Living on water and theatre

By Alfred de Silva

We are off to see the wizards - Robert and Jeritza McCarter at Cyn-Ja-Ron, their beautiful home on the sea front in Pamunugama named after their children, Cynthia, Jacqueline and Ronald.

As Zarina Moosajee and I crawl along the heavily crowded highway in her car at four-thirty on a blistering afternoon the journey seems much longer than it really is.

It's six-thirty when we pull up in front of Cyn-Ja-Ron, caught in the splendour of sunset with sea-winds blowing through its wide open uncurtained doors and windows and the clean uncluttered lines of its architecture.

The McCarter's dogs Hop and Blackie, have taken their places on an artificial hill covered with greenery by the pool to watch the sun fall into the sea. This is part of their daily routine.

Another guest Francoise Weeraratna joins us. As we sip our delicious chilled apple juice we notice that Robert and Jeritza are drinking large glasses of water. There seems to be water, water everywhere and a lot of it to drink. In the elegant bedroom upstairs they sleep on water beds. The pool is a favourite place.

Jeritza is concerned about the extra pounds that Robert and she have been piling on lately. "I think the reason is we eat far too much.

"Not even a simple meeting is complete without some calorie-laden eating," she says.

So both of them have decided to go on a rigorous diet and lose many pounds as quickly as they can.

The McCarters it will be remembered are the play acting duo who, with a handful of other theatre enthusiasts, founded the Colombo Amateur Drama Society (CADS) in 1983.

In the eight years of its existence, CADS members did dozens of play readings and stage performances.

Among the latter were Neil Simon's Sunshine Boys, California Suite, Plaza Suite and The Odd Couple (women) , Robert Harling's Steel Magnolias, Woody Allen's Don't Drink the Water, The Pinter Quartet and Chekhov's The Good Doctor.

"Now what about this diet of yours?" asks Zarina taking us out of our reminiscences of theatre.

A friend has given them what sounds like a quick-fix one: Eat a fourth of what you are accustomed to take at a normal meal. Have only two meals a day a hundred grams of fish or chicken with vegetables, each time. Cut out all fats. Drink as much water as you can possibly hold.

The very French Francoise gasps, "Oo la la." Zarina and I look nervously at each other. After all, we've been invited to dinner. Is this diet going to be a part of our evening too?

Robert and Jeritza, meanwhile, have drained all the water from their glasses twice over, and are pouring themselves more from a stainless steel flagon.

Wonderful smells from the kitchen are beginning to somewhat dispel our doubts, and intrude on my thoughts: Are the wizards going to test themselves tonight?

At the round dining table where a circular inset of rotating glass brings us the delectable dishes of our choice. I cast a hooded glance at the plates in front of the pair of wizards. Suddenly the room takes on an air of make-believe, as I hear Robert growling in the voice of the Mad Hater:

"I see what I eat is the same thing as I eat what I see." Thunder explodes as Jeritza yells: "Not the same thing a bit, off with his head!" Robert holds his bold pate and whines: "I've nothing to lose but my hair."

Laughter dies in my throat. No one else is amused. Obviously these wizards have put on their magic exclusively for me.

I look at their plates again surreptitiously. On each of them is a roasted chicken-wing cut into four pieces, one placed in front, the others pushed far back. They help themselves to large portions of salad, which they attack with gusto.

Then, abracadabra, the chicken wings have flown, who knows where?

We're sipping the red wine which everyone insists is good for the heart, and helping ourselves generously to a dessert of crunchy walnut cake and ice-cream, while the wizards have taken slivers of cake and teaspoonfuls of ice-cream.

And why all this torture?

"Because," says Jeritza, "we won't be seen on stage with all these bulges on us." In the not-too distant future they will star in L.O. Coburn's moving and famous play The Gin Game. It will be directed by Indu Dharmasena.

We take a peek at Robert's sleek and shining computer room, where a knob here and a screen there produce sensational magic.

"Will you or won't you, diet, I mean?" I ask the McCarters as we are about to leave.

"We have will power, not won't power," says Robert. "We will start our diet tomorrow."

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