Meet the cast of ‘Dashing through the Snow’!

‘Dashing through the Snow’, a promising night of Christmas comedy for all music and theatre enthusiasts will go on boards on the 29th and 30th of November 2014 at 7.30 pm at the Bishop’s College Auditorium. The production directed by Jith Peiris, is done for a great cause as it is the annual fundraising Christmas project of the creative arts foundation. The proceeds of the show will help more than 430 children receive gifts of school essentials - uniform material, shoes and bag including the school booklist for the entire year. The show will be opened with a guest performance by The Revelations – award winning male choral group as they sing to you some of the season’s favourites. Be sure to grab your tickets soon, for this Christmas comedy is more than just a joyride!

The three-act comedy is set at the Snowflake manor, an inn in Tinsel Town, Texas where the innkeeper Trina Walcott (Viranthi) is about to come upon chaos with her ‘lovely’ guests.

Starring:

Danu Innasithamby as Ainsley – “I play rather a pompous character. He is a drama queen really. There are certain lines in the play that I like and I want to use these lines in life. The last scene in particular has a lot of emotions – plenty of funny elements. It’s a family show and everyone should come and watch it”

Amayaa Wijesinghe as Mrs. Claus and Paulette Coogan – “These two women are like apples and oranges. Mrs. Claus who is feeling lonely because Santa is busy and doesn’t have time for her. So she decides to have a little escapade with one of his elves. The other is Paulette, a long suffering stage manager who is at the end of her tether with her two self-centered actors. It is so much fun playing these two roles and since the cast is having a ball of a time on stage, I hope the audience is going to have a great time as well, because laughter is infectious!

Nandun Dissanayake as Santa’s Elf – “Well he is fidgety, unusually large for an elf (owing to shooting steroids) and charming. He is on a romantic getaway Mrs. Santa, who doesn’t necessarily love him, but thinks of him as a distraction. Things get a little chaotic when Mrs. Santa finds a note which she mistakenly believes was sent to her by Santa who had finally found out about her adultery.”

Viranthi Cooray as innkeeper Trina Walcott – “Trina, the hostess of Snowflake Manor is busy and somewhat flustered at the annoying Mr. Nixon – the bogus official making fancy demands! I believe I fit the character well because in reality I multitask and even blow my top like Trina when pushed against the wall. I am grateful for Jith for giving me an opportunity to be on stage. It’s been fun working with the cast. They are all lovely kids with so much potential!

Anuk Munasinghe as George Bush – “The play is primarily woven around the comical mishaps that take place at the snowflake manor and the character of George adds to its central theme by being the worried older brother and nephew who is caught in the middle of the ridiculous yet intense rivalry of his two aunts and his sister’s efforts to reunite them.”

Saveeta De Alwis as Mary Jo – “I play Mary Jo, sister of George who together, are trying to reconcile a feud between two old aunts. Mary Jo is seen as a caring, care free and kind hearted person who just wants the family to bond during Xmas.”

Christina Vancuylenburg as Della – “Della is the younger sister of the two and is thrilled at the thought of her nephew and niece finally taking the time to invite her for a holiday at the snowflake inn. The holiday goes on well until she meets her sister and a 35 years feud is once again brought to light.”

Sharini Mathangaweera as Ennis – “I play Ennis, a somewhat senile lady who happens to be the aunt of George and Mary Jo and the eccentric morose sister of Della. While the entire play revolves around 3 incidents, act 2 adds to the comical synopsis by a surprising and unexpected confrontation between the sisters. All in all, it’s been loads of fun working with an amazing cast and working with uncle Jith has been a complete honor as always.”

Roshane Jayampathy as Richard Nixon – “He is a person who's from the Bed and Breakfast Association who's a pain to the innkeeper and cook. Nixon is lodged there in the Snowflake Manor to do a report on their bed and breakfast services. Nixon takes the maximum use of his position and asking for food continuously and also complaining about the service and the food given by the innkeeper and the cook. This is a character playing offstage and only the voice can be heard. Nixon is there throughout the play.

Nicola De Soysa as Lenora Benedict – “She is a self-involved prima donna. She has agreed to accompany Ainsley as a touring actress in a ‘lower than low’ budget production of the play ‘A Christmas Carol’ to help him sprinkle what she thought was his father’s ashes. She tries not to get caught to their stage manager in the process but the attempts fail. In the end she succeeds in helping Ainsley out.”

Dharini Gnanapragasam as drunken housemaid Lou Ida.

Box plan and tickets available at the Bishop’s College auditorium
Tickets are priced Rs 2000, Rs 1500, Rs 1000, Rs 850, Rs 750 and Rs 550 (Balcony)

Date: 29th and 30th November 2014
Time: 7.30 pm onwards
Venue: Bishop’s College auditorium

By Hasna Saleem
Photos courtesy Trinushka Perera