Visakha gearing for ‘Candide’
The Drama and Debating Society of Visakha Vidyalaya will present an adaptation of “Candide” this month. ‘Candide’ is a French satire by Voltaire which describes the journey of the namesake character, who is forced to leave his sheltered life and travel the world – where the optimism he is taught is tested many times.
Candide’s travels center around the search of Cunegonde, his true love who is kidnapped. The story depicts Candide’s travels where he is faced with numerous hardships which he deals with using his optimistic and upbeat attitude, until at last he is forced to accept the fact that in reality it isn’t ‘the best of all possible worlds’ as his teacher Pangloss says. First published as a novel in 1759 by Voltaire, the story was subsequently adapted as a play by Scott Hunter.
The cast is quite excited to be taking part in this play and had much to say about it. It seems that Candide’s optimism plays a pivotal role in the story. Avishka Dedigama, who plays Candide, agrees that her character is a huge optimist, and feels that he is sometimes even optimistic to the point of absurdity. “I can understand Candide because I am also an optimist – but not to that extent. But I can still relate to him on some level” she says.
And what of the love interest for whom Candide travels the world? Cunegonde tends to forget Candide’s devotion, says Amaya Fernando. The substance Cunegonde adds to the play makes Amaya excited to assume this role. “Cunegonde is such a contradictory character – very complex and difficult to understand. I feel that she is like many people we see daily who also have many motives and cannot be labelled as being just one thing,” she says. Assigning characters according to the personality of the actress seems to be a common theme because Thisuri Mendis, who plays an old woman (Cunegonde’s caretaker), is also convinced that she can see elements of herself in the personality of her character.
Dasuni Jayawardane feels that her character Pangloss is one who influences everyone else in the play. “Pangloss is extremely optimistic and he is the one who teaches everyone optimism. His upbeat attitude continues even after he is stabbed, hung, loses his nose and arms and contracts infectious diseases. He keeps telling everyone that in spite of it all – this is the best of all possible worlds, and it’s his teachings that everyone follows. So I think he’s quite influential,” she says. Cunegonde’s maid Paquette adds even more dimension to the play. It is Ithara Silva’s belief that her character is very different to most of the others. She tends to get into a lot of interesting situations but is ultimately quite loyal to Cunegonde, she says. Added to this mixed bag of characters is Cacambo. Played by Yalindee Rathnapala, Cacambo is Candide’s loyal servant who pretends to be male but is actually a female character who is in love with Candide, which is the secret reason behind his (her) loyalty. The characters come together to deliver a story which the cast promises will give the audience a lot of points to think about alongside what they promise will be a hilarious and intriguing storyline.
The similarities between the actresses and their characters is no coincidence. Chalana Wijesuriya, who will be directing the play, has been working with the students since 2013. He feels that the long period of time over which he has worked with the students has helped them build a great rapport as a group. Having directed the students in many drama competitions, Chalana feels that it’s only natural that he knows the capabilities of the students and adds that it is nice to give the students roles which he knows they can handle.
Candide, which is the first production of the Drama and Debating society of Visakha Vidyalaya, is also the first time that Chalana has worked with the primary school. It’s an interesting experience to work with such young actresses who have so much energy, he says. In fact, one of the reasons which led the crew to choose Candide is the fact that the play has numerous roles which allow many students the opportunity to take part. The exciting nature of the play was another reason they chose Candide, and the cast is confident that they will be able to keep everyone entertained right until the curtain falls.
Candide will be staged on June 28 and 29 at the Lionel Wendt Theatre from 7.30pm to 9.30pm. Tickets will be on sale at the venue.