By Kamanthi Wickramasinghe 

Pics by Waruna Wanniarachchi 

During the final weekend of August, the Lionel Wendt will come to life with ‘The Leading Man’, another masterpiece written, directed and produced by veteran playwright and dramatist Indu Dharmasena. The silver screen heartthrob Premkumar (played by Indu himself) sits down for an interview with prominent investigative journalist Kamala Liyanarachchi when unexpected visitors crash the interview, unleashing secrets, chaos and comedy.

The play includes a stellar lineup of characters who add the much-needed spice and humour to the story. Speaking to the Daily Mirror, the cast shared their thoughts about the characters they portray in ‘The Leading Man’, a little bit about the English theatre landscape in Sri Lanka and a message to the audience awaiting Indu’s next play. 

Priyanka Holsinger as Kamala Liyanarachchi 

Premkumar is in the middle of an interview with prominent investigative journalist Kamala Liyanarachchi. But she is known to be a nosy journalist who is good at winding up people and getting them to say things to add the extra spice to her story. “I'm a bit of an ‘annay’ (troublemaker)and people don’t like me because of that,” said Priyanka, a seasoned thespian who has been a part of Indu’s plays for quite a long time. “This character is very different to anything I’ve done previously,” she added. 

Reflecting on her journey giving life to various characters in Indu’s plays, Priyanka said that it’s always fun to do rehearsals, and because they work with a small group of people, they become very close. 

Responding to a query on the future of the English theatre landscape in the country, Priyanka said that more young people are also trying to do different kinds of theatre, which is good. “Some people use technology, and some are old school. Some do huge productions and small productions, so it’s good to have a combination of everything,” she said while adding that ‘The Leading Man’ is probably not a laugh-out-loud kind of play, but that it’s a family story which is also heartwarming at the end. 

Sanwada Dharmasena as Michelle 

Whenever Premkumar falls into a mess, it’s Michelle, his Private Assistant (PA), who comes forward to literally ‘handle the situation’. Having shared the stage with Indu in a majority of his productions, apart from being his beautiful wife in real life, Sanwada enjoys playing character roles over true-to-life characters. “Whenever Indu does a play, people tend to assume that I always play the significant other to whatever character he plays. It is fine for me, but… boring,” she said with a chuckle. 

“I like to play character roles such as Pamala Perera, which I played in Indu’s recent play ‘Madai Tommiya Colomba Giya’. But the character Michelle helps Premkumar a lot in getting out of chaotic situations. So I have to be on the ball with whatever goes on in his life in order to sort out the mess,” she added. 

When asked what the most enjoyable fact about being in Indu’s plays she said that it was about making people laugh. “Everyone has their fair share of problems. But for that one hour and a half if you get them to forget their problems and laugh, I think you have done a social service. No offence to other forms of theatre, but comedy is difficult to do because you have to make people laugh and get them to enjoy,” she said in conclusion, while inviting the audience to come and watch ‘The Leading Man’ and have a nice, relaxing evening. 

Shemaiah Ratnayake as Amaya

Amaya flies down from Canada, and it’s her introduction to Sri Lanka. She’s a strong and resilient young lady who’s quite mature and steadfast. Giving life to this character is Shemaiah Ratnayake, who has just completed her final year of attorney’s exams. Apart from working under a lawyer, she is a lecturer as well. 

“I’ve always loved theatre since my school days. I used to act in Shakespeare plays in several leading roles, and after I left school, I worked with The Workshop Players. I was in the most recent Julius Caesar, which was a collaboration with Stage Light and Magic,” she said. 

Speaking about Indu’s plays, she said that she has always loved his plays and has looked up to him as a director. “This is the first time I’m acting in one of Indu’s plays. I’m really honoured to be a part of this play and to act alongside him. I love the fact that he takes time for people to get used to the character. Being comfortable with a new character is important before taking the next step, and not a lot of directors do that. But Indu really focuses on it. So I really have that opportunity to get to know my character and be familiar with it,” she added. 

Having played male characters while doing Shakespeare plays, Shemaiah loves the fact that she gets to give life to Amaya. “This character is similar to me. But even though she’s a strong character, you can see her femininity and vulnerability come out at times. What I love about Amaya is that she’s going through a lot, but she needs to get a certain thing done, and she works towards it,” she said while inviting everyone to come and enjoy some comedy at the end of August. 

Anuruddha Fernando as Dr. Sean Fernando 

As an experienced stage, tele drama and TV commercial actor in addition to being a voice artiste and radio personality, Anuruddha is known for his portrayal of mature roles such as ‘Ralahamy’. But this time around, Dr. Sean Fernando has a love interest.

“Actually, it’s the first time I've had a love interest. It had always been a haaminey or wife of many years, but this time we are in love and looking to get engaged. I love this character because he’s different to anything I’ve played before,” he said. This is the second time Anuruddha is acting in one of Indu’s plays, and he loves the experience. 

Speaking about the English theatre scene, Anuruddha said that English theatre should focus more on Sri Lankan issues. “Theatre is a political forum, and it is there to cultivate change. But I don’t know whether we have used it for that. Entertainment is fine, and that should definitely be an element, and that’s what we are doing with Indu. Humour is definitely my go-to as well. I feel mainstream English theatre should have a good balance between entertainment, comedy and serious issues as well. But for that, the audience needs to build up as well,” he observed while guaranteeing that ‘The Leading Man’ would be a real treat and that it is a comedy that people wouldn’t want to miss.

Michael Holsinger as Peter Heladiva

Peter Heladiva is Premkumar’s uncle, who lives with him at his house. Giving life to this character is Michael Holsinger, an experienced stage drama actor and communications specialist. 

Speaking about his character, Michael said that Uncle Peter is doddering around, and everybody else sends him round the bend. “They keep telling me about a ghost when I actually lied about seeing a ghost. So one lie leads to another,” he said. 

Michael had started acting in Indu’s plays in 1987. “Back then, I was Indu’s younger brother as a 25-year-old boy. By the time I stopped due to work pressure in the ‘90s, I played Indu’s grandfather. So my progression was quite fast, from younger brother to grandfather,” Michael said with a chuckle. 

Speaking about the English theatre scene, he said that one of his observations is with regard to the conflict between professional and amateur productions. He said that it is a bad precedent and that both could exist in the present theatre landscape. 

While inviting crowds to enjoy ‘The Leading Man’, Michael reiterated the fact that it is not a slapstick comedy but a more refined play. “People will not laugh out loud, but they’ll laugh at the silly things that are happening,” he said in conclusion. 

Michelle Herft as Geethani

Like Malani and Gamini, Geethani and Premkumar have always been the silver screen couple. Geethani considers herself a popular actress and wouldn’t want to miss clicking a selfie with her fans. Geethani’s character is brought to life by Michelle Herft, dramatist and award-winning actress. 

Michelle played Geethani in 2004 when the play was staged for the second time. “So I’m playing the same role, but it has been modified to real-time. Back then, of course, I played it a little bit differently. She’s one of the sought-after actresses, and she believes she’s entitled to have a role in the next film. In fact, I was much younger back then, but now she’s an ageing actress and it's relatable,” she added.  

Having shared the stage with Indu in numerous plays, Michelle says that it had been a beautiful experience working with him. Speaking about English theatre in the next 10 years, Michelle said that it is important to cultivate a theatre-going audience. I think theatre is so important in society because it’s relatable. So we need to make people come to more theatre. It’s an amazing experience, unlike in other countries where English theatre actors do it as a job. Here we do our job, and acting is something additional. So it’s important for people to come and support actors and actresses like that,” she opined while inviting the audience for a classy night of comedy at the end of August.

‘The Leading Man’ will be staged at the Lionel Wendt on 29th, 30th and 31st August from 7.30 pm onwards. To reserve your tickets, drop a WhatsApp message to +94 77 341 9557.