Comedy is more than just laughs- it is about chemistry, timing and the perfect blend of talent. ‘Caught in the Net’ a hilarious British comedy, presented by the Arts Foundation of St. Peter’s College perfectly shows that these elements come together to create something truly magical on stage.

‘Caught in the Net’ is the sequel to the smash hit -Run For Your Wife, set 18 years later with John Smith, a taxi driver who is trying to balance his two families while keeping them in different parts of London. Mayhem ensues as the situation spirals out of control when John realises his two children are about to encounter each other, and he juggles the truth more and more outrageously to keep them apart. 

We had the pleasure of speaking with the talented cast, featuring Shiyan Jayaweera as John Smith, Wasaam Ismail as Stanley Gardener, Piorina Fernando as Mary Smith, Jovanka Jayaweera as Barbara Smith, Sheshan Dias as Gavin Smith, Janice De Costa as Vicky Smith and Keith Wijesuriya as Mr. Gardener. 

In this interview, the cast members discuss their journey in bringing their project to life, the challenges in performing in a close-knit theatre setting, the laughs that had fueled their rehearsals and a sneak peek into what the audience can expect when ‘Caught in a Net’ takes the stage. 

Questions

1. Can you describe the character you’re playing and what drew you to them?
2. How did you prepare for the role?
3. How does your character evolve throughout the show?
4. What do you hope the audience takes away from watching the show?
5. Which scene are you most excited for the audience to see? 
6. What advice would you give to your character if you could?

Shiyan Jayaweera

1. The character I play is John Smith, the protagonist of the play. John Smith has two families, in two different parts of London, living happily and blissfully and neither family knows about each other. In this play, the daughter from one family and son from the other family meet online and are keen on meeting each other, given they have so much in common including their fathers having the same name, age and occupation. John realises his children are about to meet each other and tries to keep them from meeting. The characters are very relatable, where John is a normal, ordinary character, who is a taxi driver. He deeply loves both his families. He is then thrown into this complex situation where he tries to keep the families apart. 

3. John’s evolution is that in the beginning, he is living a normal, blissful life with two families unaware of each other’s existence to becoming a very stressed out man, making up stories and excuses to keep them apart, and being a nervous wreck towards the end of the story with a touch of humour.

4. We primarily hope that the audience has a good time, as it’s a light-hearted comedy and everyone can have a good laugh and enjoy themselves and leave the theatre in a much better mood. 

5. Without giving much away, there is a scene towards the end, where both the wives would be on stage at the same time, the audience would enjoy and love to see that.

6. My advice for the character would be to stick to one family and not take too much onto your plate, it will make life much easier. 

Sheshan Dias

1. My character is Gavin, the son of John Smith. The plot moral of the story revolves around Gavin and Vicky falling in love after meeting online, and trying to meet each other. They go to each other’s houses and the father frantically tries to stop them. In addition, the father’s best friend Stanley also tries to keep them apart. 

2. I prepared for this role by just looking at a couple of friends who have been in a similar situation, not where they have the same father, but where they face similar challenges. I channelled the inner persistent lover and played it off that way. When it comes to rehearsals, we put a lot of preparation into it and it was a stressful but exciting process. 

3. It is a simple comedy and a massive character arc cannot be seen in my character, but he is very persistent and does not let any obstacles stop him from meeting Vicky.

5. The entire play is fun but I love the parts with Gavin and Stanley in it as there is a lot of fun dialogue between the two of them. 

6. My character never backed down and was persistent throughout the show, so my character is perfect as it is. 

Janice De Costa

1. I play the character Vicky, a fifteen-year-old and the daughter of John Smith. She meets Gavin online and is excited and eager to meet him in person. Just like Gavin, Vicky is persistent in meeting him despite the father trying to keep them apart.  

2. She is much younger than I am and I could relate to the character because if I were to tell my dad that I’m going to meet this boy who I just met online he would also have quite a tantrum about it.  

3. Throughout the entire show, she pushes through and keeps going no matter what her father does to prevent their meeting. 

4. It is a comedy show and it’s really important that they come and have a good laugh, a great time and enjoy the show.

6. My advice for my character is that she shouldn’t be meeting boys online at fifteen. Apart from that she’s persistent and goes behind what she wants. 

Wasaam Ismail

1. My character is Stanley, who lives in the flat upstairs where John lives. He is also a friend of John for the last eighteen years. When John becomes deceitful in his extra-marital affairs, he gets Stanley’s help to avoid getting caught. Stanley who gets flustered and nervous easily, finds it hard to come up with stories and lies. 

2. Stanley is not a tough role for me to play, I just had to understand his quirks, mannerisms, and style of making the lines to go with the character and executing it properly. 

3. His character starts off cool and with time it becomes more chaotic. It is a journey of never-ending chaos and it does not subside till the very end. 

4. It is a feel-good show. If the audience can have a very good laugh and go home smiling, that means we have done our job well.

6. My advice to Stanley would be to move out of that place, as he had been single for eighteen years and also to stay away from John as he puts a lot of stress on his life. 

The Arts Foundation is staging Ray Cooney’s ‘Caught in the Net’ by arrangement with Concord Theatricals Ltd. UK, on behalf of Samuel French Ltd. The show will be produced and directed by renowned old Peterites Kalakeerthi Jerome L de Silva and Surein de S. Wijeyeratne respectively and will go on the boards at the Lionel Wendt Theatre on 30th, 31st August & 1st September 2024 at 7 pm. The show will also feature many past Peterites well known to theatre audiences as part of the cast and production team.

The tickets will be priced ranging from Rs. 1500 (balcony) to Rs. 5000 and will be available at Lionel Wendt Theatre box office from August 23rd.