A rollercoaster of endless chaos and laughter
‘Caught in the Net’ presented by the St. Peter’s Old Boys’ Union last weekend was a rollercoaster of endless chaos and laughter that was contagious, and you could sense that everyone, from the performers all the way to those in the last row, were enjoying the play.
A sequel to Ray Cooney’s ‘Run for your Wives’, the play follows taxi-driver, John Smith, who has been successfully living a double life with two families in two different parts of London, or so he thinks. His world is close to crashing as Vicky and Gavin, his children from his two families, connect online. Thus begins the ultimate plan of deception, as John becomes more and more entrapped in his web of lies.
The cast takes a bow
Shiyan Jayaweera was excellent in his portrayal of John with his far-fetched plots and absurd attempts to smooth things over. From wearing goggles and swimming through his apartment, claiming to be dead and covered in a thermal sheet, lying upside down on the couch, pretending to be ‘Stanley’ , John Smith was played with just the right blend of desperation and charm.
Wasaam Ismail’s performance as Stanley Gardener, the confused lodger was also a standout. Desperately trying to hold John’s life together while unwillingly becoming more and more drawn into the thick of events, he really embodied all the traits of an utterly stressed, nervous man. He had to endure John’s wife Mary’s growing anger towards him (narrowly escaping her knife), leading Gavin and Vicky astray so that they never met each other, letting Mary believe Gavin was his guest to sort out his ‘emotional and intimate problems’, pretending to be John Smith with a ‘potty’ wife and an even more potty sister-in -law called Rosie; the list went on. Once his father, Mr. Gardener (Keith Wijeysuriya) joined in the madness, things were even harder for him.
Stanley was the most likeable character of the play; seeing how much he was suffering made you wind up rooting for things to work out just for his sake.
Mr. Gardener provided even more comic relief to an already comic play with his one-liners, while Piorina Fernando and Jovanka Jayaweera portrayed the two contrasting characters of Mary and Barbara Smith, doing an excellent job in being two seemingly clueless yet sharp wives. The plot twist did not fail to deliver as the truth came to light; John’s two wives had known about each other for the past 15 years.
The set was colourful and simple, split down the middle in two colours to represent the two different houses, and the actors utilized the many doors effectively. However, certain scenes, one felt, could have been condensed.
The energy and comedic timing required to pull off this production were immense, but the actors delivered an uproarious experience. Director Surein de S. Wijeyeratne deserves much credit for his hard work to keep the audience thoroughly entertained and on the edge of their seats. Even though on unfamiliar ground – it was, after all, a British comedy set in London, the actors delivered an authentic performance that never flagged throughout the play, allowing the audience to immerse themselves in Cooney’s crazy ride.
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