‘Dracula’ comes back! 

‘Dracula’ has been a name that has evolved right from its inception to be one of the best thrillers in the world of movies and drama. Evolving around a concept of a vampire Count Dracula, the story takes a lot of twists and turns followed by events of love and death. Inspired by the works of John L. Balderston and Hamilton Deane a group of enthusiastic drama lovers will present ‘Dracula’ by the Ananda College drama team to be staged from July 10-12. Speaking to the Daily Mirror Life, the mentors behind the production, Nishantha De Silva, Rajitha Hettiarachchi and Ishtartha Wellaboda spoke about the play and their views on stage drama in Sri Lanka.

Tell us about your background and how you got involved in directing plays.

Nishantha : I started directing 9 years ago and Ishtartha and Rajitha were my very first students. They took part in Shakespearean plays and after four years they left school and started to work on originals. So I directed plays like Alice in Wonderland and directed plays for the Royal College Drama Comp. Two years ago we started Ananda drama where we involve current and old Anandians as well as non Anandians to facilitate theatre.

Rajitha : Myself and Ishtartha have been two of the most senior students of Nishantha and after we left school we joined for directing. We have a co-group and most of the people who get involved in our plays are non-Anandians and we all work as a team.

Nishantha De Silva

What is the synopsis of the play?

Ishtartha : It starts where the novel starts and ends where it ends. But we have cut off certain parts since the book is quite funny. The novel was published in a different era and we come across a lot of disconnect. Many people don’t know the story but have watched the play. We have taken a lot of dialogues from the book. There are 5 main actors playing about 50 characters. Their transitions are full of humour.

When taking English and Sinhala theatre what is more popular in Sri Lanka?

Nishantha : The audience is smaller for English theatre because there’s only a particular crowd who come to watch these plays. Sinhala theatre has a more traditional base and they have better audiences due to the language. When taking English theatre in Sri Lanka dramatically there’s a smaller space and there are less people involved in productions and good productions only run for a smaller period.

Ishthartha Wellaboda (left) and Rajitha Hettiarachchi (right)

We see a number of amateur actors on silver screen but not many in drama and it has come to a point where some of them lack basic skills for acting. Is this a necessity?

Rajitha : The silver screen is a different genre but it is always wise to first act in dramas and then go to films. Every good actor comes out of theatre and the skills required for each genre is different. English theatre is the only platform for English speaking people. Therefore it’s in their hands to take maximum use of this opportunity that they get.

What does drama ultimately teach you?

Nishantha : It teaches a variety of very different skills. In fact it teaches team work and helps in building up a dynamic personality. If somebody who is not very fluent in English comes to act in a drama within 3-4 months he will be improved. It also helps you develop  a confidence for skills like public speaking.

By Kamanthi Wickramasinghe
Photographs by Nisal Baduge