Veteran director, composer and playwright Jehan Aloysius and his dynamic theatre company CentreStage Productions are now set to stage the spectacular new edition of ‘Rag – The Musical’ on 19 th and  21 st of July 2024 at the Lionel Wendt Theatre, Colombo 07. Rag is a dramatic musical that deals with the topical issue of ragging sensitively and intelligently. The performance has been a crowd-puller in the past, with full houses and standing ovations every night.

The show has been featured in the foreign press around the world, as well as by the BBC. The musical, which is filled with memorable melodies and meaningful lyrics, presents a positive message of non-violence and unity which is relevant to students in all educational institutions. The plot is set in late 1999, and follows a true idealist, Joseph, who seeks to end the issue of ragging with words not violence. The past, in the form of his childhood soul-mate Peter who is now an influential senior and ‘pro-ragger’, emerges with a vengeance to fulfill a personal vendetta against the hapless Joe.

Soon, even the peace-loving Joe is thrown unwittingly into the midst of campus politics as the antiraggers and pro-raggers prepare to battle it out on the university grounds. The musical is a blend of fact and fiction, and is also based on personal experiences of the writer/composer Jehan Aloysius. The new production of Rag – The Musical features a streamlined script which celebrates the original songs and music, as well as a fresh cast of talented performers who have recently been making a name for themselves as singers, actors and dancers.

The youthful cast has been developing their skills in dancing, acting, singing and even acrobatics over many months of free training workshops and masterclasses conducted by Jehan Aloysius. The talented cast of soloists includes Dion Nanayakkara (The Voice, Pyramus & Thisby, Rag), Angelo Gamage (Derana Dream Star), Milinda Randeniya (And Then There Were None), Isira Edussuriya (Julius Caesar) and others.

For this special 20th Anniversary Edition several members of the previous performances since 2004 will be making guest appearances. The musical is written, composed and directed by Jehan Aloysius, who also handles the choreography and production design. The orchestration and musical performance are by Avanti Perera, who is Jehan's long-time musical collaborator. Choral harmonies are by Deshan Cooray and Eshantha Peiris. Jehan believes that original theatre in Sri Lanka urgently needs more support and patronage to thrive and even just survive.  

(Pix courtesy Malith Ramanayaka)