Life, its decline and glory
Text and pix Bhagya Senaratne
Youth nowadays face a lot of problems when it comes to tackling
social pressures as well as the abuse that is constantly behind them.
How the youth today face these pressures is a mystery best known that
very group.
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A Scene
from the play |
Relapse is a tale about life, highlighting its decline and its glory.
It is not any tale of life. It is a tale that depicts many life stories
and scenarios that the present day youth have to face. Commencing with
individual scenes which seem to have no connection, each scene has a
very important message to give to the audience with regard to this tale
of life.
The first scene of the drama shows a single girl at a bar, having a
drink when she is approached by a guy with cheesy comments and pickup
lines, to which she wittily replies. The girl, played by Kshahlya Pinto
Jayawardane, has seen this type of men who want nothing more than a
casual encounter. This scene is ample in portraying the reality present
day young women have to go through, in trying to avoid the random
unpleasant guy. The scene with its witty yet thought provoking dialogue
was a good kick off to the drama. The desperate guy asking the bar
tender “so tell me, what are you doing tonight?” had the audience
laughing.
This is followed by a little girl, Romali who has pitched a tent in
the middle of her living room in an attempt to hide herself from the
world. She tells her mother that she is scared of the expectations that
people have of her, including God. As a result, she has even taken
herself out of school and is enjoying her time at home. Romali’s
innocence and her way of portraying reality in which adults have
pressurized their children with high expectations, is acknowledged by
the audience. The audience loved little Romali’s character.
Homosexuality too is portrayed in the drama and it clearly highlights
the frustration homosexual’s face in trying to be accepted in society.
Like the homosexual guy rightly says “what am I supposed to do, just
because I am gay? Kill myself?” This scene addresses the treatment by
society towards homosexuals, by the relationship of two best friends and
one coming to terms with the other being gay. By addressing
controversial issues such as this, the drama hopes to sensitize people.
Extra marital affairs are another issue that society has to face.
When the ‘spark’ in the relationship vanishes, the partners are left
unsatisfied. Romesh, played by Chrishantha De Silva comes home late from
work every day to a wife who is suspicious of his behaviour. He tries to
cover his guilt by surprising her with tickets for two to Paris, as a
cover up measure. She thinks she is stupid to have been suspicious of
him, only to later find that he was indeed cheating on her.
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