review : At Your Service :

Bilingual urban SL unfolds with humour

by Dilshan Boange

Laughter resounded the Lionel Wendt auditorium as Indu Dharmasena’s Sinhala and English bilingual urban Sri Lankan comedy At Your Service, came alive to the delight of theatregoers, on July 31, marking its closing night of a three-day run. Seated under the gentle darkness, occupying seat Q-7, yours truly observed a work of theatre that must be applauded wholeheartedly for being reflective of the ‘lingual reality’ that marks urban Sri Lanka, which is bound to bilingualism, predominantly as a combination of Sinhala and English (while admittedly one cannot deny other combinations as Tamil and English as possible vernacular developments).

As the hilarities unfolded in the painfully understaffed Hillstar Hotel, a remarkably convincing blend of bilingualism of Sinhala and English was presented, where both ‘code mixing’ and ‘code switching’ were demonstrated through the dialogues between the characters. Albert Perera was played by playwright, director and actor Indu Dharmasena, the receptionist Chris, by Ruwendi Wakwella, and the bellhop Tony, by Yasal Ruhunage.

Balancing the social layering the trio show a realistic facet of how ‘code mixing’ and ‘code switching’ within the context of bilingual speech can occur in a truly natural manner. It is my opinion that these kinds of scripts/productions occupy a significant place when looking at Sri Lankan theatre as an art that can reflect contemporary elements of sociological and linguistic factuality, and merits the academia’s attention with regard to the study of contemporary Sri Lankan theatre, linguistics and sociological studies, especially, if looked at from an interdisciplinary vantage.

At Your Service comes off as almost a patently urban Sri Lankan theatre, since the audience has to be conversant in both, Sinhala and English, in order to grasp the dialogue, word for word.

In TV and film we see brand placement as a feature of the contemporary ‘commercialism’ that we are surrounded by, and of which we have become part of. But, brand ‘placement’ becomes ‘brand presence’ in the script of At Your Service, where both, the print media partner and the official radio station of the project/production were both woven into the dialogues, and, where the latter even became a subject that was part of the explanation given, as to why the long suffering bellboy gave a screwdriver to Pamela Anderson, when she asked for a screwdriver. No, it’s not Pamela Anderson of Baywatch fame, it was the cocktail she wanted as a screwdriver, and not the tool. A certain DJ of the sponsoring radio station known for his ‘prank calls’ was cited as the inspiration for Tony to try to emulate his ‘idol’. In truth, the reason was simply the bellhop’s unfamiliarity with the job of the bartender, who was on leave. The play thus tastefully rolls the presence of sponsors’ brands into the scenario to reflect the times.

Stagecraft was not a detailed realist set, but more on the lines of being between minimalist and realist, where the hotel reception area was the place where the action unfolded. It was tastefully designed and didn’t leave the stage (space) wanting for more props. Costumes and makeup too must be noted as commendable.

The acting was overall good, with no fumbles detectable in the dialogue , and the cast seemed well attuned to one another’s interplay as the comedic chaos unfolded at Hillstar Hotel, where the motto is, to serve guests round the clock, although in practice the quality of service may not perhaps live up to complete satisfaction, to say the least!

As I watched how the plot unfolded, I reminisced a glimpse of the much loved British sitcom (from the past century), Fawlty Towers, which marked a golden era of British sitcoms on Sri Lankan TV with such shows as, Doctor in the House, Are You Being Served?, Allo Allo, Mind Your Language, to name a few. Whatever the source of inspiration may be (or not), there is no denying that At Your Service is appreciably a contemporary Sri Lankan theatre with an urban centric identity.

On the acting front, Indu Dharmasena must be applauded for a brilliant performance, and the same goes for Yasal Ruhunage. The cast included a set of sisters with thespian repute. Ruwendi Wakwella did a remarkable job as Chris, the receptionist, while her elder sister Sashini Wakwella brought to life a hilariously lovable squeaky voiced British tourist named Dorothy, who, to the amusement of the audience, uses her scarf to aid the capture of the international drug syndicate leader, played by George Cooke, as he attempts to escape arrest! Another pair of sisters who were onstage that evening were Amaya Wijesinghe who played the striking personage of ‘Okorie’ the wife of a deposed African monarch, and Saranie Wijesinghe who played the role of the secretary to the ‘local dealer’ named Balapokuna, seeking to seal a drug deal.

The cast consisted of – Indu Dharmasena (Albert Perera), Sanwada Dharmasena (Pamela Anderson), Sulochana Perera (Nimala/undercover CID officer), George Cooke (Tom), Ruwendi Wakwella (Chris), Sashini Wakwella (Dorothy) Amaya Wijesinghe, (Okorie), Saranie Wijesinghe (secretary to Balapokuna), Yasal Ruhunage (bellhop Tony), Anushan Selvaraj (Mr. Silva) and Andre Vallender (Hans Muller). In conclusion, I must salute Indu D. and Co for a praiseworthy work of theatre well deserving a round of robust applause. Bravo! Bravo I say! And encore!

Pix: DramaSriLanka