Cue theatre brings back ‘The Woman in Black’
A play within a play that draws in its characters as well as the audience is how Ranga Jayaratne describes the new play she is directing. While she and actors Lahiru Fernando and Aaron Henderlin describe the play as spooky, they assure us that it’s not all just jump scares but very believable, relatable and much deeper and more complex than your average horror story.
The Woman in Black will be staged at Namel Malini Punchi Theatre Borella from March 13 – 15. This is the second time that Cue theatre is performing the popular play by Stephen Mallatratt, which has been staged continuously for over 30 years in the West End and is currently touring in the UK. When they first staged it back in 2019, it was sold out and well received, Ranga tells us.
One main change this time around are the actors. Lahiru and Aaron are both longstanding members of Cue theatre but take on this play for the first time and Ranga says their interpretation of the characters, really brings the play to life.
Aaron plays the “Actor”, a 24-year-old aspiring actor who is hired by Mr. Kipps to play a younger version of himself in the play he has written based on something that happened to him in the past. He explains that the Actor starts to feel what happened to Mr Kipps and empathises with his trauma, even though he is playing a role in a play. Lahiru plays Mr Kipps, who, apart from writing the manuscript, plays various other characters in the play. He says that in playing the other characters in the play, Mr Kipps starts to gain a deeper understanding of the incident from his past as he sees it through the eyes of the other characters.
Founder Director of Cue theatre, Ranga is a theatre educator, director, and producer with over 20 years of experience. She started the company in 2012 to produce and direct shows in Sri Lanka and London. Currently based in the UK, she has returned to Sri Lanka for a few months just to stage this play. She adds that without the tight-knit community, cast and crew, at Cue theatre, she couldn’t have even imagined pulling off the play in such a short time.
The Woman in Black will be staged at Namel Malini Punchi Theatre Borella from March 13 – 15. Tickets priced at Rs. 6000, 5000, 4000 and 2000 (balcony) are available on MyTicketslk.
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