Blok brings ‘Glengarry Glen Ross’ to Colombo

Saturday, 5 July 2014 00:41 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Gehan Blok is not an unfamiliar name in Sri Lanka’s theatre circles. He’s done his fair share of roles, his most recent being a quite convincing portrayal of ‘Sorbier’ in Jean Paul Sartre’s existentialist drama ‘Men Without Shadows’. His acting pedigree however doesn’t stop there, having being involved in quite a number of productions before that as well. He is one of those veteran thespians whom Colombo will be seeing much more of from now through his own brand new theatre company Identities Inc. – both as an actor and now with his maiden directorial effort of David Mamet’s Pulitzer Prize winner ‘Glengarry Glen Ross,’ which will be on the boards from 17 to 20 July at the Punchi Theatre, Borella. Blok sat down with Weekend FT to share his thoughts on the production, his transition from actor to director, and new beginnings:

First off, as a first time director, what made you choose Glengarry Glen Ross as your maiden production?

Well it’s a subject matter I haven’t seen explored much before in local theatre except for maybe in Miller’s ‘Death of a Salesman’. Also Mamet’s take on corporate culture/capitalism is delivered in its raw form, making it more relatable and real for the audience, which is something I have always preferred to watch. I have worked in the corporate world for many years now and this 90-minute Mamet masterpiece manages to capture the range of characters you meet, different situations you face and emotions you go through when having a high pressure corporate job – which is what actually drew me towards taking on this script. It’s a story for every man/woman who works for a living. When I first read a sample of the script, I was blown away – the script is so tight that it doesn’t have any spillovers, which makes it easier for me as a director and also easier for my actors. Also I had a set of actors in mind for the roles who could pull off these characters and I have always wanted to do this play for years – I believe that you should do things you’re passionate about – so all things considered I decided to start off with this.

What made you make the switch from actor to director?

I have always wanted to be a director. Even before I started acting I used to dream of directing theatre and film. Plus, I felt that it was the right time in life to start somewhere in order to make my lifelong dream of directing a high budget movie someday a reality. I know I sound like a kid, but that’s fine. Also I was thinking of doing my first production a couple of years back but then I knew that I wasn’t ready to direct a full-length production as I needed more time and experience which I got working as a part of many productions under several experienced directors before doing something by myself.

Tell me about the cast and the roles they will be playing.

Well I’m fortunate to start off my first production with such an amazing cast. We are a tight unit and work well together. As a first time director it helps to have an experienced cast alongside you. Dominic Kellar plays the role of Shelley “The Machine” Levene – a “has been” salesman; recently down on his luck and who is desperate to close a sale in order to make ends meet. Rajiv Ponweera plays the role of ‘Ricky Roma’ – The “Rockstar” salesman of the lot who is the top salesman of the company. Andre Perera plays the role of ‘George Aaronow’ – the “complacent” salesman of the lot who doesn’t have a lot going for him but will not take the initiative to get out of that situation. Shanaka Amarasinghe plays the role of ‘Dave Moss’ – The “complainer” of the lot who is also not doing that well on the sales board and thinks the system is unfair so he wants to do something about it turn things around. Dino Corera plays the role of ‘John Williamson’ – the “company man” or the young office manager appointed by the owners. His job is to manage or marshal the leads and assign them to the four salesmen and make sure the day to day operations are looked after. He is also the eyes and ears of the owners. Hans Billimoria plays the role of ‘Blake’ a motivator hired by the owners to give the salesmen who are not performing well a reality check together with an ultimatum. Niren Neydorff plays the role of ‘James Lingk’ a client and Miranga Ariyaratne plays the role of ‘Detective Baylen’ who investigates the robbery.

What will you be doing different?

You’ll just have to be there to find out.

Has the movie adaptation influenced you in any way in terms of the character portrayals?

I would be lying if I said no entirely. The movie had things you can take from it but it also had things that didn’t work. So we have made a constant effort to make it our own and not let the movie influence us in any way. We did our own characterisation for each role and are sticking to it. Also most of the cast members have not even seen the movie or the scenes they are portraying on YouTube, which is a good thing.

What do you believe is the message that theatregoers could take away with them after watching this?

No particular message – just the simple fact of how office Darwinism works, which will make you question the person you are within an office environment and also help you draw parallels to your workplace, colleagues, etc. I’d like the audience to decide on what type of message they take away from this performance.

Why do you think theatre is so important in today’s context?

Theatre is a very powerful tool to educate people on different social, political issues. And in this day and age with all the clutter and jargon around you certain important messages get lost in translation. Theatre can help you achieve this – in small numbers yes – but I think we have all learnt somewhere that incremental change is the best way forward to create a holistic change.

What’s your opinion of theatre in Colombo?

Theatre in Colombo is great. From Sinhala to English theatre we have so many talented yet underprivileged artists. Amongst all these barriers we still manage to put up productions that are amazing given the limited resources we have which is something I’m very proud to be a part of.

What influenced you to start your own theatre company?

The friends I have made through theatre itself. The day-to-day close friends I associate with who are people from the theatre/film scene – whenever we meet up for a drink the one thing that drives our conversations are things related to theatre productions and different movie productions or something related to the arts – the passion each and everyone has when they are talking about the subject is pretty intense. So why not use this passion to create something by ourselves? Which is when we all decided to make it official and also use it to bring everyone from different theatre circles together in order to produce something good for the arts industry.

On a personal note, what stage productions have been your greatest influences?

Every production I have been a part of – each production has taught me something and each director I have worked with has taught me something which has influenced me throughout this production.