{"id":34989,"date":"2014-11-18T11:11:31","date_gmt":"2014-11-18T16:11:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=34989"},"modified":"2014-11-18T11:26:49","modified_gmt":"2014-11-18T16:26:49","slug":"ruwanthi-de-chickeras-play-without-wordswalking-pathwalks-again-at-lionel-wendt-on-november-21-and-22","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=34989","title":{"rendered":"Ruwanthi de Chickera\u2019s Play Without Words\u201dWalking Path\u201dWalks Again at Lionel Wendt on November 21 and 22"},"content":{"rendered":"

By <\/p>\n

Uditha Jayasinghe <\/strong><\/p>\n

\"IMG_8605.JPG\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Brilliant and brave are two appropriate words to describe Ruwanthie de Chickera<\/strong>. Her latest venture, a play without words titled \u2018Walking Path,\u2019<\/strong> is returning to the Lionel Wendt<\/strong> on 21 and 22 November<\/strong>. It will be staged at 3:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. Grab your tickets for a thought provoking and unique experience.
\nIn an interview<\/strong> with the Weekend FT,<\/strong> ahead of the play Ruwanthie <\/strong>shared her thoughts on \u2018Walking Path\u2019<\/strong> and as per her usual style presented stark insights<\/strong> into Sri Lanka\u2019s society.<\/em>
\n<\/p>\n

Following are excerpts:<\/strong>
\n
\nQ:Was there any special reason for bringing \u2018Walking Path\u2019 back on the boards?<\/strong><\/p>\n

We only ran it for two days when we opened in July. It was something new and we were not sure how the audience would take to it. But the response has been overwhelming. So we feel that there are more people who would want to see this play, now that they have heard about it. The word has gotten out about the play \u2013 that it is something new and unusual, we have had excellent reviews \u2013 there are students of theatre who want to see it, because of its style; the play has been selected for an international theatre festival in December. All these are reasons for staging it again\u2026…<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n


\nQ:There has been a lot of discussion recently on the role of satire in provoking people to act or think differently about their political environment. Do you see \u2018Walking Path\u2019 as satire? What sort of response would you like to see from the audience?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Satire is an exaggerated form of expression. Its purpose is to ridicule vices in society through exaggerated portrayal of reality. \u2018Walking Path\u2019 does not slip into this definition easily\u2026 one of our reviewers (Shanaka Amarasinghe)recently said of \u2018Walking Path\u2019: \u2018Too often, we lampoon politicians and external figures without looking within ourselves and questioning our tacit complicity in allowing Colombo to become what it is. Walking Path did just that. The play was conceived after careful observation of the subject matter, and it was interesting to see how very little was exaggerated in this satirical enterprise. Walking Path held up a mirror to its audience, through which they would have seen many reflections of themselves.\u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n

So, I think rather than satire, it is a reflection of society. We worked very hard to control the acting of the performers, control the portrayal of our observations so that we leave the maximum space for people to interpret the action on stage , without us \u2018poking\u2019 an opinion onto a situation.<\/p>\n


\nQ: Do you think \u2018Walking Path\u2019 is seen in too political a light? What other elements would you like the audience to relate to?
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

I don\u2019t think art can be too political. But I think it can be too pedantic and too preachy\u2026 and then, for me, it ceases to be art, it becomes propaganda or awareness building or mobilisation\u2026
\nFor something to remain within the realm of art, no matter how political it gets, it needs to be balanced perfectly with craft and control, be non-judgmental. There needs to be space for whoever watches it, whoever, to enter into negotiation with it. There has to be insight, there has to be an attempt at reaching for higher understanding of a situation by travelling deeper and yet deeper. There has to be self reflection. This is the fine balance that all artistes need to keep. Sometimes we fail, sometimes we succeed.<\/p>\n

Just because a play is political, it should not cease to be everything else that draws people closer towards insight and deeper understanding of life. So, I would like to think that \u2018Walking Path,\u2019 like the other work we have created is also really funny and human and terribly sad and occasionally wise and bold and shocking and strange all of this together and in turn. I would like to think it caters to the whole human experience \u2013 emotional, intellectual, spiritual, political, sexual, personal, collective. This is the place of deep learning.<\/p>\n

Q: \u2018Walking Path\u2019 is the first non-language drama ever staged in Sri Lanka and has received rave reviews. Would you do more plays like this in the future? Do you believe it should become a genre in its own right locally?
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

The decision to take language out came out of the process of creating the play, because we created the play by visiting the walking paths and observing the behaviour of the people there.<\/p>\n

In the walking paths, everything can be seen and every little can be heard. So we see this human behaviour and we form our own opinions about what is happening. Everyone is on display \u2013 everyone is watching everyone else.<\/p>\n

There are many layers of being observed. The people exercising watching each other, the people watching the people exercising, the people outside the park who watch the people in the parks, the military who are watching everyone \u2013 and someone is always watching the military\u2026<\/p>\n

In this situation, it seemed ridiculous to try and limit and trap and define situations with words, because this is not the language of these parks.<\/p>\n

So that was our journey which brought us to taking out words. But having done that, I feel that it has been a very liberating experience, creatively. And I see a huge amount of potential for exploring this further. So yes, I do hope that more plays will go down this path.<\/p>\n

Q: One could argue \u2018Walking Path\u2019 expertly fuses performers of different backgrounds to communicate with one specific class of people as walking paths are largely limited to the upper middle class, aspirational and urbanised community. Yet this same class is often accused of being the most apathetic when it comes to politics and policies depicted in the drama. Therefore do you feel \u2018Walking Path\u2019 could communicate with a wider audience? Could it find a resonance with such an audience?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I think the biggest mistake that people can make is to think \u2018we are not portrayed in \u2018Walking Path\u2019 because we don\u2019t visit the walking paths and so this play is not for us\u2019\u2026 If the walking paths only cater to a certain class in our society, then this is a huge problem. This is an issue.<\/p>\n

Since when are places of public recreation open to only certain classes? This was not the situation a few years back. Recreation is not a prerogative of the rich. If people of a certain class are made to feel uncomfortable or unwelcome in these places, what is happening to our society? Who do we think we are? What do we think we are becoming? Both kinds of people \u2013 those who feel welcome in these walking paths and those who feel unwelcome in these walking paths need to address these questions.<\/p>\n

With regards to the political apathy of the class of people who patronise these parks, well\u2026 development of a society is not new stones laid out on the pavement or nicely cut lawns. We have to develop our society from within. We have to address the dirt, the issues on the inside \u2013 not focus on cleaning up the surface.<\/p>\n

We continue to fool ourselves into thinking that we are a better people, we are a developed people because our city looks and smells better\u2026 this is just foolish. We are nothing but a deeply, deeply, terminally sick, broken and malfunctioning patient with a ridiculous facelift.<\/p>\n

Q: At the end of the play one person breaks away from the suppressive system but with drastic consequences. Is \u2018Walking Path\u2019 a play without hope? If there is hope where would an audience find it?<\/strong><\/p>\n

A: The tragedy of what happens at the end to the one person who questions the system is not what is meted out to him by the establishment. I don\u2019t think there has ever been faith in the establishment. But there has been faith in the people. In the structures of civil society. In the courage of ordinary people who will stand up for someone else\u2019s right to justice.<\/p>\n

In this play, the person is attacked by the establishment and then ignored by the people. The people of the walking path continue to run by, looking away. This is the situation of \u2018no hope\u2019 that is so crippling. The fear that when we fall victim in this system, no one will help us. Our society is paralysed by this fear. This fear of isolation. And this makes us very weak. But it is only we who can change this.<\/p>\n

This is not a play without hope. It\u2019s a play that challenges us to create the hope that we all need. No one else needs be responsible for this. We need to do it ourselves. We need to stop running round and round in circles, blinkered, imagining that because we are jogging in pretty parks in the city, that everything is ok with the country.<\/p>\n

Courtesy:Daily FT<\/em><\/p>\n

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By Uditha Jayasinghe Brilliant and brave are two appropriate words to describe Ruwanthie de Chickera. Her latest venture, a play without words titled \u2018Walking Path,\u2019 is returning to the Lionel Wendt on 21 and 22 November. It will be staged at 3:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. Grab your tickets for a thought provoking and unique …<\/p>\n

Continue reading ‘Ruwanthi de Chickera\u2019s Play Without Words\u201dWalking Path\u201dWalks Again at Lionel Wendt on November 21 and 22’ »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[12],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34989"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=34989"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34989\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34997,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34989\/revisions\/34997"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=34989"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=34989"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=34989"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}