Mirror Magazine

Mirror Magazine

Madness and mayhem at the Bungalow
What do you get when you have elephants mating on a fountain, a man-eating tiger on the prowl, a bandit, a priest, a flirtatious hot-blooded woman, a pilot with amnesia… all rolled into one? A comedy of errors, to say the least. However, to find out the reason as to how these strange characters and beasts end up making Jehan Aloysius’s farcical comedy ‘Bengal Bungalow’ (a CentreStage Production) the side splitting riot it’s billed to be, you may want to get yourself down to the Lionel Wendt sometime between May 14 and 16 at 7.30 p.m. to appease your curiosity!

Set in Bengal in the late 1930s, Bengal Bungalow is a fast-paced situation comedy, where mistaken identities, unusual happenings and wild animals are the order of the day. The plot revolves around a British family, comprising Arthur Fenworth (Rajiv Ponweera), a retired banker and his ‘amicable’ offspring, Lillian Fenworth (Juanita Beling). Lillian has a ‘soft spot’ for almost anything in trousers. Her shallow personality and superficial streak fuels her habit of flitting from one man to another. Her father’s eagerness to get rid of his daughter makes him blind to her ways, as long as she hastens her process of finding a suitor. The Bungalow is not complete without the help of the two loyal, bungling domestics Rama (Michael Jayewardene) and Rahul (Yohan Kumaraperuma), who make a mess of everything!

“I flare up quite easily,” says Rajiv of his character. The slightest thing is enough to trigger “papa” off. He isn’t just any old grouch; he’s a materialistic grouch! When the pilot crashes into his guest room, the only thing he cares about is getting the pilot conscious to find out where he could send the bill to pay for the damage done to his house. Rajiv adds that old Fenworth was different from the roles he has played in the past thus it was a challenge. “I can really let myself go in this role,” he says, and that he does.

This play started off at the hands of a 16-year-old Jehan and was completed three years later. However, the play was shelved for an additional seven years until the right occasion presented itself. As a lead up cum fundraiser to the CentreStage Festival, it seemed to be the perfect opportunity to ‘un-shelve’ the Bengal Bungalow.

“I consider it to be my wildest, wackiest play to date. It has the unbridled imagination of a 16- year-old me, tempered with the direction of a much-older me and the acting of a superlative cast,” says Jehan. It’s difficult to slot Bengal Bungalow into a specific genre as it has an uncanny blend of farce, ‘loony tunes’ and Absurd Theatre, he adds. The dramatic twists and turns of the script took a great deal of time to construct, as the action in keeping with the farcical genre, takes place in ‘real time,’ without scene changes or breaks. The story line has been through a refining process, with many bits added or edited, he says. As for the cast, Jehan maintains that he tends to strike a balance of both established actors and new talent. That way the more seasoned actors can guide the new comers and in turn, the freshers can contribute new ideas.

“I like the fact that two women are after me…” says the pilot (Ruveen Dias), cheekily, in reply to what he likes best about the play. In addition it’s a very active role that involves a lot of running around and getting beaten up (and this is appealing?).

The plot thickens when a plane crashes into the guest room of Fenworth’s Bungalow, bringing the dazed pilot, Adam Cartwright aka John Doe (Ruveen), with no recollection as to who he is, where he’s from and what on earth he’s doing, into the picture. Amidst his state of confusion, he becomes Lillian’s latest object of desire, leaving smitten Charles Worthing, (Delon Weerasinghe) Lillian’s present suitor, ‘high and dry.’

Delon plays the part of the Romeo who’s left crestfallen when his lady love waltzes into the arms of another man. “I’m a suave, young soldier, who would be considered a ‘fine catch’,” says Delon of his role. Unfortunately though, Lily’s antics haven’t done much for his ego. This is by far one of the most physical roles he has had to do since he left school, says Delon.

What with forcing Adam or is it John… to marry her, Lillian pounces on poor Fr. John Fitzpatrick (Dominic Kellar), who came on a ‘godly’ mission to collect funds for a new charity, to perform the wedding mass. The unfortunate Fr. John barely knows what hit him, when he becomes a guinea pig to try out one of Lillian’s latest knitting creations… a ski mask, which gets stuck on his head. With the notorious ‘Bengal Bandit’ (Dulika Jayamanne) also on the loose, one can just imagine what happens to poor ‘masked’ Fr. John!

Making her debut on stage Anjanee Jayasooriya, seems to be having a ball, taking part in this production. Her entrance as Mabel, Adam’s actual wife, takes the play to yet another level of lunacy. Her arrival on the set complicates the current scenario even further.

The costumes and interlude and the background music are timely and give the play a sense of character. Little excerpts of music that have been incorporated in between conversations too, give the play a novel touch and add to the overall hysteria of the plot.

Bengal Bungalow is co-sponsored by Ceylon Theatres Limited, Lafarge Mahaweli Cement (Pvt) Ltd., with YES FM, Classic Radio and MTV joining in as electronic media sponsors. The Sunday Times and the Daily Mirror are the official print media sponsors.

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