“At Your Service” a hilarious comedy by Indu Dharmasena will be staged on 29, 30 and 31 July at the Lionel Wendt. 

Inspired by the British sitcom “Fawlty Towers” it is set in a little hotel named ‘Hill star’ and is about the owner and general manager Mr. Perera played by Indu himself. Wanting to improve the hotel, he invites an investor, so the hotel and its staff are expecting a VIP guest. They are preparing to go out of their way to impress this prospective investor. 

But of course it’s not that easy, the other guests in the hotel make it rather difficult. An unexpected phone call from the police leaves the staff in confusion and invites chaos on to the stage. 

We can promise you that this play will have you in fits of laughter. At the same time it will have you at the edge of your seat with the highly energetic action and suspension on stage. 

Full cast of 'At Your Service' . Standing left to right - Yasal, Sulochana, Sashini, Amaya, Sanwada, Saranie,
Ruwendi, Anushan. Seated left to right - Andre, Indu, George

Indu promises the audience an evening full of laughter and fun! 

We caught up with the cast to get to know them and their roles better. 

Mr. Perera played by Indu Dharmasena

“I play the role of the owner of ‘Hill Star’. I am also the general manager of the hotel. To describe my character in one line he is a bull in a china shop! Mr. Perera is rather selfish; he only cares about the investor and impressing him. His biggest flaw is that he does not listen or let people finish off their sentences. (A universal human flaw I suppose.) This leads to a whole load of confusion and chaos in the play and it will leave the whole audience in fits of laughter.”

Chris played by Ruwendi Wakwella 
 

“My character plays multiple roles in the play. She is the receptionist, the PR manager and somehow the administrative head of the hotel as well. She runs the show but does not defy the G.M’s presence and authority either. When Mr. Perera is flustered or excited, Chris remains calm and finds solutions.”

Tony played by Yasal Ruhunage 
 

“My character plays multiple roles as well. He takes care of the labour side of the hotel. So Tony is a waiter, a bartender, a doorman and so on! When he sees a ‘sudda’ walking into the hotel, he immediately assumes it is the prospective investor Mr. Muller. Together with Chris, Tony helps to run the hotel as smoothly as possible.”

Nimala Alwis played by Sulochana Perera
 

“My character is timid, jumpy and plays dumb but on purpose. You have to come and watch the play to find out why! Nimala is a guest at the hotel and keeps getting lost all the time. She is treated like crap by Mr. Perera and his staff.”

Tom White played by George Cooke
 

“My character is no ordinary guest at the hotel but the staff immediately assumes that I am the foreign prospective investor. So I am treated like a king with flower garlands, own butler and an open bar. Never having visited Sri Lanka before, my character is impressed by the hotel’s service.”

Pamela Anderson played by Sanwada Dharmasena
 

“Pamela is also another guest at the hotel. She adds spice to the play. A typical American tourist who is constantly complaining and wanting better facilities.” 

Okorie Zombie played by Amaya Wijesinghe
 

“I play a role of a queen from some African country. I too am another guest at the hotel who is visiting to meet a university professor regarding flora and fauna research. The staff makes various assumptions about my character throughout the play until the truth is revealed.”

Dorothy Decker played by Sashini Wakwella
 

“I am a British national who is also a guest at the hotel. Middle aged and unmarried with no agenda in life Dorothy is visiting purely to have a good time.  My character is quite comical!”

Kusum played by Saranie Wijesinghe
 

“My character is visiting the hotel to meet someone and is a personal assistant to a CEO. She is mysterious so there are many assumptions made about Kusum by the staff as well.” 

There are 2 more actors in the cast whom we were unable to meet. Han Muller played by Andre Vallendar is a German tourist and is another VVIP guest. 

And Mr. Silva played by Anushan Selvarajah is a local tourist who is here on a supposed company retreat. 

Make your way to the Lionel Wendt this weekend (29, 30 or 31 July) to have a glorious time laughing till you can’t handle it anymore.

Tickets are priced at Rs.1500, Rs. 1200, Rs. 1000 and Rs. 500 (Balcony – Unreserved.) The box plan and tickets are now available at Lionel Wendt. 

They can also be booked online at www.lionelwendt.org

Pics by Kushan Pathiraja