 What if ‘I Were You’?
by Nilma Dole
The privilege of witnessing a
drama at the British High Commissioner’s residence was a rare treat, a
pleasant experience. Drawing to a close the 60th anniversary
celebrations of the British Council in Sri Lanka, Country Director
British Council, Gill Westaway said that the production ‘If I Were You’
was an epitome of modern theatre. The production called ‘If I Were You’
revealed certain situations of 13 lucky British plays intertwined to
create sudden outbursts of emotion and jaunty breaks of concentration.
Despite it being difficult to decipher what was really going on, it was
interesting to see the actors and actresses weave breezily through each
act.
 Obviously, they had to rehearse very well for it but the best play
director and choreographer came in the form of European blood. Director
William Scott Richards who is a voice and text specialist, who has
worked with big media names from the BBC to the London’s West End while
voice and text coaching from the Royal Opera House to the Chatelet in
Paris. The movement specialist Luis Gallo Mudarra is a freelance
choreographer who has travelled all over the world to study about the
finer aspects of theatre. Playwright Jennie Buckman and musician Roger
Pasto Cortina also helped make the production a success.
The duration of the play was 90 minutes with a multitude of ideas, a
flurry of emotions and a poignant situation which included men poking
fun at a mere baby which rather takes you back. It provokes a train of
thought and makes you look at things in a different light.
The fact that certain situations of British plays are re-enacted by
Sri Lankan actors and actresses might shake the foundations of the more
conservative types but it is all in the name of the great, bold theatre.
The various situations including sexual awareness, family problems,
artistic doubts, suicidal issues, big brother and love. More situations
followed but it finished so quickly, it doesn’t help when you have short
attention time span.
 Venuri and Shanaka’s performance together is quite convincing since
both have been veterans in bringing out the best in drama. Others like
Jake Oorloff, Chamila Priyanka, Anoop Kapukotuwa, Chinthaka Fernando and
many other contributed to the bubbly and talented cast.
The finale saw several paper balloons fired into the night sky which
looked like a hazard but it wasn’t. Many had mixed reactions about the
production with it being too quick but I guess that’s how the
fast-thinking Sri Lankan mentality works. It was a dramatic theatre
treat to see Sri Lankans on stage puppetted by UK drama gurus just on
stage and not in real life.
Also, I did have the confidence to ask Harshini Haputhanthri how it
was like kissing Thusitha Laknath onstage for the first time without
dating him.
“Since it was an open-minded audience, it was not difficult but from
the way we kiss, we just show it to people quickly without making them
think too much about it. Thusitha and I worked very professionally on
this production and for us, it’s just like theatre instead of making a
big deal out of it” she said.
The play was staged in Colombo at the British Council and at the
Trinity College, Kandy. |
