Shakespeare comes alive
Bhagya SENARATNE
The final round of the All Island Interschool Shakespeare Drama
Competition was held on October 2 with the competitions of the girls'
category. Ave Maria Convent Negombo, Girls' High School Kandy, Ladies'
College and Visakha Vidyalaya competed in this final rou nd.
From stomach splitting laughter to downright seriousness, the
audience - those who had not been to the semis - were kept on the edge
of their seats in wonderment, at how the plays were to proceed. The
Shakespearean dramas were given a twist and turn and the schools gave
off an overall stunning performance.
A scene from the Shakespearean Drama Competition |
However there were a few slips to be seen in the four plays. From
projection to blunders in lighting, it was felt that the casts and crews
needed to brush up their parts before they came on stage. Despite all
that the contestants presented a spectacular performance.
Starting the final round of the competition with Ave Maria's 'As You
Like It' saw the play making use of the entire stage. It was visible
that some of the props used during the play were inconvenient to the
actresses. The overall performance of the cast was commendable.
Witty gestures
'A Midsummer Night's Dream' performed by Girls' High School Kandy was
an extremely unusual performance. With a switch from Greek to Kandyan
the cast made the play more Sri Lankan. With Shakespearean language and
the Kandyan attire, the overall experience was extraordinary.
This was deemed apt considering the choice of scenes and the focus of
the play. Laying weight on the comic elements of the play and the witty
gestures used left the audience drowning in laughter. Another rare feat
was the involvement of a canine on stage.
Ladies' College performing 'Much Ado About Nothing' was entertaining
while at the same time well directed. It was a play which portrayed
strong characters and unusual human sets. The dancers used in the play
instead of sets is worthy of mentioning, as the flow of the play was
maintained due to this. Even though nothing out of the ordinary was
perceived within this play, the subtle humour, the mastered use of
lights and the overall performance were entertaining.
Polished and expert look
The final play 'Romeo and Juliet' by Visakha Vidyalaya was neatly
presented. The scenes were cleverly edited which gave the play a
polished and expert look. Though the play was slightly overacted the
performance was outstanding with good sound effects.
Ladies' College went on to win the Girls' category of the Interschool
Shakespeare Drama Competition, while Visakha Vidyalaya was the
Runner-up. Ave Maria Convent Negombo came in as the second Runners-up
and Girls' High School Kandy were the third Runners-up of the night.
Girls' High School Kandy also won the Best Outstation Schools Award. As
for individual awards, Best Actress All Island was awarded to Tehani
Welgama of Ladies' College, while the Best Supporting Actress was
awarded to Naveka Karunarathne of Visakha Vidyalaya. The Best Actress
Outstation Schools was awarded to Niroshi Perera of Ave Maria Convent
Negombo.
The boys' schools competitions, held on October 4, were equally
entertaining. D. S. Senanayake College, Maris Stella College Negombo,
St. Joseph's College, and Wesley College competed in this final round.
The plays ranged from mediocre to excellence, while the schools had
interesting innovations up their sleeves! There are a few criticisms to
be made of the overall performance of the plays. As the panel of judges
noted 'there is room for improvement'. It was felt that the casts needed
to pay more attention to aspects of drama such as voice projection and
diction. Other than for which the overall plays were well enacted.
Excellent diction
The competition started with D. S. Senanayake College's 'Romeo and
Juliet'. Character-wise, Mercutio was well played. The comic aspects
were strongly brought out. However, Romeo's role should have been
improved.
In terms of the entire play, the audience felt it was too long. The
lapse of time was felt with the emphasis, the scenes chosen had on the
entire play. Therefore, the audience thought that it was less
entertaining.
Maris Stella College's 'A Mid Summer Night's Dream' was much liked by
the audience. The funny actions and the punning had the audience in
tears with laughter. Puck's role needs special mentioning as it was well
enacted. In terms of criticism, they need to work on voice projection,
but the overall performance was excellent.
'Hamlet' performed by St. Joseph's College was quite exceptional.
With a cleverly edited script the play was neatly directed. With
excellent diction and a good use of the entire stage, they pulled off a
exceptional performance.
Wesley College too performed A 'Midsummer Night's Dream'. Their use
of sets was limited to chairs which were pilled high, which paved way
for the smooth flow of the play. Here too the character of Puck was well
played.
A big shout-out
In terms of individual awards the Best Actor All Island was awarded
to Daminda Wijayaratne of Maris Stella College Negombo. The Best
Supporting Actor was awarded to Prathap Kumarapperuma of St. Joseph's
College and the Best Actor for Outstation Schools was awarded to Daminda
Wijayaratne of Maris Stella College Negombo. As for the schools awards,
the Best Outstation Boys' School Award was awarded to Maris Stella
College, Negombo.
The third Runner-up school was Wesley College; the second Runner-up
was St. Joseph's College, while the Runner- up was awarded to D. S.
Senanayake College. The Winners of the Interschool Shakespeare Drama
Competition- Boys' Schools was awarded to Maris Stella College, Negombo.
Hemaka Amarasooriya of Singer Sri Lanka was the Chief Guest, while
Singer Sri Lanka was the sponsor for the event. The Awards were handed
over by Rtn. Dulip Jayamaha, President of the Rotary Club of Colombo
North and D. R. A. Kannangara, President of the Colombo YMCA. Last but
not least, a big shout-out to the YMCA and the Rotary Club of Colombo
North for organising a successful event of this nature annually. |