An "ASAMA" Day of Play

October 24, 2023

An "ASAMA" Day of Play

(A simple audience-perspective review of ASAMA Drama Festival held on the 03rd of October 2023 at Elphinstone Theatre , with NO spoilers. )

After 12 hours of 5 back to back theatrical presentations that were overwhelmingly wholesome, when I reach home around 11 pm and find out that the gate is locked , call my sister to open it, and as she delays, ask myself "නැගනිය ගෙදොර විවෘත කිර්‍රිමට ප්‍රමාද වන්නේ මන්ද?!" then you know you've had an impactful day 😁

The ASAMA Theatre festival presented by the Asama academy headed by the renown theatrical talent Akhila Sapumal, had a full day of back to back plays presented at the Elphinstone Théâtre.

Oedipus by Sophocles, Julius Ceaser by Shakespeare, the Japanase dramas from Noh and Kabuki categories, Henrik Ibsen's The Doll's House, Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot, Bertolt Brecht's The Threepenny Opera, and the Shakuntala by Kalidasa, were all presented in Sinhalese by an exceptional cast, awe-inspiring a full house of undergraduates, students, and theatre aspirants.

Although my health took a bit of a downfall due to the viral flu and the monsoon, a couple of weeks later now, I still recall the vivid audio-visual experience of all those plays. Let's look at what I enjoyed the most about each production:

Oedipus had a wee bit of a sound issue as we couldn't hear the Chorus properly. Except for the word "Apollo", I cannot recall any other lyric from their songs. Akhila sir apologized for this technical mishap, after the play, showing his responsibility and his dependability as head of production. Well despite the 'Apollo songs', the entire play was intense and very real. My favorite acts were by the Shepherds played by Thimanka Jayalath and Priyankara Gunasekara . They were so authentic and intense that it reminded me of of the iconic movie "The Ten Commandments".

I thought that Akhila sir's version of Julius Ceaser would make Shakespeare himself very proud. The director incorporated the role of Shakespeare himself as the narrator of the story. To me, Shalitha Avishka who played Cassius was extraordinary, clearly embodying the dilemmic and yet steadfast characteristics of the role properly. Brutus played by Thimanka Jayalath and his servant had great acting chemistry. Especial mention should be definitely given to the Make up artists and costume designers who made very specific effort with the characterization.

The Japanese Drama Festival, comprised of 3 short plays unique to Japanese classical theatre culture ; Noh, and Kabuki.

In Noh theatre, the role of a deranged mother looking is quite common, and the first Japanese play presented by Asama encompassed this element of melancholia. I must say, after all 3 plays ended I was astounded and overwhelmed by the perfection of Eranga Ilangakoon who played the main roles in all three presentations.

The second Noh play introduced by Akhila sir in Sinhala as "වහ", was completely carried on the supremely talented shoulders of Champa Sarojini and Ravindra Rajapakse who played the roles of the two mischievous servants. Their comic timing, delivery, and expressions were so on point that they kept the audience in stitches throughout and made sure the message was presented accurately. Special mention to the stage settings and props created that enhanced the entire visual experience. Another interesting and endearing aspect was my friend Angelo Gamage's voice presenting the narrative verses in song. There are few people who have mastered singing in bass like he does.

The third play of this series was a intrinsic Kabuki presentation of the "Prince and Demon" which was only 7 minutes in length but captivated the audience in every sense.

What awed me about the Japanese theatrical demonstration was the ingrained honesty and reverence the creators paid to the original culture and its subdivisions. From the costuming, the disciplined composure on stage by all the actors including those who only crossed stage for a minute or two, to the very expressions of the actor's visages, for me, the authenticity was on point.

I became an instant fan of Eranga Ilangakoon (mentioning again) for how he embraced his feminine side so perfectly well that even the nuances of his smallest gesture and move embodied the role and for a minute I actually doubted that he was indeed a male actor.

One of my favorite plays, The Doll's House by Henrik Ibsen was presented as රූකඩ ගෙදර, and I must say that the play stood stable, fun, and real on the talented shoulders of director Akhila who played Torvald, and Dilshi Fernando who played Nora. There were some portions of the play which were not audible, and due to that perhaps some of the audiences would not have understood the scene, where Nora describes to her friend Kristine Linde about the financial distress and the reason behind it, unless they are familiar with the narrative of the play.

I like the tiny improvisations the actors made during the play when lost track of sequence or dialogue. To me, it was so natural; I doubt the majority even understood that they were but mere improvisations.

The next presentation was the uproarious Three Penny Opera by Bertold Brecht. This was an instant hit with the audience. The wit, incessant humor and wild narrative were aptly presented by all of the cast, gaining constant whistling, laughter, and wholesome engagement from the audience. I cannot pinpoint who was the better performer; EVERY single person on stage delivered 100% accurately. Mack the Knife, renamed as "Mackie" in this Sinhala adaptation, played by Buddhika Rajapakse, did his job "exactly" right. Even the improvisations were apt, and his expressions were so accurate. I personally believe it would have been an excellent climactic experience if they performed this play as the finale of the drama festival.

Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot, an abstract play which is a cult-classic but also known as an educational piece of literature, was presented with an extremely careful watch on the translation. It was endearing how the themes of "time", and "purposelessness" were portrayed , suiting the dialog as much as possible to the understanding of a general Sinhala audience.

The classic Shakuntala, written by sage Kalidasa in the 5th century CE was presented as the last performance of the day. I believe it should have been perhaps presented a little earlier as some of the audience found themselves being a little exhumated due to the time lapses. However it is understandable and commendable how the ASAMA team must have had their own logistical reasons to place the order of the agenda as it was.

My attention was totally on Nelum who played Shakuntala's friend Anasuya. To me personally, Ruwani who played the role Gautami and the former , were the most convincing actors of the play. There were some portions of the dialogue that were not audible, but I believe the essence of the classical play was fully captured by the cast and presented aptly by the director that it never felt cringy or out of line at all.

Let me give more credit where it is due. What really impressed me about all the plays presented on this inspirational back-to-back drama fest , was how the producers and creators kept the authenticity of each production intact and extremely fit for the original contexts and cultures they were written and produced from. The sets were beautiful and significant, thanks to Gayan Sandakelum. The costumes did not look cheap and thrifty, but simple yet appropriate. Kudos to Sewwandi Withanage, Iresha Janaki and Kitmini Hemachandra. I was also very impressed by the makeup and hairdos, especially in Julius Ceaser. Chamara Anudath Rajapakse did a brilliant job making our ordinary brown complexion match with so many other ethnicities and various characters from different cultures.

I must also mention the music of all plays which complimented the theatrical display delightfully well.

I feel a little sad about Heshan Kuruppu's efforts as his complete score was not able to be enjoyed properly due to a sound issue. However his talent was quite obvious.

Gayan C Bentarage proved his professionalism so well especially with the music of the Japanese plays and the Threepenny Opera.

A definite standing ovation must go to Akhila Sapumal whose choreography and direction was solid proof that brininging out the best of a performer-group lies in the hands and heart of a well-read, social-savvy team leader.

It's a definite landmark in national theatre that ASAMA has produced such an අසමසම group of performers and theatrical creators. I sincerely hope that they will continue their good work and that the whole island will witness these global masterpieces in our Sinhala language. I also encourage Akhila Sir to direct and produce some plays in Tamil and English as well, which would definitely take the group's creative success to a higher level.

Awaiting the next production which is coming up in December, #wordswithanu wishes ASAMA who literally made what could have been a logistical and creative nightmare, so fluidly victorious, all the very best for a definite, golden future in the Arts.

#wordswithanu