By Panchali Illankoon
Photo Credits - Sanjeeva Weerasinghe

Theatre is back! The Remix Shakespeare Company (RMS) is back with its most ambitious production yet – a bilingual take on the classic romantic tragedy Romeo & Juliet, sung and spoken both in English and Sinhala, and apparently, still the “original” Shakespeare play.

Ahead of the box office opening, we sat down with Artistic Director and Producer of RMS, Mr Adagenanaama Lokuadahas, for a candid interview as he explains all about the bard, the ballad and the brawls of Romeo & Juliet Naadagama. 

Q. Hello, Hello! I believe it’s my first time interviewing you, so why don’t we start off with you telling me a little bit about who you are?
Hello, I am Adagenanaama Lokuadahas from the Remix Shakespeare Company. I am the Artistic Director and Producer and a thespian with a dream. I want to direct all 37 plays of William Shakespeare in my lifetime…

Q. Sorry, didn’t Shakespeare write 38 plays?
Did he? I counted 37...

Q. But the Royal Shakespeare Company lists 38 as the number on their website…
Oh really? Must check; I always assumed it was 37, anyway. If there are 38, then 38 is what I’ll do!

Q. Right, well, you mentioned that you have a dream of directing all 37 or 38 of Shakespeare’s plays. Where did that dream come from?
From my young days as a schoolkid. While others dreamt of playing cricket for the nation or becoming doctors and scientists, I dreamt about the Globe, the Bard. I learnt that many people are unaware, sometimes ignorant of the beauty of Shakespeare. I resolved that I shall show my fellow countrymen the beauty of the Blank Verse and the incredible power of unrhymed iambic pentameter!

Q. So, your company, the Remix Shakespeare Company, does it have any affiliation with the Royal Shakespeare Company?
Apart from a love for the works of the Bard of Avon, not much really. We are called the Remix Shakespeare Company because that is what I like to do: bring Shakespeare to the masses in different, unique ways.

Q. What kind of work have you done before?
Well, I did some back-office work at a corporate establishment, and I generally spend time looking after the family’s coconut estate…

Q. No, no,  I meant what kind of theatre work you have done before?
Oh, I see. Sorry about that. We at the RSC have done three Shakespeare plays before, and this one is number four. This is also our largest endeavour, and we are very lucky to have secured corporate patronage for this one too. Our first play was Timon of Athens, which we performed in a small venue...

Q. Like a black box theatre?
More like a dining room with the dining table moved to one side. Then we performed Titus Andronicus.

Q. Same dining room?
A. No, of course not. We managed to secure a larger dining room thanks to one of our members. And then we performed Henry IV Part 2 in an old folks’ home.

Q. What happened to part 1?
Nothing happened to it.

Q. What I meant was, you did Henry IV part 2. Why did you skip part 1?
Ah, that’s a funny story actually; I asked my assistant producer, Mr Suraapaan Thithatamatha, to make photocopies of the script of Henry IV and he accidentally photocopied part 2. It’s one of Shakespeare’s longest plays, so the script was quite bulky, and we had printed six copies too! So we felt that despite the photocopying mix-up, it was a waste of paper and money, so we decided to do the play. We of course did it without any edits because I wanted my audience to enjoy the play as Shakespeare wrote it.

Q. Wow, and you said you performed it at an old folks’ home. How did your audience react to the performance?
Extremely positively! All the senior citizens were thoroughly engaged in the play. Although their eyes were closed and some of them did fall asleep, the overall response was very encouraging. In fact, we received many requests for a repeat performance, but sadly we could not because of scheduling conflicts.

Q. Naturally, your new play Romeo and Juliet is Shakespeare’s most beloved work of all time, but your previous plays were based on some of his lesser-known works. What made you decide to go more mainstream this time?
This is a very good question. You are absolutely correct; we started off with three of his lesser-known plays. What we realised was that when you do a lesser-known play and bring it to the audience in a different way, it can sometimes be perceived differently.  For example, we based our Titus Andronicus in a bakery…

Q. A bakery?
Yes, when we read the play for the first time, we felt that the baking theme was strong in that one, with people baking pies and throwing dinner parties left, right and centre! In a crucial scene where the pie is baked with human body parts, we actually showed a maalu paan with a finger inside it!

Q. That must have shocked the audience?
I wouldn’t use the word shock to describe it. More like stunned. But it wasn’t the audience reaction that surprised us; it was the local bakers’ association who got very upset with us for insinuating that maalu paans could have foreign objects inside them!

Q. Right…anyway, coming back to Romeo and Juliet, what I find interesting is that you say it’s being sung in both English AND Sinhala…but it’s also Shakespeare’s original play?
Sung and, of course, spoken. Yes, it is Shakespeare’s original play, not all of it, of course. Just the good parts. Since it is a Sri Lankan jukebox musical, it has sixteen songs which are predominantly in Sinhalese!

Q. But how does Sinhalese come into Shakespeare’s original script of Romeo & Juliet?
That is an excellent question, and I am sure many people will be curious to know the answer. All I can say is that all will be revealed at the show!

Q. People are very serious about their Shakespeare; do you think you can do him justice in Romeo and Juliet?
The beauty of Shakespeare is the amazing adaptability of his work. For four hundred years, Shakespeare’s work has been enjoyed in a thousand different ways. Our take on Romeo & Juliet again shows us the enduring nature of his work and how it can be adapted into creating entertainment for audiences.

Q. You’ve had some pointed critiques from the Association of Shakespearean Scholars - yes, the A.S.S.– before, on your work. How do you think they will receive this one?
The Association of Shakespeare Scholars has had a vendetta against me for a long time! They are the so-called purists who reject any new interpretation or adaptation of the Bard’s work. The A.S.S. only knows how to criticise. The A.S.S. may be able to read Shakespeare, but I can guarantee you, if you ask The A.S.S. to perform Shakespeare, they will be as useful as a monkey with a broken typewriter!

Q. As critics, though, The A.S.S. doesn’t really have to perform, do they?
No, they don’t, but they have no concern for how much sacrifice we have to go through to stage these plays, and I thought that they would support me. Instead, they go around making snide remarks and writing scathing reviews. As my best friend Koshandy pointed out, “the only thing less popular than the play is the review!”

Q. Well, it all sounds very unique to say the least. Why should our readers not miss the chance to catch this on stage?
This is a unique take on Shakespeare’s enduring love story. This time we have analysed the script thoroughly. We found many things that would even surprise The A.S.S.! The Remix Shakespeare Company is living up to its name! Remixing Shakespeare like never before. Everyone knows the story of Romeo & Juliet, two lovers in the beautiful Italian city of Verona in the 14th Century. We’re giving it a 21st-century makeover and performing in two languages!

Remix Shakespeare Company’s Romeo & Juliet Naadagama
 
Feroze Kamardeen’s newest play, a Sri Lankan jukebox musical based on William Shakespeare’s classic love story, goes on the boards of the Lionel Wendt Theatre from  13th - 16th August 2026. Watch five intrepid thespians and one committed crew member take on the epic love story in two languages with a mixture of songs and scenes never seen before!
 
Box Office & Tickets at www.stagelightandmagic.com from 1st August 2026.
(This is a bilingual play and a working knowledge of Sinhalese and English would be required to enjoy the play fully)