Theatre or politics, Caesar’s “ambition” must be made of far more sterner stuff

The play is the thing – but in its present form, only a welcome diversion from the state of the nation... Where have all the heavyweights gone? When will ELT take the stage as an influencer?

A funny thing happened on the way to the forum. I went to a play and actually liked it. 

Well, when I say ‘liked’ – I mean I was (like the late Sir Arthur Clarke’s response to a question about his alleged ‘gaiety’) “mildly cheerful” about it. And that means a lot to a reformed dyspeptic theatre critic.

And, when I say ‘play’ – I say that about mutton dressed as lamb, a.k.a. ‘Julius Caesar: the Musical’ (written by our untiring prolific ‘bard’ of sorts Feroze Kamardeen), which is quite a mouthful that says more than it meant to.

In fact, ‘like’ most likely means – for many of the more discerning theatregoers today, as well as aficionados of English-Language Theatre (ELT) in Sri Lanka – to be wildly amused and lightly entertained.

Which, of course, would, should or could remind one of the State of Politics (SOP) as it lies – pun intended – fallow and shallow these days...

And that brings me to the res – the very thing – that this brief candle is about:

That there is an uncanny if not entirely salutary correspondence between ELT and SOP in Denmark (i.e. there is something rotten in the state of both).

For one, both focus on pleasing a small – yet, select – coterie of elites to the detriment of the common good. 

ELT treats its cast and crew as its primary audience, eschewing the finer or even baser sensibilities of a wider audience hungry for good theatre. 

SOP’s S.O.P. (standard operating procedure) is pretty much the same... playing to the gallery in parliament, whilst protecting the interests of colleagues, chums and cronies who share vested interests and hidden agendas. 

For another, both operators major on populism to drive their interests and agendas. 

SOP to its shame caters to the lowest common denominator – chauvinism, racism, petty party politics, ethno-religious particularism/exceptionalism – to keep its voter base servile and its backers loyal and eager to bootlick. 

ELT has few if any qualms about popular wisecracks, cheap puns in borrowed clothing masquerading as creativity and slapstick humour to keep their players’ fan bases’ gluteus maximuses glued to their seats and facial muscles contorted in a rictus like hungry folks eating an endless meal of PB&J. 

On the one hand, you may say that this is the way of the world – welcome to the reality of putting on a play... whether amateur theatre production or stagey amateurish politics. Defenders of both realms as they are today would plead expedience and necessity – i.e. “it needs to be this way if we are to do it at all” – in order that SOP as much as ELT survive if not thrive. 

At what cost, though – and whose expense? To say nothing of opportunity cost... to a safer, sounder, solider republic; or more sophisticated dramaturgy and thespianism that awes, shocks, invokes pity upon oneself and one’s state and purifies. 

On the other, there is a better, far less scurrilous “still more excellent way” for denizens of both kingdoms to go. For that, theatre must – more than entertain – edify, espouse causes, excoriate the vile thing: realpolitik. 

SOP may never – as it is composed now, comprising the scum of the earth ensconced in clover and clothed in pseudo-respectability – ever take a long hard look at itself in the mirror ... short of another Aragalaya, or worse ... and realise it has fallen far short of the high and noble office to which it has been called or voted in for. 

ELT perhaps may one day grow up; and grow out of comedies, entertainments and stand-up masquerading as satire – and come into its own potential as a powerful influencer of the commonwealth and an opinion-shaper for the common good... 

To this welcome end, one must work as well as live in hope...

Then again, long has yours truly and a few others of his ilk (very well, I can name one other or two at most) critically engaged the powers that be in the forlorn hope that big-name productions that rake in the shekels – or even lesser plays that barely scrape through – alike would grow a spine and take the bull of the day by the horns. 

Plays must have purpose as well as passion, vision as well as mission.

Admittedly, there have been some attempts made... from Jehan Aloysius’ admirable ‘Rag’; through the ‘Freddy’ franchise and ‘Pusswedilla’ pantomimes; to sundry attempts at so-called ‘satire’ that ended up as slapstick or slapdash buffoonery. 

Albeit those that made the audience laugh in sympathy with the villains being caricatured on stage – or is that has-been political paterfamiliases salvaged and redeemed for recycling? 

And then again Sri Lankans missing the point about the bigger picture of power politics and the role theatre could play in shaping the state of the nation is par for the course and price of admission.  

Rather than helping theatregoers – a representative of the larger populace – to realise that if they’re laughing, they are part of the larger national problem! And that, in fact, the joke’s on them... with impresarios laughing all the way to the bank... and politicos who get another chance to pull the wool over theatre- and polling-station-goers having the last laugh?

Last but by no means least, there is much merit in some of what ELT and SOP do – as things stand as present. Government has had to muddle through because of the mess that the unholy alliance of previous regimes and their corporate and civil society backers got us into – so a little gratitude for extricating us from the hole they dug us all into wouldn’t, ironically enough, go amiss at this stage. 

The same could be said for excellence in terms of production values and consummate stagecraft that productions of the likes of Julius Caesar: the Musical bring to theatre-starved ELT audiences. Kudos also for introducing fresh talent to trite boards!

And yet, and yet, there is a voice crying out in the wilderness – how long, O ELT, will the likes of powerhouse theatre groups such as The Workshop Players and StageLight&Magic (and their progeny StageFright&Panic) labour to admit mere amusements to the minds of true lovers... whilst studiously neglecting the greater role they could play by bringing their combined guns to bear on the issues of the day that beg dramatic interpretation? 

What price ‘shock and awe’ instead of ‘aw, shoke!’? 

Of course, neither SOP nor ELT – or yours truly, the truth be told – are any longer in their “salad days: green in judgment, cold in blood.” 

Be the state of the nation as it may, neither party is bringing a candle’s worth of thought, critical engagement with the right stakeholders or potential solutions to the space beyond the proscenium arch... and more is the pity... 

I wait with scarcely bated breath for feedback on what ails the state of ELT in tandem with SOP – that is, as long as the comeback is not the hateful vitriol of the family and friends of cast and crew who can’t quite see beyond their fandom to the far more noble role true aficionados of theatre can, must and shall play in a republic that continues to creak at the seams. 

Et tu, brutes!

(Editor-at-large of LMD | ‘Long live the Republic & the Proscenium’)