Rehearsing 'Manamalayo'

Having got the blessings of our Director of Public Works, T.P. de S. Munasinghe, we got down to making preparations for the rehearsals of our play 'Manamalayo'.

Kapile and I got some of our artistic friends in the Drawing Office to make some attractive notices calling for actors and actresses for a forthcoming stage play that was to be produced by the Literary and Dramatic section of our Recreation Club. We displayed these notices on the notice boards in the canteen and other places.

The notices announced that the first readings of the hilarious comedy 'Manamalayo' adapted for the Sinhala stage by Henry Jayasena, the new Secretary of the Literary and Drama section will be held on such and such a day at the PWD library at 5.00 p.m. Meanwhile we had made plenty of roneo copies (phot copies were unheard of in those days) of the script and we were ready to welcome the aspirant actors and actresses.

I had imagined that after my debut on the Colombo stage with T.B. Illangaratne's 'Handahana' just a few weeks ago, and after receiving commendable notices in the press, (such is the self estimation of youth!) that I would be known to all concerned and that I would have a good turnout at the first reading.

My friend Kapile was my helper. In fact, without my knowledge he had approached several likely candidates and urged them to attend the event. To my great disappointment, only a very few turned up and they too had come mostly as curious observers and not as likely participants.

Our library was situated just adjoining the canteen and I had to explain' the play to the few stragglers over the din of the canteen. I imitated Arnold Wickramasuriya and sat apart with a file close by and script in hand.

Hilarious scenes

I sketched out the plot of the play briefly dwelling on the more hilarious scenes. Kapile sat close to me with a pile of scripts on his lap and he kept on whispering to me that more contenders would turn up. I started sharp at five, thanked those who were present and got down to the job of 'explaining' the play.

The proximity of the canteen turned out to be a stroke of luck although it was bit of a nuisance at first. Men who were enjoying their evening cup of tea and 'lavariya', had overheard my sketch out of the play, had paused to listen and decided to have a peep in at this rather unusual happening.

As curious observers of course, but that was good enough for me. at least I had an audience now and used the 'actor' in me to make it interesting to the listeners and the onlookers.

Actually we did not have a first reading that evening. I thought it best to let the first impressions sink in and carry on form there on the second day, hopefully with more interest! I did not need many. I only needed four actresses and six actors for the play.

I decided to take it easy and 'play' for time. And so we fixed the first reading for the next day. By and by we managed to select five of the actors from within - mostly from the drawing offices.

We had to hire just one actor from outside for a rather important role and that actor happened to be Alfred Edirimanne who later earned a name for himself on stage, as well as the silver screen and the small screen.

We did have problems finding the women. None of the girls in the office or even the neighbouring offices were prepared to stay after office and get involved in rehearsing a play. Either the parents objected, or their husbands or boy friends.

There was a rather pretty girl - in fact quite a pretty lass - working as a steno in one of the adjoining offices, the Air Ceylon office at that time. I had seen her at our canteen. She was seen with some of our girls too. She was supposed to be engaged to one of our young engineers.

She knew me too, by sight. One morning I gathered enough courage to meet her. She would have been an ideal heroine for my play. She was pretty, rather proud, a little bit frisky with an unapproachable aura - ingredients necessary for my heroine. I met her, told her about our play project and most respectfully invited her to play the lead female role of 'Nayani Palihakkara'.

She listened with interest, smiled sweetly and told me that she would have loved to accept the offer and appear on stage but, that she was engaged to be married (to our young engineer) and that he would strongly object to her going on stage! I smiled as sweetly as I possibly could too, and left wishing her good luck. Whether she married that engineer, I still don't know.

Full cast

We had to look outside to fill the female roles. It was Cyril munasinghe, one of my friends from Nalanda days, who presently worked at the GPO, who came to our rescue. He introduced three very young girls - all from his home town Battaramulla and promised to accompany them home after rehearsals.

So, finally we had the full cast as follows: Nanda Hettiaratchy as Nayani Palihakkara, Kamala Perera as Lucy (Nayani's maid), one Irene Fernando (our find) as Manel, Shiela Hettiaratchy as Mrs. Mahaprana (Mrs. Malaprop) P.D.A.G. de Silva (from the drawing office) as Mudaliyar Wickramasekera, my friend K.W.R.M. Kapilasena as Martin (man servant to Nayani), Owen A. Weerasuriya as Karolis (yet another man servant) M.K.B. Alahakone (also from the drawing office) as Upali Wickramasekera (one of the suitors vying for the hand of Nayani) L.N. Nandasena as Bandara (a rather foolish aristocrat vying for the favours of the heroine) and Alfred Edirimanne as Alfred Kulawardena (aristocrat, friend of the Mudaliyar - also a rather elderly and pompous suitor vying for the hand of Nayani Palihakkara, heiress to the vast estates of the Mudaliyar)

We drew up a rather tight rehearsal schedule and I requested that all of us keep to it strictly. Most of the new cast obliged. But the three men from the drawing office, de Silva, Alahakoon and Bandara were inveterate card players - I am not sure what the game was, but I knew that they always played for stakes.

It was rather difficult to get them for rehearsals after office. The games room was also adjoining the canteen and one of us, meaning Kapile, Weerasuriya or me, had to go to the games room and practically drag them out of it. But once the play and their particular roles got into them, they became more and more cooperative.

Those who came for their tea in the canteen made the usual dine and I had to use a trick to keep them quiet. I got my actors and actresses to speak out their lines loud enough to be heard by the men in the canteen.

The funnier parts caught their attention and they would finish their cups of tea quickly and come our way to have a peep at what was going on. So our actors and actresses had a bit of an audience too and they were quite pleased about it.

The rehearsals were getting along quite well, but we had a problem. That was to accompany the girls from Battaramulla to their homes after the rehearsals were over around 7.30 p.m. My friend Cyril Munasinghe was a fellow who had so many irons in the fire and he could not keep to his promise of accompanying the girls.

All three girls - Shiela, Nanda and Kamala were very young girls just out of school and we could not even think of sending them alone. None of us had a car or even a motorbike and we could not afford hiring taxis. We had to take them by bus from the Fort to Battaramulla and Malabe.

Nanda and Kamala came from Battaramulla and it was sufficient to drop them at the Battaramulla junction from where a brother or a neighbour would accompany them home. Shiela had to be taken all the way to Malabe - past Battaramulla.

It was either Kapile or I who undertook the chaperoning job after rehearsals. I had a rather interesting experience during one such outing. That evening we had rehearsed a little beyond our usual time and it was rather late when we set out. I took the three girls by bus from Fort to Borella from where we had to catch a bus going up to Malabe.

Nanda and Kamala got down at Battaramulla as usual and I proceeded to Malabe with Shiela.

It was pretty dark when we got down at the Malabe junction - a sleepy little place in the fifties. We had no torch or even a candle.

I suggested buying a candle from one of the little boutiques but Shiela emphatically told me that she could walk the short distance to her home and that I should get back by the next bus. I told her equally emphatically that I could not do that and we started walking in the dark. Shiela held my hand, leading the way and I meekly followed her.

We arrived at her home and she asked me to sit down for a minute and disappeared into the house. Her mother came out, had a good look at me and smiled. "This child is a 'murandu' child, Mahattaya.

She always has her own way. I have told her not to come past that awful 'handiya' after dark." "Actually it's our fault..." I told her. "We rehearsed a little bit too long this evening. I am very sorry about it Amma. But I have brought your daughter home safely."

Meanwhile Shiela brought me a steaming cup of tea. 'Aiya it's too late to go back now. You can share our dinner and sleep here in the verandah and get back in the morning." She told me while I was hurriedly sipping the tea. She was smiling, but I could notice that she was worried. "It's not all that late." I assured her. 'Only let me have a piece of candle in a polkatta and I can find my way." I told her.

I was a bold chap but not bold enough to spend a night in the house of one of my actresses! Shiela did not speak thereafter but made a light for me as I suggested and asked me to hurry back to catch the last bus to Fort that carried the harbour workers. 'Be careful." She told me touching my hand briefly and looking at me with a worried look.

Thought of the week

Whoever concocted the catchy but totally misleading phrase 'The Global Village'?

As far as I can understand all the poor and poorer countries have been dumped together in this deceptive definition by the affluent 'white world'.

It is a kind of carrot offered by them to poor folk like us to watch and dream of.

In fact there is a far pithier anecdote in our climes about the goat and one of his appendages - which is far more appropriate to the situation which I shall refrain from mentioning for the sake of decency.

The 'global village' seems to be at each others' throats - within and without - thanks to the manoeuvrings of the affluent world who seem to take a most sadistic pleasure of seeing the poorer countries in total disarray and at their mercy.

They have already dirtied their air, water and even space, by their greed for affluence and supremacy. And now they dare to trespass our world too trying to tell us how to 'manage' our water, our air and our nature.

They want to own our heritages of nature such as Sinharaja and Eppawala and carry away the treasures for their own selfish greed and profit.

Nature has its own curriculum. It will tolerate man's greed and wantonness only up to a point. Right now we are witnessing nature's anger and protest against human disregard of the tenets of nature.

It has hurt us too immeasurably. It has not spared even the most powerful who think that they can manoeuvre even nature.

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