29th June 1996

The Trap is set

By Afdhel Aziz

I walk into the shady confines of a garden off Dickman’s Road to find the Performing Arts Company in the midst of rehearsals for "The Deathtrap" which runs from the 3rd of July upto the 7th, at the Bishop’s College Auditorium. Onstage , Shannon Raymond is in handcuffs, while Jehan Aloysious stalks angrily around the room, while Neidra Williams watches from the safety of a sofa. Director Nafeesa K. Amiruddin sits side by side with her brother Mohamed Adamaly , the producer of the show and the guiding force behind the Performing Arts Company, the two of them offering suggestions and comments to the actors.

"The Deathtrap" by Ira Levin is billed as a comedy thriller , and revolves around the character of Sidney Bruhl, who Levin loosely based on himself. Levin , incidentally, also wrote the best selling novels "A Kiss Before Dying", "Rosemary’s Baby" and "The Boys from Brazil" , all three of which were made into "major motion pictures" as those Hollywood types like to proclaim. "Deathtrap" itself is a long running success on Broadway and was also made into a film starring Michael Caine, Christopher Reeve and Dyan Cannon. Sidney Bruhl is a failed playwright who gets a manuscript in the mail one day, a perfectly written thriller by one of his students. Desperate for success, he is ready to even kill for success and take the glories that are bound to come with this masterpiece for himself. But things are never what they seem ....and then the rollercoaster begins.

"The script really is superb, I couldn’t put it down" says Nafeesa Amiruddeen. "It had been done once before with Steve De La Zilwa, Richard De Zoysa and Graham Hatch , back in 1982 I think. We made several contemporary updates to the script to keep it in line with present day audiences. I think that there is much larger audience going to the theatre nowadays than about four or five years ago - mostly young people, getting more involved in school productions like "Merchant of Venice" and "Camelot" and also as a theatre going audience, where they would have been going to discos some time ago." I ask whether it is because Colombo can be so boring that there is nothing to do or because of the way in which theatre is being promoted , using radio stations and television. "Yes, that and the sponsorships and everything all contribute. We are very lucky because the Performing Arts Company is almost a family affair - Adam produces and does things like the publicity, my sister Yasmin does the costumes, and other members of our family also get involved. Working with Adam is also very flexible especially with my home commitments. But I like the actors to bring in their input into this as well. It’s a richer experience and you get a better production too. This production has been really challenging because the characterisation is so detailed and we are really trying to bring out the nuances - instead of our earlier emphasis on slick timing and physical theatre."

As he sits in the shade, playing with a crossbow and keeping one eye on the rehearsals, I ask Adam (as everyone refers to Mohamed Adamaly) if this is the first step into more serious theatre for him . "Well, I don’t want to give up comedy at all because I think we do it fairly well and also because comedy is an essential part of theatre - whether it’s farce or something more subtle. I like mixing it occasionally with something like this . I love to play in dramas but I don’t think I am motivated enough to do them."

I broach the subject of how profitable this business of theatre actually is . "Last year we had a small profit, the year before that we broke even due to the generosity of our sponsors, but in the very first production we did have a loss. It’s an expensive business nowadays with a production like this costing around a million rupees - I remember back in my school days when an entire production cost no more than fifty thousand. But we have been very lucky with our sponsors this time around, Commercial Bank and Union Assurance, who have been extremely generous. What is positive is that many companies seem to be integrating theatre into their marketing plans , which is a very smart move. Pizza Hut for example, does a small promotion with us for every show - they throw in an extra soup coupon with every ticket, and I know that every night that our play ran they were packed out. We no longer have to beg to find funding , or worry about breaking even , now things are much easier."

"What we are seeing now is that everyone and everything involved in the production - lighting, sound, makeup - everything is handled by professionals in their respective fields, which means that as a result we do have to pay more to get the best. In fact the only part of the productions that actually are amateur are now the actors and the production crew. We do get a lot of support, from people in the Bohra community for instance, who regularly get involved in our productions, whether it’s front of house or backstage crew, and for that we are grateful - and I also think they too get something out of the experience. What we are also seeing is more of these companies working together in each others productions which is a very good thing. I have absolutely no problem working as a stagehand in Feroze’s production or as an extra in Jerome’s play - that way I think we are all doing ourselves a favour. We need to pool our resources. One bad production and we chase away those marginal audiences who will not come for the next three shows. Back in Richard De Zoysa’s time , we were doing ten nights for one production - in the early nineties we were lucky to get three nights . Now it’s back up to around eight or nine for the bigger productions and hopefully we should be able to get it upto around twelve or fifteen nights in the next couple of years. Then the only amateur section of the production , which are the actors, can also afford to get paid something nominal and become slightly more professional so that they can justify their work. When I was growing up, my mother used to ask me all the time what I was doing, getting involved in all these productions. In the future, actors hopefully won’t have that problem."

I don’t see Jerome De Silva who is doing the lighting for this show anywhere in sight, but as testament to Adam’s wish for more co-operation between the companies, I do see Feroze Kamardeen slouching around the set in a "Julius Caesar" baseball cap, trailing styrofoam behind him as he walks, creating an almighty mess . "I am a shadowy figure in the wings," he declaims, when questioned on his role in the special effects of the play , before distracting my attention to the action on stage . Later on I also spoke to Shannon Raymond and ask him why he had been away from the boards for so long. "The last production I did was the evening of Shakespeare at the British Council last April , then I had to take a break for some family commitments . Now I find I can get back on stage , and I was looking for an interesting character . I have something to play with , rather than just the usual stereotyped characters . "The Deathtrap" is a play about a play writing itself. I play Clifford Anderson, an up and coming playwright , he’s very intense and he has a history of psychological disorders , which is one of the things that drew me to this character. He is very complex and when the opportunity to play him came along I took it.

The vivacious Neidra Williams ("That’s Williams with an S on the end") plays the part of Myra, Sydney’s wife. "She’s basically dominated by him but she does love him. At the same time she has her own strength in her own way . She knows where she’s going as well, she’s very loyal but she has a few secrets of her own . I sympathise with her to an extent , we have similiar attitudes to some things. It’s very different to many of the roles I’ve had before and it’s lovely to work with Adam again ."

Also seated watching the action is Rohan De Livera, who has undertaken the task of writing an original score for the play in under two weeks - a Herculean task ? "It is a bit short notice" he says wryly, casting a glance at Adam who is completely oblivious to the looks he is getting "but it is a challenge. Backing music for theatre has to support the action but not take it over. I’m scoring it for a chamber orchestra and the mood has to be ominous and suspenseful, with the nuances attuned to the action on stage. I’d like it to add an element of uncertainty , to take the audience further and further - and maybe even fake them out a little bit." We talk more about the soundtrack work of composers he admires like Jerry Goldsmith and William Bolcon, one of his tutors.

Jeritza McCarter finishes her part , calmly walks off stage and proceeds to eat her lunch of tomatoes and yoghurt , while the action continues - a veteran of theatre indeed . At the beginning of the rehearsals she stands up and says, "I would like everyone to know that I have lost four and a half pounds on my diet," a statement which is greeted with warm applause, which she accepts with a graceful bow. She is playing the role of the Dutch German psychic Helga Ten Dorp, a role which she incidentally had to turn down when she was living in Tokyo " a hundred years ago." Given a second chance to take on the role again, she has chosen to postpone a trip to the United States so that she could take it on. Amongst the charming Ms. McCarter’s past roles on Sri Lankan stage has been that of Olive in "The Odd Couple". "Helga Ten Dorp is a bad woman, a manipulator, she’s been married several times - but who wants to be married to someone who can read your mind? She helps solve a lot of murders in Germany and Holland, she’s writing a book about her work and she does TV shows like "Larry King Live" and "Jay Leno". And of course she’s extremely attractive," she finishes with a straight face. I broach the subject of actors getting paid for their roles - as someone whose worked professionally as an actor, as well as experiencing the veracities of theatre in this country, she seems well placed to see the relative merits of both approaches. "Well, most actors have other jobs to survive, and if you love theatre or not you need the discipline. Money is nice, it’s the cherry on the sundae, it’s shoes for the baby , but most people do it for the love of theatre. It’s a lovely addiction, a lovely torture."

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