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| Friday, 30 May 2003 |
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Mirror to modern society by Kushani Ratnayake Don't Sri Lankan cows produce the right kind of milk for our babies? Is it ugly to keep the skin tone we were born with ? Do we have to use toothpaste to sharpen our incisors ? Is it normal to believe all these things? In the middle of all these questions comes a play like "The Mirror Making Factory".
A shock to the systems of our respectably monotonous and normal lifestyles, the play is produced by the "Stages" theatre company in association with "Sahanaya" the National Council for Mental Health. Directed by Ruwanthie De Chickera, " The Mirror Making Factory" is a witty critique of social conformation and modern day normality. After being played to packed houses earlier this year, " The Mirror Making Factory" will go on stage to raise funds for Sahanaya at the Lionel Wendt on the 31 May and 1 June at 7.30 p.m. Recognising the importance of the work done by Sahanaya in the less-publicised but vital sphere of social service, Triad Advertising has taken on the role of organising the re-run of "The Mirror Making Factory". "This is a fund raising project for Sahanya by the Triad Team. We wanted to select 10 different events to celebrate the 10th anniversary of our company. Therefore we want to do something different which no other advertising company has done before," Waruni Mallawarachchi of Triad Advertising said. "We thought of organising this play because it is of some relevance to our industry. It also depicts modern society. One of the themes of the play is how advertising influences people because advertising sometimes twists the truth," she said. "This is a bilingual play written by a group of writers.
Drawing on various aspects of popular culture, television and advertising and various events such as TV quiz shows and Oscar awards, Ruwanthie's team of players demonstrate the way in which public responses can be and are manipulated and tallied according to the needs of a globalised world in which obedience, discipline and a low level of self-esteem and confidence are required characteristics. The language of the script of the "Mirror Making Factory" is extraordinary and must especially be commended for the almost flawlessly smooth way in which it flows from Sinhala to English and back to Sinhala. It uses colloquial expressions and jargon in a tongue in cheek manner, and yet manages to convey the disturbing and fundamental question the play raises about human existence in all its depth and intensity. Sahanaya is a Non- Governmental Organisation for mental health and rehabilitation. "There is a profound lack of acknowledge and understanding, most of all the stigma associated with mental disorder within society," Sophie Kneebond, an Australian occupational therapist working for 'Sahanaya' said . The media sponsors for the event are the Daily News, Dinamina, Independent Television Network, Sun FM and Gold FM. |
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Produced by Lake House |
The audience is taken on a walk-through of the "Modern Man
Foundation" (MMF) a revolutionary institution which gears people to
face life in the new millennium. The progress of one MMF applicant is
monitored through the play and the audience discovers exactly what a
modern man is made of.
Through this play we are trying to educate people about certain types
of characters in society and to separate those people from society. We
also try to show the impact of advertising on people", the director
of the play Ruwanthie De Chickera said.
