Faceless in the crowd

By Fiona Wright
Chatroom must have been an incredibly difficult play to stage. Somehow, the virtual space in which the characters interact must be made manifest on a physical stage. Their virtual interactions, which are really enacted through the very static action of typing at a computer, must be made dynamic and dramatic, but remain as distant and disconnected as the internet itself. The virtual must be made real, somehow, without losing its peculiarities as a suspended place, as a different kind of reality, with different kinds of rules. A place very much like a theatre, perhaps, but very different to a live action stage.

But it is this tension that is also the greatest strength of the play. The audience and the actors seem to inhabit different spaces, and so can feel the effects of the different moralities much more keenly. Chatroom explores the dynamics of internet interaction, as a group of teenagers meet and manipulate each other online. It is a story about loneliness and disconnect, and the angst and frustration of being a teenager. Frustration and disempowerment drive the young characters to try and provoke another to publicly take his own life.

Chatroom is staged on a very sparse, anonymous set. The characters sit for the entire play, facing the audience, and unable to see each other. That is, the audience becomes the flat, blank screen of the computer, onto which their conversations and confrontations are projected. There is a strange sense of space and isolation between the actors, who are almost speaking in monologues, which just happen to be answered facelessly. Tracy Holsinger’s direction captures the anonymity of the internet beautifully, and with the intensity that the play demands. It is, after all, just this anonymity that allows the normal teenage characters to behave in atrocious, and alarmingly brutal ways.

The young actors were finely cast, and all gave assured and convincing performances. Brandon Ingram, as Jim, was beautifully understated, and balanced the humour and pathos of his role with aplomb. Ruvin de Silva also stood out in his supporting role as Jack. The lack of physical interaction and movement that the play involves placed a great burden for vigorous and expressive performances on its actors, and besides a few moments of possible over-acting, they did not disappoint. The biggest weaknesses of Chatroom were contained within Edna Walsh’s script, which is somewhat uneven in places. Where the young people chat and interact, the script is witty and vibrant, and captures much of the anxiety and disenchantment that comes with being a teen. The quiet manipulation of Jim is subtly and complexly drawn. However, the play does have a slight tendency to preach, especially where the older character of Laura, and the deeper issue of youth suicide is concerned.

Despite this, Chatroom is edgy and exciting theatre. It is a challenging play, and a confronting production from Mind Adventures, a company with a record of unusual and innovative productions. It is refreshing to see a play, which focuses realistically, and without being patronising, on both young people, and the vastly different media landscape that they inhabit today. This is theatre that is unafraid to take risks, and challenge the spaces where the audience is expecting to go.

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Concert for a cause

By Rukshana Rizwie
The Country Music Foundation (CMF) officially launched the 15th Country Roads concert, which is to be held on March 25 at the Mt. Lavinia Hotel. Speaking on the occasion, President of CMF Feizal Samath, said that the concert would feature the band ‘Maverick’ from Germany as well as a British country singer. The proceeds from the concert will go to aid NGOs like Save the Children.

“We are extremely happy that this year’s Country Roads concert will help children in two villages where Save the Children is working to build not only their community, but also bridges of friendship across ethnic and geographical boundaries,” said Richard Mawer, Country Director for Save the Children Sri Lanka. This much-anticipated musical festival has been of the longest standing musical traditions not only in Sri Lanka but in this part of the world as well. The magical musical event – Country Roads for Children XV has reached an amazing landmark of 15 annual concerts over a 20-year period.

“Our first concert was held in 1988 and was meant to be a one-off show’ but its phenomenal success led to a second show the following year with the support of UNICEF and thereafter it has been history in the making,” said Samath.

Country Roads for Children XV will continue its fine tradition of wholesome family entertainment with an evening of country and Western performances from Country Road fixtures like the Mavericks of Germany, to Sri Lankan crowd favourites, Wildfire. Joining these high profile bands will be devoted contributor Cosmic Rays. The night will be capped off by the Country Revival Band, a group put together especially for this concert made up of CMF veterans.
“Since its origin, Country Roads has helped raise more than 3 million rupees in contributions towards improving re-schooling, nutrition, water facilities, and renovating post tsunami libraries for children. Most recently the foundation gifted over 1,500 mosquito nets to families in Monagarala.” Said Samath.

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Portrait prints of passengers

By Jayashika Padmasiri
Roads, streets, they take us on journeys. Yellow taxies, buses, bicycles and people on the streets, beggars, merchants and passers-by that go and travel on their own journeys with thousands of thoughts, problems and the feeling of restlessness inside them. Asiri Nanayakkara’s exhibition of ‘printmaking’ titled “The print of the tyre” brings out to us the life of ordinary people and the texture of day to day street life. The theme of this exhibition is the competition and the restlessness of passenger life.

We pass by a lot of things in our life, especially on the streets. We stop sometimes to notice, search and hear words spoken or left aside and thrown in to the silences. It is an endless journey and this is an effort taken by this artist to bring out the exhaustion in the minds of people.

Tyre tracks highlight the past. They speak of history, of tracks that arrive at doors at times and of tracks that never arrive. Tyres make marks on the sand, on the road for time to erase but the colours of moments, textures of words that gathered beauty moment by moment and depicted on these tracks are the sufferings of individuals that show smiles but shed tears. This is what is portrayed in the printmaking arts.

Passengers are spectators. They watch the wheels that go fast at times, stop at various destinations, sometimes temporary and sometimes forever or permanent, and they start the engine again and leave, or race. The red light, the green light and the yellow, all is a part of the race. And during the race we look around to see other people running also, just like us. Asiri captures this race of humans. A man looking ahead in front of a steering wheel, his eyes covered by a pair of spectacles which reflects light or some distant picture that makes him drive and drive and drive. He is not smiling, and maybe he is too tired to smile, but he drives.

This is his second exhibition. Printmaking has always existed in the world but it is new to Sri Lanka. Asiri Nanayakkara graduated from the Shanthi Nikethan where he learned this rare method of art. Printmaking has four aspects, Reliet, Intaglio, Silkscreen and Lithography. The exhibition will cover all of these aspects and offer a good opportunity for students who are keen to study and learn more about this art form.
Forty five printmaking pieces will be showcased at this exhibition which will be held from March 2 to 5 from 9.00 a.m. onwards at the Lionel Wendt Art Gallery.

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Awakening and uplifting

By Rukshana Rizwie
The night I heard Erik sing, was the night that will linger long in my mind. I experienced one of the most magical and literally uplifting moments in my life. As he sang, I meditated, and as he plucked harp strings, I could feel every string of energy in me be gathered and weaved with the outside world.
Gary Zukav, author of “Seat of the Soul” said that Eriks Berglund’s music blends the physical with the non-physical through the medium of music, speaking directly to the hearts of the listeners.

Even though I sat there, in that physical realm bound by time and space at the St. Joseph’s College Chapel, I knew I wasn’t literally there. I was a blink away from astral projection. And that does not come easily. It takes years of practice and patience to accomplish that one projection. But I knew last night, what made the difference. It was Erik’s music, his lyric tenor voice, accompanied by the beautiful Celtic harp and inspired compositions. It was awakening. It was uplifting.

Someone said their body felt like a tuning fork during the concert. That’s exactly how I felt as well. I knew and felt myself in a ‘scary sense’ picking up subtle vibrations of energy. In a chapel filled to its capacity with people and their energies, I couldn’t escape it and I don’t think I wanted to either. Each string of energy running through every medium, was aligned, cleared and left me in a peaceful and vibrant state. My mind was free, my heart was open. The energy still lingers in me, I can feel it as I key in these words.

Breathing easier than ever, my body felt calm, peaceful yet fully awake. I particularly liked Erik’s song, “Where you are”, it’s dedicated to those loved ones who we’ve lost in every sense...
The healing music of the harp was breathtaking, and simply harmonious to listen to. But Erik’s voice accompanied by the orchestra was awe-inspiring. With every cord he hit, every note he sang, something was happening, something bigger than we know or could comprehend. Erik’s concert was a ticket to a journey through the celestial realm. From the first notes of the mystical harp you know his music was extraordinary. Or rather you felt it. As you continue to listen, you feel your soul being drawn out, slowly, and gently. Your physical response is one of merging and blending with the music of the higher octaves. There is no longer any sense of separation; you become one with the music. Almost like the sounds of the harp are playing your soul.

Erik’s voice is one to be awe at. Rev Lela Garretson, said that if angels were given a human voice, it would sound just like Erik Berglund. His voice is similar to that of a sacred flame, personal yet inviting. Opening your heart and bridging it with the mind, filling your entire physical being with the realisation of love
In between each song, Erik had a story to tell. He spoke of the bird song, which happens to be his mother’s favourite. At one point in time, during a concert overseas, while singing this song, a bird had flown in through the windows and twittered along with his song as it hovered overhead. He calls his Harp – Miss Harp. When he was travelling, to bought two plane tickets. One for him and the other for Miss Harp.
The song that made all the difference for me was “I am sailing”. In order to have a clear and better view of everyone seated, Erik got on the stage and with his beautiful orchestra in the background, and sang. As he looked around he smiled. His aura was bright glow of white, pure and enlightening.

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