Mirror Magazine - Acting It Out

The Bard would have been proud. This year’s Inter-School Shakespeare Drama Competition brought some forceful performances, great talent and sheer fun on stage. Salma Yusuf and Vidushi Seneviratne were there.

The atmosphere was jammed with energy, excitement and anticipation. You could literally feel it as you sat in the Bishop’s College Auditorium waiting for the Inter-School Shakespeare Drama Competition 2006 to begin. With the almost traditional delayed start, the house lights dimmed to reveal the newest group of talented young thespians, to an enthusiastic audience of supportive family, encouraging school mates and fellow theatre lovers…

The Drama Comp in existence since 1973, has been decisive in sifting out the country’s potential theatrical talent. Easily one of the much looked forward-to events among school-goers, the Shakespeare Drama Competition brings out sporty competition and creativity at its best. This year’s finals held on June 24 and 25, showed great passion for the performing arts.

Kicking off the theatrical line-up on Saturday evening was an excerpt from Romeo And Juliet, performed by Ave Maria Convent, Negombo. Beginning with the clash between Romeo and Tybalt, and resulting in the latter’s death, the dramatic presentation got off to an energetic start. The relationship between Juliet and her father was also strongly brought out, with the father being very strict and rather inconsiderate of his daughter’s emotions.

The excerpt from the winning school, Bishop’s College was also a presentation from Romeo And Juliet, focusing on the dilemma that befell Juliet, and the story of the star-crossed lovers ended with Juliet’s voluntary death. The ending of the scene showed Count Paris and Romeo holding swords, symbolising the fact that the conflict continued despite Juliet’s death, contrary to what was believed. Oshadhi Welegama, Juliet, walked away with the Best Actress award.

The first runner-up in the event, Ladies College, played from The Comedy Of Errors. The confusion about the mistaken identities of the twins was brought out well. It is also noteworthy that all the music in the presentation was choreographed by the students themselves revealing immense talent.

“I enjoyed the experience thoroughly, doubled by the fact that my friend who played my twin, also happened to look like me! We learned a lot from it,” joint winner of Best Supporting Actress, Tehani Welgama said. “I loved my character! I didn’t know that a character could be explored to such an extent. We all went wild with our characters, and though we were serious about the competition, we had loads of fun in the process.”

The second runner-up at the competition was the team from Girls’ High School, Kandy, with As You Like It. The play, which hinges on the contrast between the exposure of hypocrisy, falsehood and villainy of the court, as opposed to the positive values of the people in the forest, was vividly brought out.

Joint Best Supporting Actress from Girls’ High School, Kandy, Namali Premawadana, said. “It was great being in front of people, doing what you love, knowing that you are connecting with them.”

Taking over on Sunday were the boys, giving the audience a mix of romance, mercy and tragedy, and some very good acting. As the town’s folk perfected the art of juggling oranges and whispering sweet nothings to their lovers, and the backstage crew jumped on and off wooden props, testing their safety levels, the air filled with anticipation.

Taking the stage first was D. S. Senanayake College Colombo, with an excerpt from Romeo And Juliet. Directed by Dininda Paranahewa, the role of Mercutio played by Charith Nikahetiya, was impressive, but unfortunately not supported by the rest of the cast. Adding the element of drama to the performance were the well-choreographed sword fights between the Montagues and the Capulets, though perhaps overdone and detracting from the rest of the performance.

Next in line was Maris Stella College, Negombo, once again performing an excerpt from Romeo And Juliet. The acting of the cast was consistent all around, and was, in the judges’ words, “a team effort.” The performances of Ainsley Christle playing Mercutio and Jehan De Croos, playing the Nurse were commendable, with both being extremely comfortable in their respective characters.

Royal College Colombo taking on a tragedy, performed an excerpt from King Richard III, delivering an effect-filled portrayal of the trials and tribulations of a ruler. King Richard’s role, performed by Laknath Gunatilake, was quite effective, but once again not completely supported by the rest of the cast.

The excerpt from Merchant Of Venice, performed by St. Peter’s College, Colombo was an impressive improvisation of Shakespeare. Going on to win this year’s boys’ schools’ category, the cast was further complimented with Wassam Ismail, who played the role of Shylock, and won the Best Actor’s award. A compelling portrayal, he held the entire performance together.

This excerpt was a modern take on the Shakespearean text complete with all modern connotations. “The reason for opting to do a modern version of the play was partly due to the expense of the traditional costumes. Also the boys could relate to this version, much better than to ‘Shakespeare’ per se,” said Jehan Bastians, director of the St. Peter’s College performance.

Speaking to Wasaam just after his impressive performance, the young actor’s pure joy was written all over his face. “It’s like a dream come true! When I started acting in 2003, and I saw the guy who won Best Actor go up on stage and collect his award, I promised myself that I’m going to do that one day,” he said.

The first runner-up in the boys’ school category was Royal College, while D. S. Senanayake came in as second runner-up, making Maris Stella College the third runner-up. The award for Best Supporting actor was won by cast members of Maris Stella College, with Ainsley Christle, Dehan De Croos, Dilanjith Fernando and Jehan Gunasekara sharing the award in a history-making moment.

According to these guys, the experience was amazing, despite the advanced sword fighting scenes being exciting as well as gruelling. “Oh yes, and also, we got to cut class!”

The judges for the event were Samantha Ayton, Dr. Arjuna Parakrama, Gwen Herath and Dr. Neluka Silva.