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| Wednesday, 13 October 2004 |
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Rewarding experience Reviewed by Anthea Senaratna Centrestage Productions presented the Centrestage Festival featuring excerpts from 'Rag' - a musical designed and directed by Jehan Aloysius at the Namel and Malini Punchi Theatre, Borella on September 25 and 26. It was sponsored by the British Council.
It was with a sense of excitement and curiosity that I went to the Namel & Malini theatre at Punchi Borella on September 25 to see a 'preview' of 'Rag' - for me two first time events in one evening! The theatre has a quaint structural appearance and once inside we were immediately struck with its atmosphere of intimacy. Once the show began this very closeness made us feel almost one with those acting on stage. The second novelty was that I had never before seen 'excerpts' from a to-be-production. "Rag" opened with an explosion of song and dance. Recollections of West Side Story crept into my mind. That was about warfare between two street gangs, here was warfare between the 'freshers' and the 'seniors'. The streets were replaced with the university campus grounds. The violence was similar. A touch of romance provided a lighter side in what was a somber and at times gruesome background. Talent So the girls and boys get together. They sing and dance - through love and rape and riot and lament and dreams. The acting was convincing and the singing was excellent on the whole, (except for the odd slightly off key notes that shot through now and again). The actors delivered their lines with clear diction and the dancing was executed with verve and joy. Jehan Aloysius is no newcomer to local audiences. But I was amazed at the enormous breadth of talent he possesses. To be able to sing, dance and act competently is no mean feat - and this was evident in all those who took part. In addition to this to be able to write original scores is something quite remarkable. Jehan's Joe was a character we sympathized with. Here was the new entrant, the 'fresher' - trying to do the correct thing and getting more and more entangled in the day-to-day run of the cliques on campus. Samantha Ferdinand as Natasha (Nats) played her role to perfection as the girl with the curves and good looks who was raped by the 'raggers'. Anjuli Gunaratne displayed a fine combination of sensitive acting together with competent singing and dancing in her role as Michelle. Ruveen Dias as Peter and Dushyanth Weeraman as Thomas played their parts with feeling. Rukmal, Chalini, Malini and Namal played by Shanaka Cooray, Angenine Jayasooriya, Marissa De Silva and Sandesh Gunasekara respectively, all performed their roles well. The Raggers brought out the brutality in their torment and torture in ragging the Freshers on Campus. The cast as a whole - or as Jehan calls them his 'troupe', filled the stage with a blast of music and movement. The songs, all original mind you, were melodic and catchy and the lyrics were meaningful and relevant to the scene depicted. The Old Joes Choir occupied a corner of the balcony and provided steady vocal support to those onstage. The sound the lighting of the production also was competently handled. Special mention must be made of Avanti Perera who did an excellent job with the orchestration for "Rag". Touch of reality Much as we enjoyed the performance it was sad to reflect that this 'musical' had more than a touch of reality to it. To know that ragging and killing is prevalent in our universities is a tragedy that will haunt us for all time. The only shortcoming in the play, if it may be called such, is that it should perhaps include something showing the inability of the governing bodies and law enforcement authorities, who did not and still do not do something positive to stop these atrocities which continue to take place on the university campuses in Sri Lanka.
The apathy with which such grave indiscipline is dealt with is a tragedy in itself. Perhaps this angle would give the play a more rounded and dynamic perspective. The entire cast seemed to revel in their roles and this was communicated to the audience in no small way. To see these excerpts of 'Rag' was an unusual and rewarding experience and here's wishing Centre Stage Productions all success in the full length production they plan to stage early next year. The British Council must be commended for encouraging talented young artistes such as these with their sponsorship. **** Back **** |
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