 
For being late for the interview due to a traffic closure, veteran
drama director Vinod Senadheera said that he normally loses his temper
and it makes him a difficult person to work with.
Thankfully, he came across as a rather friendly and enlightening
personality who had some great words of wisdom. No wonder he’s a
teacher, it comes across as that. He said, “My passion is to teach and
the greatest satisfaction is to see my students attain success in the
Arts even if they don’t do well in their academia”.
He said that he believes that everyone is talented in some way and
that it is rewarding to see his students shine in acting. Vinod has a
soft corner for his alma mater, S. Thomas’ College Mt. Lavinia that he
works there till today as the Head of the English Section.
“Back in time I got the opportunity to produce an Oscar Wilde drama
called `The Importance of Being Ernest’ in 1989 when I was in Year 11
and most of the cast were elder than me,” said Vinod, whose family is
quite different to him as none of them have been involved in theatre.
He said that the pivotal person who determined this chance was the
late warden at that time, Neville De Alwis. “Other people have also
helped me reached the pinnacle when it came to drama, Christopher
Ponniah, Steve De la Zilva, Jith Peiris, Indu and one of my best
director instructors - Dylan Perera” he said.
He further added that event guru Imran Packeer Saibo of Funtime was
also instrumental in adding spice to his shows. “Imran took my shows to
a different level by creating something totally exciting”, he said.
Other dramatical productions (in the positive aspect) done by Vinod
are `Playing Doctor’ which was well received by audiences. “It was so
successful that I had to stage it twice” says Vinod. Also, one of the
Narnia chronicles - the `Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe’ was quite a good
show where Vinod had to do it with the coincidental release of the film.
“I love to stage Shakespeare dramas which are very simple and
down-to-earth roles which really reflect the true art of theatre” he
said. More theatre productions include `Nothing Really Matters’ and the
more recent - `Cover it up, please!’ Some of the productions that are
close to Vinod’s heart are the Greek theatre productions like `Oedipus’
and `Antigone’ that have their own aspect.
 Says Vinod, “Today, Shakespeare is more commercial with big budgets
but you get students from the rural areas who get the opportunity to
shine by acting in the Shakespeare drama comp” he said.
“Every director and playwright has their own loyal audience and the
interest for doing something in drama is increasing. Earlier there were
no productions at the Lionel Wendt and today, you can’t even get a date
there!” said Vinod. Vinod says that today, the English theatrical
circles in Sri Lanka have a good potential in this field and it’s good
to see some fresh faces as they are talented but we still have to
overcome financial problems” he said.
The advice he’d give potential drama yuppies is that, “Don’t fear,
and take risks otherwise you wouldn’t know the potential you have”. In
addition to this, he said that he liked working with school children
because they are more committed and disciplined. “Lots of people are
there to bring you down but you should take it in your stride and face
the challenges” he said.
Vinod’s next production, `Smike’ an adaptation of Charles Dickens’
Nicholas Nickelby will go on boards in July which is a huge musical
production so keep your eyes opened.Vinod reflects the true art of
theatre. |
