Patriotism goes on stage
Ishara Jayawardane
It was truly an eventful evening at the Bishop’s College Auditorium
when Beyond Borders launched a unique experiment in the field of
theatre. It was an overwhelming success well received by the audience.
The idea was to hold a play on the theme patriotism - but not just any
play.
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David Senanayake in conversation with his boss Pictures by
Aamina Nizar |
After the performance the audience had the power to alter the ending.
Before the play started the audience was informed that the ending would
be terrible. However the audience had the opportunity to intervene in
the play and interact with it.
If they feel that a certain scene could be altered to prevent the
unpleasant ending they could stop the play and voice their opinion. Then
they are invited to get on to the stage and act the part of an
individual/actor who they feel could make the difference.
The play is about a typical middle class English-speaking family
going through the troubles of a Colombo society life. David and Sharon
Senanayake are married and expecting a child. David is, to put it
simply, a man with dogma. His father was a famous military man. David’s
issues run deep. He has problems with the government. He has ideas of
how the state should function and is very vociferous about it.
He is in the advertising field which carries with it meetings,
deadlines and expectations. The play is an exploration of patriotism
with David being the protagonist. At the end of the play there is a
scene of David being tortured with Sharon fallen on the ground.
Actors such as David’s mother-in-law, his mentor, and many others,
play crucial roles in causing the ending. Several brave people in the
audience at Bishop’s Auditorium called the play as they saw it, got on
stage and acted out the part as they saw fit.
Beyond Borders is a youth run, youth lead voluntary organization non
profit. We tend to work with a lot of issues that we think the youth are
worried about. Most of these issues are social issues.
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Some of David’s friends |
We have about three or four projects running now, one is with
environmental waste management and the other one is peace and
government. Another is higher education reforms. Another is on the
constitution. “We are trying to simplify the constitution for the
youth. In addition to that we have forum theatre,” said the project
manager Halik Azeez.
However, before the Beyond Borders play, another play took place as
an opener. This was Hindu mythological interpretation of a famous
Buddhist play. It is the story of four princes who enter a beautiful
forest.
The forest is guarded by a gurula bird that engages in cannibalism.
It kills all who enter the forest. It lays an ambush for the four
princes but they fight and best it. They then enter an arid part of the
country where the youngest prince goes in search for water. He then
comes across a pool where there is a she-demon who appears as a
beautiful woman. He is imprisoned by her.
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David Senanayake talks to his friend with his wife Sharon
looking on |
The other brothers, who come searching for their brother, come to the
pool and are enticed by the she demon to come into the pool. However
they see footprints leading to the pool but none coming out of it. The
princes use bamboos to suck water from the pond and in doing so her
power wanes. The younger brother is released and they go home happily.
The entire play was very mystical. The costumes were very colourful.
The drums added a primeval element to the performances. The singing and
dancing, very much eastern. The depiction of the battle of the gurula
bird was very passionate and vigorous.
“I belong to the German Technical Corporation. For me, the proudest
moment is that it is an all Sinhalese cast performing in Tamil. It is a
rare thing. You wouldn’t find a situation like this, so really the honor
is for them because they have learnt to overcome barriers. It is a mixed
cast but the performance was all Sinhalese but they were trained by the
Tamils. Today’s event is reflex 2010 and it is part of the conference we
have.
It is a conference to examine reconciliation and diversity. So this
is just one of those cultural events. I work for FLICT a project of
German Technical Corporation. We fund civil society organizations like
Beyond Borders and they are one of our partners, said Marisa Fernando. |
