mind adventures
a fringe theatre company set up in sri lanka in 1999.2084
shots from a couple of weeks ago. we’re devising a show, which we hope to stage in early december.
the first episode was based around a story from the Mahavamsa, which chronicles the origins of the sinhala race and the birth of a nation.
for the second episode, i wanted to focus on the future and ryan came up with ‘2084′, a date which has all sorts of associations which i thought might be interesting to explore. the actors were asked to envision sri lanka in 2084 and write down their thoughts. Read the rest of this entry »
an origins story
this month we have mostly been devising. after ten years of doing other people’s plays, we finally felt the time is right to do something of our own.
devised theatre is the way forward. we’re a bit in the dark at the moment, since its the first time we’ve attempted doing a show this way. fortunately, i have a strong cast, full of actors i admire and enjoy working with.
the project is tentatively titled ‘sinhabahu’, but will probably change. it began in early may when subha brought the human rights watch report of feb ‘09 to my attention. one cannot help but feel outrage and pity when reading the testimonials of people who have been caught up in the worst of the conflict, and who have had to deal with situations we will never have to face.
on reading the report, and in the aftermath of the goverment’s ‘victory’ over the ltte, i became very interested in the concept of ‘identity’. specifically, how identity is related to and used in conflict. it is the basis, after all, on which this war has been fought and won.
its a question of timing, and for us, it has been quite serendipitous. our decision to stage a devised show coincided with a visit to sri lanka of an old school friend of mine, thusitha jayasundera, who has been working in theatre in london for nearly 20 years now. she conducted an incredibly eye-opening workshop on aspects of devised theatre and story telling which has put us on the path to creating a story through which we hope to deal with several issues that we as a group feel very strongly about.
so it is with a sense of hope and liberation that we begin this new adventure.
i am very interested, and hope you can help me in relation to one particular aspect. i am looking for tamil folk tales, myths or legends in relation to sri lanka. i am not looking for those based/originated in india, as we have come across plenty of those. i am looking for something that has originated in sri lanka. an actual event, a superstition, or story or urban myth…anything really. leave your comments here, and we will contact you.
of thievery and thoththa babas
one of the issues that indi, jehan and i face as the organisers of ‘open mic’ is trying to find us a home. so far we have not been able to find a suitably chilled out place, and as you know we’ve been traipsing around like gypsies from one venue to another. however, until we sort it out, we will have to rely on the kindness of our friends to provide pretty much everything – be it the venue, sound, food or booze. bless you all.
last week, two of my family opened their doors to all of you who came. and i’m not using ‘family’ in the sense of close personal friends, i mean my actual family. i found out today that two very expensive unopened bottles of alcohol were stolen from their house that night. that is generally not how people in civilised society thank their hosts for their kind hospitality. it is however, a pretty good way of saying ‘fuck you, you trusting suckers”. Read the rest of this entry »
off to galle lit fest
we’re off to galle, where we’ll be performing at the lady hill hotel from the 29th – 31st. check the festival programme or website for more details.
lookin thru then and now
‘lookin thru my earphones’ was first performed at barefoot, and for the british council book buzz series (colombo and kandy) in 2006. of the original cast, only jehan mendis and nuzreth jalaldeen remain. only 4 pieces from the ‘06 show made it into this new production.
here’s a ‘then’ and ‘now’ look at how these pieces have changed. Read the rest of this entry »
the big voice
trained in singing by the legendary maryanne david, and in drama by my mother wendy holsinger, dilrukshi fornseka has a quality of voice that is hard to match. she grew up on a diet of music, theatre and poetry, honing her skills from a very young age. Read the rest of this entry »
the charactor
gihan de chickera rose to stardom literally overnight. ‘checkpoint – three strangely normal plays’ was devised and directed by ruwanthie de chickera (gihan’s sister) and produced by the stages theatre group. it has the distinction of being the longest running production in english theatre today, and has toured extensively at home and internationally. this production established gihan as the most versatile, gifted actor on the stage that anyone had seen in a while. Read the rest of this entry »
chitty chitty shwang shwang
she turned up at the ‘chatroom’ audition with a half-forgotten shakespearean monologue.
and i thought -
‘oh god. not another. why me? why the devil can’t people turn up at auditions with something prepared!’ groan groan mutter mutter try to be calm -
but sometimes, you can recognise a kindred spirit just by looking at them. Read the rest of this entry »
