  Going bonkers with Bengal Bungalow
Bengal Bungalow will possibly be
the wildest and wackiest comedies to hit the Lionel Wendt. The
situations and characters are sure to push the boundaries of comedy
drama. After a six year hiatus, Bengal Bungalow will come back with a
bang to tantalise and surprise the otherwise innocent theatre goer into
gales of laughter.
Tasting immense success in 2004, it earned full houses and an
extended run. The script by Jehan Aloysius was originally written when
he was in school and the play is a mix or British farcical comedy in the
style of Ray Cooney and cartoony humour and characters in the style of
the Simpsons.
The humour is deliciously tongue-in-cheek at times with plenty of
slapstick comedy, while stock characters and a menagerie of wild animals
make it quite a wild romp in Bengal! The revival of Bengal Bungalow with
a whole new cast will go on the boards from September 17-19 at the
Lionel Wendt.
 Speaking to the Sunday Observer magazine, Jehan said, “We are
possibly the only theatre troupe in Sri Lanka that focuses on promoting
and producing original theatre that is created, scripted and devised in
Sri Lanka. Even our adaptations of Shakespeare’s plays have been so
transformed and reworked with new material and meanings that give them
new titles and are considered original works or collaborations with
Shakespeare.” He added, “In the last 10 years of our existence, we have
produced around 20 productions, performing them around Sri Lanka from
Kandy to Jaffna as well as abroad.
Several of these plays and scripts have and are being studied by
university students for their dissertations and assignments, so I
believe we are nourishing Lankan literature as well as theatre.”
CentreStage also conducts workshops on theatre for schools, theatre
troupes and companies in English, Sinhala and Tamil, while also
maintaining a strong partnership with the Sinhala theatre as well.
Moreover, the humanitarian arm of the company, StageHands Project, has
conducted volunteer workshops around Sri Lanka for the past five years.
These workshops have focused on Social Theatre, Theatre for Development,
Trauma Therapy, as well as physical and mental rehabilitation of those
living with mental and physical challenges.
Jehan said, “I have also formulated an approach to the second
language acquisition or teaching English as a second language through
theatre which was the focus of my BA dissertation which took two years
of empirical study at the Colombo University. It is important to note
that the StageHands Projects are done on a volunteer basis, using the
proceeds of our performances in Colombo to good use.” Check out the
Bengal Bungalow soon!
(ND)
|
