A round with the winners | A first for Visakha Vidyalaya
For Visakha Vidyalaya, winning the Shakespeare Drama Competition this year was more than just taking the silverware home; it was about taking it home for the first time in the competition’s 40 year history. Twenty-eight days of practise and a troupe that started out with only five students grew into a confident cast.
A jubilant Visakha Vidyalaya cast
“A month ago, we were struggling with just five actors and even contemplated not participating,” says Zeithun Hakeem, President of the Drama and Debating Society. “Fortunately we managed to rally 22 students within a day, hectic practises followed and everyone pitched in to create history.”
Zeithun led from the front and bagged the coveted award for the Best Actress playing the role of Rosalind. In keeping with the script, she had to switch from the male pretence of Ganymede to the beautiful Rosalind who stopped time in its tracks with her recital of the epilogue.
In preparation for the final scene, she had to change outfits from Ganymede to Rosalind in a matter of seconds. “It was a mad rush backstage, and credit goes to Hasini Jayawardena for heading the backstage crew.” Playing Orlando the exiled Duke, Nilushi Dewapura grabbed the opportunity to morph herself into a sanguine actress with a strong performance on the night.
“I gained a lot of exposure and the family-like cast kept me comfortable with my role.” Amaya Fernando playing the proud and enamoured Phoebe egged the crowd into laughter more than once. We asked if her character had a natural inclination and the entire cast bellows out “Oh, it’s natural!” She tells us that playing the tenacious role was much easier once she started bugging poor Sylvius (Yalindee) off stage. “I was annoying her at practices and even after.
This probably helped the chemistry and I really got my Phoebe-mode on.” Being Yalindee’s first time on stage, it meant that she was a bit nervous about playing the comic role of a naive shepherd – but the young actress cast aside her demons, and brought out Sylvius’ frustration to the fore in a brilliant performance.
Playing the role of Celia, Nisali Jayatilake -the cast leader- admits she had to come out of her comfort zone and shed nuances in her acting that were closer to home. “There’s something very Sri Lankan about my acting, so it was challenging to take on a traditional Shakespearean role,” she says.
Visakha Vidyalaya cast
Nisali however, brought out her best on the day with a skilled interpretation of Celia. One aspect they resound in unison is the impact that their young director Chalana Wijesuriya (Best Actor recipient at last year’s competition) had on the play. “He brought out the best in each and every one of us and we owe him a big part of this victory,” Zeithun says. “Give them a piece of heaven was what he always told us,” laughs Sachindri Wickramasinghe, who played Hymen.
Being one of the three seniors in the troupe, along with Zeithun and Nisali, she says that they were determined to push the youngsters towards victory and were happy to be a part of the cast.
Judges of the Inter-School Shakespeare Drama Competition
- Dinali Fernando -Senior lecturer at the Department of English, University of Kelaniya
- Delon Weerasinghe – Filmmaker
- Neluka Silva – Professor of English, University of Colombo and Head of the English Department
Girls Final
- Winner-Visakha Vidyalaya (As You Like It)
- 1st runners up-Bishops College (Merchant of Venice)
- 2nd runners up-Good Shepherd’s Convent, Kotahena (Merchant of Venice)
- 3rd runners up-Girls High School Kandy (Othello)
- Best Actress-Zeithun Hakeem (Visakha Vidyalaya)
- Best Supporting Actress-Thashika Wijesekara (Girls High School Kandy)
Judges’ Comments
The judges were “delighted with the four excerpts” and were impressed with the overall concepts, imaginativeness and the teamwork. They were of the view that : “All the casts worked well together as a team and there was Shakespearean exuberance in the performances. One thing to note is that the use of effects like music and dance should be taken in the context of the entire play. Shakespeare himself conveyed emotions through his lines and that would have sufficed.”