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| Wednesday, 10 March 2004 |
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Artscope | |
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A Canadian theatrical experience Gleanings by K.S. Sivakumaran I am witnessing for the first time a theatrical presentation in the culturally throbbing Cincinnati in the US. Internationally known Canadian playwright Michael Healey's experimental play 'In The Shelter House: The Drawer Boy ' unfolds this evening, February 27, 2004 at the architecturally designed mini-theatre with a thrust stage of three sides - the Cincinnati Play House in the Park. Among the cream of the upper echelons of real theatre lovers is yours truly. David Saddler (a behind the scene lighting expert in his university days, his wife Christie is again a theatre personality in stage management and decor) and I - thanks to him - enjoy the privilege of seeing a play, which otherwise would have cost me $ 37.50. Going to the theatre is expensive in the west. This play was being shown exactly for a month (Feb 07 to March 07) with daily full house. Can you beat it? The acoustically excellent space of theatre accommodates nearly 400 persons in a tightly packed seating rows, but with an atmosphere of intimate contact with the players as the drama unfolds in their presence. The audience moves with the players as the dramatic elements enrapture them. And yet a Brechtian stance is maintained as the cerebral response necessitates an objective understanding of the play. The play starts exactly at 8.00 p.m. and ends exactly at 10.00 p.m. with a 20 minute intermission. What a precision! Let me shift from the present tense to the past. Before I record my impressions very briefly of the play itself, let me give you some information on those involved in this collective endeavour. This play is five years old and its premiere was in Toronto, Canada. The time the play takes place is 1972 and the place is a farm in central Ontario in Canada. We are told that: "In 1972, a group of young Toronto actors developed a landmark event in Canada's theatre history. Under the direction of Theatre Passe Muraille and its then Artistic Director Paul Thompson, the actors went to live and work with the farmers in the rural area of Clinton, Ontario. The one-on-one interviews and firsthand observations they collected ultimately became the script for a play titled 'The Farm Show'. It provides one of the best examples of collective creation theatre. Instead of starting with a script, the actors brought to rehearsals their conversations and experiences with the farmers and, through improvisations and other exercises, they developed the play, with all of the members of the company contributing equally. They spent a great deal of time learning to imitate the way the people moved and spoke" (I wish that Dharmasiri Bandaranaike or Gamini Haththotuwegama or Sithamparanathan produce such a play in our own Sri Lanka. It must be trilingual Gamini Haththotuwegama and Arjuna Parakrama experimented with at different times.) The briefing continues: "At first the members of the community had only a slight understanding of what the play was going to be. Nevertheless, the actors found it surprisingly easy to get them to open up and talk about their lives "Do you know what? Lanka born Canadian writer, Michael Ondaatje filmed a documentary about "The Farm Show" tour in 1974. It was called "The Clinton Special: A Film About The Farm Show". It featured commentary from several of the show's creators as well as some of the individuals on whom they based their characters. This is what actor Ted Johns said: "Usually a script is the first hint of a play's existence. In this case it's last. In the early days of that Summer of '72, the actors had no idea what they were doing. The dramatic techniques and the songs grew out of the actors' attempts to dramatize their discoveries in daily improvisational sessions. At first, the results didn't seem like a play: no lights, no costumes,no set, a barn for a theatre, hay bales for seats... No one anticipated the delight people would take in hearing their own language and observing their own culture "Now to my own impressions: It's a one-act, five scenes play. Simple decor of a barn cottage with typical farm surroundings, Sound effect and lighting add to the transition of scenes. It's a play with three characters - two middle-aged men, who were war veterans in world war II, and another an actor who wants to write a play in interacting with the two men. There is a mystery surrounding the lives of these two men. All three characters and us (the audience) explore the past and present of the three characters through a process of intrigue, mystery, suspense, pathos heightened by dramatic tension. Each scene presents a climactic conflict. The dialogue, monologue, the narration and all the tools embrace different layers of materialism, socialism, psychiatry, romance, death, repartee, economics, hard labour, advent of technology into rural life, sacrifice and what not. But all of them in measured tones and appropriateness. And finally the resolution is achieved realistically recounting 'the world's a stage and all are actors' The language employed is simple and pregnant with association of related ideas and images. And the words are uttered in received pronunciation. As the play opens, the audience enjoys the comical aspects and immerse in laughter and chuckles. Yes, it starts as an absurd theatre and gradually reenters into seriousness. The audience interest in the play is slowly built in to enter the depths of the mystery behind the characters, particularly the oldest of them. The play was highly professional and polished and for me it was effecting catharsis of my pent up emotions. On seeing Oscar Awards on TV The previous Sunday (March 07) watching the Oscar Award ceremony on the ABC TV channel I was thoroughly disappointed with the showering of 11 Awards to one single film, which I am yet to see. I don't know why I had an aversion to either reading Tolkien on whose work the film ' Lord of the Ring ' was based or the film itself. I saw some promotional clips of the film earlier, but I didn't like it. I didn't like the film 'Matrix' either. They bring me headache. I thought that these stupendous films are likely winners in the strict Hollywood tradition and therefore skipped seeing them in full. Now, there is a necessity for me to see what this film is. I hope I would have the patience and time to sit through this film. Disappointment at this apart, I was pleasantly amused in seeing a galaxy of stars (some of them are good actors too) like Clint Eastwood, (now a remarkable director), Sean Cannery, Ben Kingsley and the director of 'Lost in Translation', Ms Coppola. Mike Douglas and his wife Zeta-Jones in the audience. I was charmed by the coyness, simplicity, beauty and soft spoken Renee Zellweger, the actress in 'Cold Mountain'. A remarkable actor, who could play successfully contrasting roles in films, Sean Penn won the best actor award for his role in Clint Eastwood directed film, 'The Mystic River'. I was also fascinated in listening to the English language spoken with different accents. Iran-born actress Shohreh Aghdashloo, South Africa born Charlize Theron (who won the best actress award), British singer Annie Lennox, Sean Cannery and the Kiwis- all spoke, not the Queen's English, but in their own way. "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" stole the show. As the AFP characterized it, it was an invasion of America's movie industry by the New Zealanders. Nostalgia : Radio Ceylon Half a century ago, the programmes in English over the then Radio Ceylon was a delight to listen to. Then it was broadcast on the Home Service. Veteran broadcasters like Livy Wijemanne, Vernon Abeysekera, Myrle Swan, Hector Jayasinghe, Alfreda de Silva, Priya Samaraweera (Kodipily), Mark Anthony Fernando, Karl Goonasena, Dudley Weeraratne, Joseph Mather and a few others, whose names I cannot recollect, spoke English as it should be (then) over the National Service. In the 1950s, the Australian, Clifford Dodd pioneered the Commercial Service. Livy and Karl worked for the Commercial Service later. Ace broadcasters, each with individual personality entertained the listeners with a variety of programmes. Some of the forgotten names are: Greg Rozkowzki, Mil Sansoni, Jimmy Bharucha, Karl Goonasena, Norton Pereira, Eardley Pieris, Percy Bartholomeuz, Ronald Campbell, Dan Durairaj, Geoff Fruightneit, Prosper Fernando, Guy Bibile et al. From the 1960s to the present day, a number of talented broadcasters had been coming over the airwaves with their own styles of presentation. But for most of the contemporary broadcasters, Jinmmy Bharucha is the doyen of the contemporary English broadcasters in the island. I wonder what Jimmy is doing these days. Unassuming Jimmy Bharucha should be honoured by the State for his outstanding and continuous contributions. I was moved by the tribute paid by Livy Wijemanne's son a few months ago to his late father in the Daily News. Such people had dignity, dedication, versatility and talent. Polished English The Daily News recently published a speech by the old Trinitian, diplomat, theatre personality and critic, Jayantha Dhanapala. His polished English and the noble ideals he enunciated in his own humble way was fine reading for me. Jayantha and Wimal Dissanayake were winners of English writing for two U.S. newspapers, while they were in school. I have forgotten the details. Another Trinitian who writes well is Ajith Samaranayake. One other Trinitian, Lakshman Kadirgamar (I remember witnessing him and the late Athulathmudali in a 120 yards Hurdles race in an AAA meet in the Police Grounds in the late 1950s) speaks cogently and eloquently, whatever his points are. I am not saying that others from other old schools who write well deserve not to be noticed. But to my fancy, these are some of the names that click. I enjoy reading good English prose. Some Lankans write beautiful English: Tissa Jayathilaka, S. Pathiravithana, the late journalists Fred de Silva, Mervyn de Silva, A.J. Gunawardena are just a few. The ultra-nationalists wouldn't be what they are if only they could enjoy reading good English and thereby understanding the world better. I must add that some of the writers who contribute to the Artscope of the Daily News write remarkably well. I enjoy reading them. Contact: [email protected] **** Back **** |
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