Breathtaking romp with Moliere

Musaeus College plays "Only a change of clothing" & "Doctor in spite of himself"

By Dr. Kapila Manawaduge

In the midst of an enthralling spectacle you see a python wriggling (on the Wendt stage) and wonder whether English theatre in Sri Lanka is suffering a series of animal invasions. After Jerome de Silva gave us "Lion King", Musaeus' College's dazzling little epic on the rat plague came last month.

The said python was made up of seven or eight children claiming to be "smartly dressed in bowler hat and tie pressed" all ready for the Emperor's final procession.

This was only one little block in a marvellous collage of all kinds of audio-visuals assembled together at the Wendt. A unique piece of theatre - a cross-cultural, cross-media, cross-formalistic work of quality, constituting "Only a change of clothing", presented alongside a really charming romp on Moliere's well-known "Doctor In spite of himself".

I am not surprised that liberating extensions of theatrical language in "Only a change of clothing" came from the hand of G.K. Haththotuwegama who moved from Greek dances (in English), Shakespeare and Chekhov to street theatre and then brought the street theatre into his outstanding work in Shakespeares' "Hamlet" and other more "formalistic" productions. From the street theatre comes, of course, the creative modelling - utterly relaxed resources of behaviour and movement on stage.

The production was backed by clever lighting and makeup. To cap it all there was a musical score that was utterly eclectic (popular ditties, contemporary street ballads, (Sinhala) dramatic folk dance, drumming, classical waltzes, and a variety of most recent western pop).

The drama's shifting transcriptions were astonishing. Immediately after a seductive song and dance sequence inviting both textile vendors and consumers in modern Sinhala street song, there comes a highly sophisticated display of linguistic and literary pyrotechnics in English. At first the project proposers for the Emperor's new clothes were interviewed and destroyed by the panel of ministers, who in turn were routed over by the successful Rogues' uncanny play with grammar, idiom and syntax.

What a drama could do with the word comes in a format that does an astonishing lot with the body, that's the point.

The influence spread to the Moliere - as it should, Moliere, being more than verbal; I'll come to that later.

In the costuming - in every department for that matter- the rough graces, the disarming economies of improvised casuals blended with the carefull design and craft (the three-actor cockerel, the chorus, the formal dancers all looked very right, very rich).

In an admirable feat of direction and stage management, the play's highly episodic and difficult structure was mastered. Things were made to happen at breathtaking speed.

A string of ironies and subtle nuances pinched meanings into the slightest of effects.

As if all this were not enough, the writer-director twisted the tale's end to make the hooted-out Emperor return in a white cloth cover and in a new role to perform a saintly sit-down, stunning the rioting crowd into silence. Haththotuwegama used a rolling human barrel consisting of four little children to expose the Emperor's nudity and then as he returned to see through the disguise.

The foolish Emperor-turned-serious was not outwitted, not really. Inevitably, the support men came to guard him and take the children away by force, amidst the protests of the parents and the clown. No, the lessons were not obvious here: "Parents should keep their children away from adults only shows," said the clown.

In such a collaborate tour de force it would be unfair to single out players, yet I have to make special mention of the great player performing both the Emperor and the Rogue, both chief roles - her versatility (in body and word!) was fabulous!

The classic, old Moliere comedy offered a very interesting contrast - not in quality but in the total format. Yes, much too much of the amplitude of the other play would kill us with over-feeding. The Moliere "Doctor in spite of himself" done by a senior cast is played really well, no loose ends there.

The director duo (Leelamani Haththotu-wegama and Iranganie Perera) preserved, I think, deliberately the old world - even old fashioned charm of Moliere. The sets were conventional. Yet in no way were the implications held out for our times submerged - they came neatly and sharply through in hilarious outbursts. The climax was precisely timed. Yes the major targeting was right, the greed of the upper classes, fraud among medics. Moliere is (an old-fashioned) romantic at heart, this the directors never forgot.

Impressive was the way in which the verbal utterance was kept under control without indulging in displays of vacuous eloquence. There is that long Latin (pseudo- Latin) passage the pretending Doctor has to deliver, where the satire is difficult to get across because of our ignorance of Latin.

Here the directors made it immensely viable by getting the actress to deliver it to an accompanying display of karate and kung-fu, battering the hearer into a state of comic bewilderment.

The Doctor's role was exceptional enough for tribute. All in all Musaeus College seems to be able to unleash a load of talent, a load of skills - in speech, mime, song, dance, and to harness it all in very meaningful ways. This is a triumph for youth theatre and for the educational systems of the country.

Why not to miss Knots

By Laila Nasry and Ruhanie Perera.

'Knots' written by Nedra Vittachi will be staged at the Legends nightclub from October 21 to 24. 'Knots' is actually five playlets -"Chit chat", "Cave walk", "Bed and bored", "Do you love me", and "Breakfast table", all on the theme of marriage and relationships.

The title 'Knots' literally signifies the tie in the marital relationship. It also conveys the tensions in the situation. The script is realistic, contemporary and witty.

The actors feel it is clever but one sided. "One sided in the sense that it dwells on the frustration, bitterness, sexuality, and miscommunication which can become very much a part of such ties."

Some of the events that take place in the playlets are common, hence easily identified with. This may come as a jolt to the audience - "they may find such realities rather disturbing, on the other hand they may draw comfort from the fact that everyone goes through the same problems." A playlet doesn't last for more than ten to 15 minutes which is advantageous as it leaves no time for monotony to set in.

The cast, Neluka Silva, Mohammed Adamally, Dayan Candappa, Shermila Anthony, Nadia Dawood and Shehan Navaratne have been practising for over three months. Scheduling practices for each playlet has been easy as only two members of the cast are needed at any given time. But the playlets call for extra effort from Neluka Silva, Mohammed Adamally and Shermila Anthony as they are playing dual roles.

As the underlying themes are the same in the playlets they have to try hard to make their acting different. The directing of the play is a collective effort on the part of the cast members and the script writer. "It is more like an interpretation".

The genius of Nedra Vittachi in the script combined with the acting talents of well known cast certainly proves only one thing - This play is 'knot' to be missed.

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