Theatre with punch

After the exciting second year of the theatre festival in which it has proved life is more than a stage, Colombo of course being the most exciting setting Juliet Coombe finds out why Punchi Theatre is the star all year round in the heart of Borella. Like Willy Lomax's kitchen, King Lear's hearth, and that space you wait for Godot, Punchi Theatre protrudes out of the busy curvature of Cotta Road in Borella.

You can't stop yourself from being in awe from the regal majesty and simplicity like a trail of earthworm burrows and most of all the Punchi theatre is like a left behind set from a German Expressionism film, and you get a sense of the human drama as it unfolds both inside and outside the theatre.

What you don't however see at immediate glance is that this place has nurtured, bred, fed, clothed and disrobed many dramas from old withering, time-tested ghouls like Shakespeare, Brecht and Tennessee Williams to relatively new, fresh, appalling, witty, sardonic, saucy, dangerous and sometimes profound yet unmistakably original visions fermented by young upstarts, wannabe anarchists and bewitching wannabe starlets.

Histrionic shriek of a future medusa

As you wander around inside in search of the molten core of this behemoth, don't call 911 if you hear the occasional histrionic shriek of a future medusa or an epic swashbuckler with clanging swords over head being rehearsed in the many cavernous spaces that are made open to all producers at nominal almost unheard of rates, because in short the owners love theatre. In fact its incredible how far a generous waiters tip will travel when a person is determined enough anything and everything is possible.

Something you will discover when you meet the man and his woman, the famous Weeramuni's who harken back to the old school, were in London for 29 years, where Namel Weeramuni practiced law. They are the last remnants of the lost generation, that fecund period which birthed some of the finest dramatists and thespians of the likes of Ediriweera Sarathchandra and Henry Jayasena.

The idea of a Punchi theatre came to Namel in 1963 while acting in plays at school. Namel says "we did not have proper rehearsal spaces back then so we practiced under trees and then at Royal College in Colombo". When working pulling pints in London and being a waitor to put himself through college Namel says, "I started receiving huge tips and my wife Malani suggested putting the extra tip cash away in a biscuit tin to fund the creation of my dream a little theatre, Punchi (small)." Finally in 1984 they had enough money to buy the land and started building in 2002 and on the same day they opened a year later October 22, 2003. This 190 seat intimate and incredibly charming theatre and cinema is an attraction in its own right. Namel Weeramuni says, "I want this to be a classic theatre, akin to the Royal Shakespeare Company in the UK and give young writers and actors a chance to show their verbosity and raw acting talent. So if you are a jester in the king's court reduced to howl with laughter and scream at your fate, o noble and weary players! Don't miss the play and certainly never a first of last night.

Discussion spot

Apart from all this the Punchi Theatre is also now popular as a venue for having film screenings and accompanying discussions with film critics, film directors, screenwriters and fellow cineastes about subjects ranging from Nicholas Ray to other foreign art house cinematic masterworks and classics while at the same time being a platform for book launches and readings.

One of Namel's and Malini's ambitious productions that they plan to bring to fruition in the future is to do an English language adaptation of Ediriweera Sarachchandra's classic Singhabahu, in all its grandeur and epic proportions.

Open from 8.30am to 6pm to visit at number 37, Cotta Road, Borella. You can book tickets any day of the week for theatre performances, which usually start at 7pm. Tel: +94 112 672 121 for more information on the latest performances or a tour around this small theatre with a very large heart.

The most noteworthy event that is in its second incarnation this year and will be ending today with a very own Sri Lankan production entitled 'Knotted Ropes' directed by festival founder M. Safeer and acted by Indian students of the FLAME School of Performing Arts, Pune is the immensely laudatory second Colombo International Theatre Festival taking place at the British College of Colombo in Borella.

The festival which started last week has seen state travelling players from Azerbaijan, Saudi Arabia (a novelty for them too) and a lovely couple from Austria performing alongside festival mainstays India, while the scheduled participation of Nepal and Egypt was cut short due to visa troubles. Workshops and performances have taken places in satellite locations like the Kelaniya University, Peradeniya University, Batticaloa, Jaffna and the German Cultural Centre - Goethe, and have been very well received and all this without any official state or corporate sponsorship and unlike last year even the embassies, high commissions and consulates haven't come on board. Lamentable as this situation is, the strong organizing has bandied together and soldered on against all odds with perseverance and words cannot express the valiant strength of this effort.