Mirror
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They’ve
seen monsters, but are not afraid… A 44 strong cast, ranging from six to seventeen, a dedicated team of directors and an out of the ordinary, life altering play. The ideal combination for an evening of soul- seeking, entertainment. The play revolves around the inner demons that inhabit each and every one of us. This is effectively brought out by the personification of the seven deadly sins – anger, greed, sloth, pride, gluttony, envy and sadness, which, sets the mood for the entire play. Drawing similarities from the popular Cinderella story, Ashie (Sophia/ the Ash Girl) lives with her stepmother and two stepsisters, following the death of her mother and having been abandoned by her father. Like Cinderella, Ashie sits amidst the ashes, dreaming of a better life whilst awaiting the return of her father. However, the story takes on quite a different line thereafter. The fairy godmother for instance, doesn’t just transform Ashie into this beautiful princess, complete with a ball gown, glass slippers and horse-driven carriage. She also helps Sophia look inward and find her inner strength, thereby encouraging her to believe in herself. Her Prince Charming, Prince Amir too has lost his father and has fled their home country with his mother, desperately trying to make a new home for themselves. His mother, Princess Zehra, feels Amir should marry a native lass from their new-found home, but, he can’t imagine getting married to a girl he’s not in love with. Also differing the play from the everyday fairy tale is the ‘Enchanted Forest’, which, is home to both good and evil creatures. The seven deadly sins are depicted by creatures like the snake, toad, fly, worm, monkey, bird, and sadness as itself, who try to lure all those that enter the forest into their evil ways. This brings out the dark, menacing side of the story. Whilst at the same time animals like the otter, owl and the mice, symbolise the good in people. It also shows that size is immaterial, and that small people can have a big effect on another’s life. “One of the main aspects of this play is that sin is not glossed over. It’s there in its truest, most raw state,” says Mrs. Hettiarachchi. “The overall mood is positive yet, harrowing,” she added. This aspect of the play is proved true when the avaricious stepmother gets her daughter’s big toe cut off, to fit the glass slipper just so she could get her married off to the prince, much against her daughter’s will, as all she wanted was to be a scientist. However, in the stepmother’s defence she too carries her own share of emotional baggage, resulting from a hard life. Her intentions are good as she wants what’s best for her daughters but she loses her sense of values in the process. Depending on the content of the numerous character soliloquies, the ploy of having the respective monster, invisible to the character, on stage at the time, emphasises how evil brews and grows within you. For example, when the greed monkey eggs on Ashie’s stepmother as she hatches the evil plot of cutting her daughters toe off, we see how greed can get the better of you, sometime even to the extent of overlooking the most important things in your life. “The author has juxtaposed comedy and menace expertly,” she said. Initially it had been very hard for the children to fully comprehend the various nuances and deeper concept of the play, but as we went along, they began to understand both the story line and the significance of their respective characters in the whole scheme of things, said the directress. The cast, in discussion with us, even came up with their own interpretations of their roles and how they thought their characters should be portrayed and how certain lines should be said. We let them do what they came up with and only altered it if it wasn’t working out he added. With the use of minimum sets, the children had to get used to working on a split stage, which, enables two scenes to run simultaneously and allows one scene to run smoothly into the next, explained Mrs. Hettiarachchi. Also, the young actors/actresses have learnt to create the illusion of violence without actually being violent. Sadness is also closely linked to the play as nearly every character has experienced some kind of unhappiness in their lives at some stage, which attributes the manner of their behaviour now. Furthermore, they have also drawn from resources within the school, for instance fifteen- year-old Vishan Gunawardene’s contribution via costume design, said Mrs. Hettiarachchi proudly. Menik Neydorff too has worked very hard on the choreography as the dance is in keeping with the general mood of the play and not just random dance movements, she added. Wertenbaker, the playwright had been kind enough to wave off the royalties to the play as the proceeds were going towards the tsunami, said Mrs. Hettiarachchi. In addition to this, the Academy has also managed to find sponsors for 80 children interested in English theatre, from four deserving schools within the city to come see the play. Any more interested parties are more than welcome to contact the Academy and volunteer to sponsor more children, as there are so many children who can’t afford an opportunity to come experience the Arts, she added passionately. The entire essence of the play could be summed up in this line from the play “I know there is darkness, I’ve seen the monsters of the forest, but I’m not afraid.” Many of us could take a lesson from this play and learn to defeat the inner demons living inside us. Think you can stomach this much reality? Tickets will be available at the Wendt, feel free to come discover your true self. |
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