do you know these people?

November 8, 2007 at 7:16 pm · Filed under mind adventures

have you worked with them? do you have pictures or articles with/about them? would you be willing to speak about them?a few years ago, a coffee-table-ish book came out called ‘applause at the wendt’, which claimed to cover the history of the lionel wendt theatre alongside the development of local english theatre and its productions. the years stated are 1953 – 2003.

most of the book covers the early practitioners in great detail, which is vital because we all need to know something about where we come from. but these articles are more like memoirs and as such largely descriptive, floridly so at times. there are plenty of eulogies for richard de zoysa. bless the man, he almost taught me a level drama. he was assassinated murdered tortured to death before we could begin. god knows we could use a man like him in times like these. if only to keep us theatre people real and alive to what our purpose should be. the articles are largely anecdotal, and don’t attempt to analyse his politics or their impact and influence on theatre.

as a theatre scholar, i find this frustrating. particularly as i teach drama and theatre to many young people today. also because the development of english theatre in sri lanka is a core aspect of my post graduate thesis, and the lack of lucid, objective writing drives me nuts.

and most baffling of all – considering its a book that claims to cover everything up to 2003, it does not make much mention at all of some of the biggest and most important theatre practitioners that have been active for 20 years or more now. two or three lines about them here and there, and even then, not all of them.

these people :-

jerome l. de silva

steve de la zilwa,

indu dharmasena

wendy whatmore

irene wanigaratne

jith peiries

neidra vittachchi

nafeesa amirudeen

mohamed adamaly

feroze kamardeen

ruwanthie de chickera

and more, including, with all possible humility, myself 🙂

oh, there’s a small essay at the back, which mentions jehan aloysius, but the rest of us are just bunched together in ‘and others’ or something equally inept.

all of us had already had several productions each at the wendt, years before this book came out in 2003. not to mention that companies like the workshop players and stagelight&magic inc have contributed significantly to recent technological advancements at the theatre. could they just not be bothered? did it sound too much like research?

so i’m going to put together all the evidence i can about english theatre in the last 30 years. this will include not only profiles of companies and directors, but also of actors, all kinds of designers, producers, technology, sponsors, everything.

i’m starting by searching online for everything about my own company. and i’ll be looking simultaneously for press of other companies’ shows too. if you’ve been in a show at the wendt and it has been covered in the press, let me know.

also please contact me if you have pictures, newspaper articles, have been in any productions with the listed people above. and of course, i’d love to hear your stories : )

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