 Feroze
Kamardeen has taken Sri Lankan drama to a new level by giving the young
the chance to shine on stage with ‘Hamlet at Elsie’s Bar’. The world
premiere of this production has brought with it a dose of reality
Shakespeare and how it must have been for him to create a magnificent
drama like ‘Hamlet’.
 While
trying to solve his case of writer’s block, Shakespeare hangs out at
Elsie’s bar, his favourite watering hole with his friends Ben Jonson,
Christopher Marlowe and John Donne. Soon, inspiration in the form of the
people around him gives him the script that is in front of him and makes
Elsie’s bar more than just a hangout place.
Some curious events at the bar and the helpful advice of his friends
help Shakespeare to find his muse again.
The whole play is rather musical and promises to be an evening of
great entertainment. The play is directed by Feroze Kamardeen and
produced by Sirraj Abdul Hameed. Ranil Gunawardane will handle the music
while Sonali of the Haddai Label is the designer of the costumes.
 Dilan
Irugalbandara is the Vocal Director for the production. Hamlet at
Elsie’s Bar will run for 8 days from the 20th of February 2009 to the
1st of March 2009.
Cast
Horatio ( Son of Osric) - Gayan de Saram & Yasas Ratnayake,
Shakespeare (A well known playwright) - Brandon Ingram & Nathan Imboden,
Claude (Osric’s brother and bartender) - Rajiv Ponweera, Ophelia (Wife
of Osric)- Swasha Perera, Gilda Stern (Serving girl working at Elsie’s
bar) - Tarika Wickramaratne, Rosie Crantz (Serving girl working at
Elsie’s bar) - Natalie Soyza & Maheshika de Alwis, Layertee (Village
girl in love with Horatio) - Natasha Ratnayake, Cristopher Marlowe (A
well known playwright) - Tracy Jayasinghe, John Donne (A drunken poet) -
Buddhima de Mel, Ben Jonson (A well known playwright) - Pasan Ranaweera,
Osric (Owner of Elsie’s Bar) - Pierre Samarasinghe & Saajid Reyaaz,
Bernardo (An out of work actor) - Kevin Van Sanden, Francisco (An out of
work actor) - Sanjeeva Weerasinghe, Tybalt (A sailor who frequents the
bar) - Dinesh Maheswaran, Trinculo (A regular customer) - Yashoda
Suriyapperuma, Stefano ( A regular customer) - Anush de Costa, Falstaff
(A regular customer) - Randy Smith, Olivia (The shady lady of Norr Road)
- Maheshika de Alwis & Natalie Soyza, Lago (A regular customer) - Saajid
Reyaaz & Pierre Samarasinghe, Kate (A shady lady) - Dilrukshi
Jayawardane
- Nilma
Pix by Dinidu de Alwis
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