By Kamanthi Wickramasinghe 
Pics by Waruna Wanniarachchi 

Set in a ‘mythical and imagined’ Ceylon in the late 1950s and early 1960s, William Shakespeare’s historical tragedy Julius Caesar will come to life at the S. Thomas’ College, Mt. Lavinia main hall this weekend. Inspired by the assassination of S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike and the purported, failed coup of 1962, the play explores Julius Caesar as a historical figure, Julius Caesar in Shakespeare, along with a Sri Lankan twist. Presented by the English Drama Society of the School by the Sea, the play is entirely a homegrown production, with its direction, make-up, costumes, music, backstage, marketing and every other aspect being handled by the staff. 

“I think it’s the only play in Shakespeare where at three points the characters say ‘I knew him at school’, so it’s kind of an old boys’ play and it being the 175th anniversary it kind of made sense to do this production,” said director Dylan Perera in an interview with the Daily Mirror Life.

He said that since there are only two female roles, the play is kind of tailor-made for a boys’ school. 

“For me it’s a bit awkward because there’s a Latin term which says ‘De mortuis nil nisi bonum’ (Of the dead speak only good), but here we are exploring them with artistic license. But the justification is that if they are public figures, they give up that right to a public life even in history,” he added. 

Perera said that one of the joys of doing this production is seeing how the actors were “coming out of their own feet and realising that they could perform their roles.”

In her remarks, Deputy Head of Primary and assistant director of the play Suramya Hettiarachchi said that S. Thomas’ College has produced four prime ministers, in addition to statesmen, businessmen, athletes and so on.

“We had key players from this school during those very historical periods of time. The themes of war, intrigue, supernatural, love-hate-revenge cannot be changed, but it’s recurring. So it’s interesting to see in each period how these events have taken place. The themes of the bard remain the same, but we are looking at it from a Sri Lankan lens,” she added. 

She said that a certain amount of editing had been done but that it’s a full-length play shortened to a little more than one and a half hours. “The characters remain, but how they look would be a surprise.” 

The Daily Mirror Life also spoke with the four main characters of the play. Akein Hikkaduwa, President of the English Drama Society, gives life to Cassius, Brutus’ best friend and the manipulative mastermind behind the conspiracy to assassinate Caesar.

According to him, Cassius is a character that is misunderstood. “I don’t see him as a villain. He is a character that yearns to be understood, and that’s why he acts out these things, manipulates people, not out of villainy but because he wants to be understood. He wants people to hear him out. There is a lot of emotional depth to this character, like everybody else’s character,” he said. 

With his experience in previous Shakespeare productions such as Othello and several other short plays, Akein said that this character was different to the other characters he had been used to playing. “I always played the character who gets fooled or tricked, but now I’m doing a character who tricks others to follow my agenda,” he added.

Caesar would be Akein’s final school production, and he believes that it would be a good send-off to the senior boys in College participating in this production. 

Anthony Rubasinghe gives life to the character of Julius Caesar. For him, it’s not just about playing the role of Caesar. The character merges Julius Caesar and former Prime Minister S. W. R. D Bandaranaike. 

“I don’t like Caesar, and I don’t think anyone is supposed to like Caesar. He’s a very arrogant character; he’s full of himself. But even after his death, Caesar haunts the narrative to some extent. So when he dies, I have to make people sympathise with his death. I can’t make the audience hate me. I need them on my side as well. So that duality is very tough to portray,” he said.

He hadn’t been involved in a major production of this nature before. “It’s a very complicated role to take on, and it’s my first major production with the college. It’s very nerve-wracking, but I’m very excited for the play,” Rubasinghe added. 

Despite having a chaotic, hedonistic lifestyle, Mark Antony was one of Caesar’s trusted generals. Mark Antony in this production, played by Nevan Perera, is a bit debauched, a bit of a playboy and hedonist who immerses himself in the nightlife of Sri Lanka. 

“Besides that aspect which is central to his character, there’s another incident which shows the vindictiveness of his character. That is when he makes the decision to go against what Brutus and Cassius have told him, to stir up the Roman mob into a riot as vengeance for Caesar’s death. He is redeemed by his love of Caesar. So we aim to show this transition from a debauched hedonist to a cold-hearted man who could rally a mob of Romans,” he added. 

Nevan had been a part of several school productions, including the Menaechmus Twins and Othello, where in the latter, he had played the role of the villain. 

The stage is a new territory for Eyan Pereira, who is a talented rugby player. He gives life to Marcus Brutus, one of the most complex characters in the play. “Caesar and Antony are best friends with me, and I’m extremely close friends with Cassius. But Caesar and Antony don’t like Cassius. Brutus thinks with his heart; he’s very emotional and throughout the play, what I have to do is to show the internal conflict between doing what’s wrong to Caesar and what’s right for the country. That’s what I believe in after what Cassius has told me,” he said.

He said that it had been a challenge as he had never been in a drama production before. “I’ve only played rugby. As well as establishing the internal conflicts that I have, I also have to show my relationships with every other person throughout the play and how they affect me,” he said. 

Except for the workload, everything else is new for Eyan, but he enjoys getting to know students from the junior batches and working together as a team. 

According to Hettiarachchi, the cast includes students between the ages of 11 and 19 representing the entire school community. “Rather than just being a school boys’ production, we want these actors to understand different relationships, changes in characters and prepare them for that journey after they leave school,” she added.

She also mentioned the fact that students from the Sinhala and Tamil drama societies have also been included in this production. “We want them to break boundaries and embrace one another,” she said. 

The S. Thomas’ College English Drama Society was established in 1872 and is among the oldest in the country. It has produced many notable figures in the industry, including but not limited to Richard de Zoysa, Vinodh Senadeera, Jith Pieris and Christopher Ponniah.

The cast and crew invite the public to come and enjoy this immersive theatre experience and take a walk in history. 

‘Julius Caesar’ will be staged from November 5-7 at the S. Thomas College, Mt. Lavinia main hall from 7.00 pm onwards.