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A
sale of dreams Vashee!
Vashee! Vashee! I cut a strand of hair from the wig and go in search of the Sinhala newspapers. "Vashee, Vashee, Vashee," screams an advertisement. Here is a rough translation of what follows. "Do you want to find your dream partner? Send a strand of hair to the following address and your troubles would be solved in no time". I post the piece of hair from the wig and wait with my fingers crossed. In due course, a letter arrives. I am requested to go to the post office to collect a parcel by paying fifty rupees. Inside I would find a piece of string which should be tied around my waist. I am not supposed to eat meat or take alcohol or attend funerals, lest the power round the piece of twine should diminish. I decide to
experiment first on my room-mate, Kalu Appu Dissanayake. Although he
is two years old now, he has yet not shown any interest in the fair
sex. He prefers to snooze around on flower beds instead of roaming
the countryside. I tie a piece of the string round Kalu's neck and
wait for results. Kalu eats only sardines and rice and drinks milk
or water. So, the power of the string is safe where he is concerned.
Four days after wearing the "necklace" Kalu disappears.
When he appears after a week, his ears are torn and patches of fur
are missing from his back. The piece of string had worked. It's my turn
now, to tie the remaining piece of string round my waist. But, great
doubts begin to haunt me. What results should I expect? Would I
bump into my dream partner the moment I step out of doors? Would
he have the hair of Hugh Grant, eyes of Omar Sharif, be as tall
as Amitabh Buchchan and grin like Shah Rukh Khan? Will he be as
intelligent as Homer, as romantic as Keats, yet be as cynical as
George Orwell, and as humorous as Mr. Bean? I try to imagine such
a version of a descendent of Adam, and shudder. How wise is
it to find your dream partner? I throw the piece of string to the
back of my wardrobe and decide against tying it round my waist. Some dreams should always remain what they are - just dreams! Two
captivating nights The BMICH was
packed. The school cheering
squads and loyal past pupils were all set to egg on their school
mates and friends, whilst proud parents were in great anticipation
of two evenings of pure entertainment. Minimal props
and sets and the smooth change of scenes by the actresses whilst
the play was in progress, rather than breaking the momentum with
the backstage crew was yet another point worthy of praise. The artistically portrayed fight sequence choreographed to perfection was carried off with as much precision. The acrobatics and energy put into this scene especially helped sustain the pace of the play. But it was the extremely dramatic opening and closing scenes, with the superb use of just three spots that for me, sealed their victory. As for their
acting, the rapport between the three main female roles in the play,
Juliet, Lady Capulet (Taniya Goonawardene) and the maid (Carlene
de Fry), especially the close relationship between Juliet and the
maid, were a hit. First runners-up,
Bishop's College, produced by Ms. Claire de Silva and Ms. Nafeeza
Amirudeen gave Methodist a run for their money with an excerpt from
the Merry Wives of Windsor, one of the Bard's most entertaining
comedies. Special mention
must be made of the little page Robin (Nataliya Gunarathne) who
delivered her difficult lines in perfect blank verse, with facial
expression and voice modulation to match. Mistress Page
(Anjuli Gunaratne), winner of Best Supporting Actress and Mistress
Ford (Hashintha Jayasinghe) were aptly portrayed by these two young
Bishopians and their scheming and crafty plans to teach both the
philandering Sir John Falstaff (Christina Alphonsus)and the jealous
Master Ford (Hasanthi Senanayake) were implemented very well. The
latter produced a very convincing male voice. Produced and
directed by Sharika Jayewardene and Ruwani Hewage respectively,
the St. Bridget's Convent adaptation of The Merchant of Venice was
a difficult excerpt to stage but this was effectively done with
most of the credit going to the four main characters, especially
to the amazing portrayal of Shylock by Suranee Gomez who turned
on a captivating performance. The strong
bond between Antonio (Ishara Wickramasinghe) and Bassanio (Chrishni
Benedict) too was depicted well by the tall and sturdily built Bassanio
and the shorter Antonio. Portia (Anandi Jayawardhane) too was played
very naturally. Directed by
veteran thespian Jith Pieris, The Girls' High School, Kandy version
of Taming of the Shrew had quite a scenic set. Bianca, played by
Layanvi Pitigalaarachchi portrayed the right mix of meekness and
good-nature that were her role's trademark characteristics. The
transformation in Katherine (Gayani Perera) from wild to passive,
was conveyed well. On to the boys.
Here too it was a close fight between St. Joseph's College and Royal
College, a tussle between a superbly executed concept (RC) and a
straight from the heart portrayal of one of Shakespeare's leading
men, Brutus (SJC). The Joes directed
by Jehan Aloysius, took home the Challenge Trophy for their adaptation
of Julius Caesar, by bringing to life the pomp and flair of the
Roman Empire, complete with horse driven chariots and heavily armoured
foot soldiers. The star of
the play though, was winner of the Best Actor Award, Rajiv Ponweera.
His heart wrenching, yet powerful presentation of Brutus, a loyal
member of the Roman State, stole the show. Brutus together with
his co-actor Cassius (Leon Arendtsz), winner of the Best Supporting
Actor Award, transported the entire audience back in time to Brutus'
chambers, where he poured out all his suppressed guilt and pain
at being a part of the conspiracy to kill their king to his friend
Cassius. The brief fight
sequence too was choreographed well, especially the part where a
soldier was caught beneath the wheel of a chariot and dragged some
distance, before he was left to die. Thushara Hettihamu's
handiwork was up next, in Royal College's impressive extract of
Othello, which won them the 1st runners-up place. From the opening
scene onward the audience was mesmerised by the mysterious Moodlings,
a pack of boys clad in red and blue robes wearing eerie golden masks. The novelty
of the RC concept was two fold. Firstly, the Physical Theatre aspect
of the play was in itself two fold because substituting props and
sets, a group of about 10 boys crouched together clad in black robes
transformed themselves into Othello's seat, and the doorways, bed-posts
and curtains too were replaced by boys. The animated surroundings
also gave depth to the turmoil within Othello himself. Secondly, the
two boys seemed to symbolise the exaggerated manifestation of Othello's
moods. Whilst the mood clad in red depicted Othello's anger and
more aggressive emotions, the mood clothed in blue depicted his
more melancholy, self pitying side. The revelation of the two moods
from amidst the Moodlings, who made their initial entrance very
mysteriously and subtly, suddenly breaking into a type of ritualistic
dance to some very catchy tribal music was superb. Othello, played
by Nanda Abeysekara was brilliantly cast. His was a tall, dark and
daunting presence and his internal conflict whether or not he should
believe his 'supposedly' loyal subject or his beloved wife was very
effectively portrayed. Desdemona's
maid Emilia, played by Sajith Amendra was exceptionally well portrayed
considering that he switched roles with another boy only after the
semis. Nalanda College
made history by first making it into the Final and then being awarded
second runners up. A bouquet to director Mrs. Lakshmi Haththotuwegama. A poignant
depiction of Mark Anthony (Hiran Abeysekara) and a very expressive
crowd were the highlights of the Nalandian performance. Anthony
played his role to his full potential with the appropriate adjustment
of both tone and facial expressions. His rather lengthy speech was
delivered with as much variation as was possibly conceivable at
the time. For that alone he must be commended. The Peterite version of Julius Caesar, produced and directed by Jehan and Neidra Bastians, had both an impressive opening and closing. The soothsayer (Miranga Ariyaratne) was effective and may have been more so, if not for the lighting not being spot on. The beautiful Portia, Brutus' wife (Virgil Thomas) however could not be easily forgotten. He was easily one of the prettiest females seen on stage, on both nights! The Challenge
Shield for the Best Out-Station Boys School went to Trinity College,
Kandy, whilst the Challenge Shield for the Best Out-Station Girls
went to Girls High School, Kandy. The Trophy for Best Actor, Out-Station
Schools went to Y. A. Ruhunuge, also of Trinity, whilst the Best
Actress, Out-Station Schools went to Taniya Warnakulasuriya, Ave
Maria Convent, Negombo. A special award was presented to Mr. Gamini
Perera, Stage Manager for this competition for the past 25 years. The event was sponsored by the Rotary Club of Colombo together with Central Branch of the Colombo YMCA. Judges for the
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Copyright © 2001 Wijeya Newspapers
Ltd. All rights reserved. |
While rummaging in a cupboard in the kitchen several weeks
ago, I come across an old wig. When I wave it in my mother's face
she finds it hard to recollect how it got there. Then she remembers
- this was the wig worn by my uncle when he had acted as a vedda
in a school drama a long, long, time ago.
