Thursday Nov 14, 2024
Thursday Nov 14, 2024
Wednesday, 14 August 2013 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
Niranjan Papolwatta is a businessman and a frequent guest at the Wild Life Lodge. However his frequent visits are never with the same woman. Married to the beautiful Anu, his fidelity was never under question and his plans never went askew and he managed to strike the perfect balance between his married life and the one he enjoyed in secret. That is up until now.
Flying down to meet his latest love interest after wrapping up some business in Singapore, Papolwatta has no inkling that what he is about to enjoy during his ‘getaway’ is nothing compared to what he has in mind.
His latest conquest is the leading actress Surekha, whom even the staff of the Wild Life Lodge are all excited to meet and greet. Surekha however has no intention that compliments Papolwatta’s romantic dreams.
While she arrives with the necessary pomp and flair, Sam Boladeniya is red in his face by lying and trying to sort out lodgings for Papolwatta’s wife who has also unexpectedly arrived at the lodge hoping to celebrate their wedding anniversary after accidently finding out about the reservation at the lodge. She hopes to surprise him, before he surprises her!
Boaldeniya has his work cut out for him, trying to save the marriage of his regular guest while attending to the needs of the two women and trying to keep them apart as much as he can.
Adding hilarity to the whole situation, Surekha’s straight laced uncle, William Gasgoda and his wife Gloria are also staying at the hotel; having come to enjoy the wildlife of the park located in close proximity. While dealing with these complications, Boaladeniya also has to host prominent journalist Namali and her friend Rehana who are staying over for a hotel review.
How does one get about finding himself through this maze of hilarious, yet ‘real’ issues that are only too well concealed in society? Will barefaced lies be the answer? Or will one lie lead to another and so begins a roller coaster ride that would keep the audience in fits of laughter?
Come to the Lionel Wendt on 16, 17 or 18 August at 7:30 p.m. to find out how the story ends; happily ever after or not.
A rib-tickling comedy dealing with infidelity while touching on the current situation at the Yala National Park which is congested by the large numbers of jeeps carrying visitors on the lookout for the elusive leopard and causing much disruption to the general life in the park, Indu Dharmasena’s latest play ‘Love, Lies and Wildlife’ promises to keep you bent over double in hysterics.
His second play for the year which follows ‘Madai Tommiya Help Kala’ in January, Indu’s latest is inspired by the snippets of gossip he has heard when spending time with his friends on the trials and tribulations of the wildlife in Yala.
“I listen to people talking. If I find it funny I am inspired to write something along that line,” he said. “I am also appalled at the current situation at wildlife parks. There has to be some sort of regulation which states that only a certain number of vehicles can enter a certain zone within a timeframe.” Having heard that on certain days close to 500 vehicles go in to the park carrying visitors and having seen the disruption it creates to the other lives in the park, Indu wanted to highlight the chaos and create awareness.
“Someone needs to make note of this. There is a need for an implementation of a proper system.”
The play is presented by the Kingswood Union Colombo Branch to raise funds for the development of educational and sports activities at Kingswood College, Kandy.
In the play, the well-meaning Sam Boladeniya the owner of the hotel is played by Indu, and is ably supported by Yasal Ruhunage playing Siri, his trusted man and Sanwada Dharmasena playing Manori the new receptionist.
The philandering businessman Niranjan Papolwatta is brought to life by Anoop Kapukotuwa while his wife Anu is portrayed by Keshya Leitch who is no stranger to English theatre. Sanjula Amarasekara plays the attractive and award winning actress Surekha. Namali the prominent journalist and her friend Rehana are played by Nihili Senerath and Senalli Ranathunga respectively. The officious and straight-laced William Gasgoda is played by Anushan Selverajah and his gentle wife is played by Chithranga Kariyawasan who is well known for her portrayal of the Dubai returnee, Aunty Lucy in Indu’s popular ‘Tommiya’ series.
Tickets are priced at Rs. 2000, Rs. 1500 and Rs. 1000 reserved, while balcony tickets are priced at Rs. 500 unreserved. Tickets are available at the Lionel Wendt and from Anything.lk (ODEL) as well.
