DRAMA REVIEW

Run for Your Wife: A 'Run' that tickles Colombo's funny bone

by Dilshan Boange

Roaring laughter resounded in the gentle darkness of the Wendt on February 19, as British playwright Ray Cooney's Run for Your Wife came alive on the boards as a praiseworthy production by seasoned thespian, Indu Dharmasena.

It was a work of entertainment theatre well received and appreciated. Indu Dharmasena and Co. know with acuteness how to tickle Colombo's funny bone in full measure!

Many years ago, much before my penmanship as a theatre reviewer began, I watched Romaya Gini Gani, a Sinhala translation of Cooney's comedy produced for the Sri Lankan stage by the late Sinhala playwright and theatre practitioner Bandula Vithanage. And in the course of watching the action on stage and the dialogue that unfolded at the Wendt in Dharmasena's production, I spotted that the title for Vithanage's translation had come from a line of dialogue spoken by the endearing character Stanley Gardner, who was played superbly by George Cooke, whom incidentally I first saw act on stage in 2003 in Well Mudaliyar How?

Stagecraft was well conceived and deserves to be complimented for a tastefully done set and design that banked not on the craft of a minimalist vein but a far more realist modality to give colour and form to the dual domesticity and interchanging space of 'husband' of the lovable taxi running bigamist John Smith. Smith who 'runs' himself between two wives in London city was brought to life wonderfully by Dharmasena.

The two wives, Mary and Barbara, played by Sanwada Dharmasena and Michelle Herft deserve applause for delivering what were highly entertaining performances with precision and projection to the twisting turns and climatic points that had to be nuanced with both tonal and nonverbal expressions at the right time. I would say in general the acting was good and didn't show any opening night jitters at all.

My only reservation is about the accenting factor. Dharmasena maintained a naturally Sri Lankan pronunciation of English, while there was a noticeable difference of phonology from most of the other players. In respect of directorial vision in this regard, what can be discerned is that perhaps there was an effort to bring to life as best a 'British drama experience' possibly could be achieved on the stage with Sri Lankan actors. However, my contention is was it really necessary? The difference didn't complement the narrative's phonological scheme if it was meant to be a reproduction of a British theatre experience.

In my experience as an observer of theatre, I find noticeable elocutionary emphasis to be a hindrance at times causing an imbalance in the rhythm of dialogue that the viewer receives as the auditory aspect of the play. The general standard urban Sri Lankan pronunciation of English as seen among bilinguals, which was audible in the dialogue delivered by Dharmasena, lends a more 'credible acoustic' to the 'fabric of performance'.

The lack of symmetry between characters in this aspect may, I'm not saying it necessarily will, but may impress on viewers an impression of 'artifice' that suggest the action on stage as 'contrived for performance' than being 'lived' in theatre.

'Run for Your Wife' is a delightful comedy but is not a play for children, given the nature of the themes of sexuality that are brought out. The play is classified as an adult comedy by British standards. The play shows how bigamy is a crime but homosexuality is decriminalised in Britain and the hapless Smith resorts to taking refuge in homosexuality rather than be charged for bigamy!

The play shows how situational comedy can be enjoyable so long as everyone's on the same and page and abreast with the pace of action that relies on the snappiness of dialogue that signals the turns and twists and confusions and advancement of the trickery that Smith and his unwilling but faithfully enduring accomplice Stanley Gardner devise along the way.

What's his final saving grace? Say the truth so that it will seem a whimsical implausible untruth compared to the scandalous and entertaining elaborate scenario concocted to hide the 'actual truth'! The Russian writer Dostoevsky is believed to have said -"lying is a delightful thing, for it leads to truth". Does it happen so in this play? Perhaps, and perhaps not. Depends on how you look at it.

Sometime's the 'truth' may seem too simple and plain to accept when compared to the more desired secret scandals that people may want to believe as true. The end shows how the deft tactician that is John Smith artfully manoeuvres himself to safety in the eyes of the law by stating simple true facts which are dismissed as incredulous by the investigating police officer. Thus Cooney's play plays on the human mind's desire for wanting juicy scandal to be at the bottom of a bizarre complex chain of events rather than accept the more real scenario, which may seem less of an adventure!