky. But Lihan has kept this in mind when assigning roles, and we have just enough time to manage to quickly switch costumes and character,” adds Rasindu.

“Lihan is motivating and kind, he helped us all bond, and brings out the best in us, for which we are very thankful,” Sarah points out.

“I have always wanted to play multiple roles in one play. It’s very new, and so much fun seeing everyone doing different personalities onstage,” says Nethra Peiris (16). My favourite part is the cast; we didn’t really know each other before but now it feels like family. I was also interested in taking part in this play because it was a collaboration and initially meant to run for a week. But with the crisis, we are doing a two-day run.

Young Thespian Areeb Rahman (15) plays three characters in this, his maiden venture on the boards. “This play is a lot of fairy tales put together, and what’s interesting is it is not what we thought Grimms fairy tales were. I joined the drama club this year, and I was very lucky to get to do this!” he beams.

He admits that switching between roles can be demanding. “The voices not so much, I play a female character and two male characters.”

“We have 8 actors playing 27 characters. Without giving too much away, the thing about this play is that things don’t happen how they are supposed to. Some things go wrong, they have to adapt, etc,” says Lihan Mendis, Director of this production and Drama Instructor at St Thomas Prep, who has guided Bishopians at workshops during the Inter-School Shakespeare Competition. “This is the first drama collaboration between the two schools. It’s been very interesting working together; the boys are a little bit younger than the girls but all of them are kind of on the same level when it comes to skills and energy.”

“It’s been a new experience altogether, to work with this talented group of boys and girls in their teens. What is also novel, is generally when you take a play you take on characters, but in a play like this you are taking on the role of an actor. You have to become an actor who is trying to tell this story. So it’s not getting into character as Snow White, it’s trying to get into character as an actor trying to tell the story of Snow White. And then also have to immediately change and play a different character,” explains Lihan.

“With ensemble work  depends on synergy – how we are all well-oiled parts a of a machine. The steep learning curve for these kids is to become comfortable in their role as an actor and then become story tellers. Generally, when children come together to do a play the focus is on ‘How do I stand out?’ but here it is ‘How do I keep the audience engaged?’

Lihan picked this play because it was unusual, but also because it’s funny: “It’s absurd to the point of hilarity. Ideally, I would cast an older group, but this play is something these kids can do: at this age, and this group. They are cutting their teeth on doing ensemble work, taking on multiple characters, figuring out comic timing, keeping audiences engaged.

“We have two casts of eight each, with one actor featuring in both. Fifteen altogether, which is small considering school productions usually have larger casts.” It’s an interactive play, with minimal props – two scaffoldings and two apple boxes.

“It’s been tough to do a production these days. But we have to keep drama going. These children have not acted in over three years – since before COVID, since the Easter attacks actually. Fortunately the country is stabilising, so we can expect a good audience. In moments like this we all need to laugh, audiences want to come relax – and this is a laugh out loud play.”

Aug 26: 11 am – 12 noon
(for schools mainly)
6.30 pm – 7.30 pm
Aug 27: 6.30 pm – 7.30 pm
Bishop’s College Auditorium
Tickets: St Thomas Prep, Colpetty, Bishop’s College

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