Theatre Junction, an English theatre company that has gained a reputation for presenting fresh and contemporary work in Colombo, presented its latest award winning Broadway musical titled Next to Normal on the 29th and 30th September and the 1st of October at the Lionel Wendt Theatre. 

On its third day, the musical drew in a full house along with a few  repeat audience members who were excited to catch the show for the second time. Next to Normal is a Broadway musical with lyrics courtesy of Brian Yorkey and music by Tom Kitt. 

The play starts out portraying a typical family of 4 with the dad rushing to work, the kids getting ready for school and the mom packing lunches and pouring cereal. However, the illusion of the perfect family is shattered when the mothers’ behaviour changes radically and the audience is made aware that she battles with manic depression and schizophrenia for over 16 years. The story then follows a husband torn between what should be done to his wife and what’s best for her, a daughter learning to cope with her mother’s negligence and a mother struggling to let go of the past and be there for her family. 

The score for the musical, directed and conducted by Natasha Senanayake, was backed by a live band consisting of piano, drums, guitar, cello and violin that truly brought out the emotion within the play. 

Kudos to the cast of 6; Devashrie De Silva, Chrisantha De Silva, Damien Fernando, Sithara Pathirana, Gyles Dharmaratne and Eraj Gunewardena  for playing their roles consistently to the very end and due credit must also be given for the lighting as it really set the ambience of the play. 

Directed by Anushka  Senanayake, Next to Normal was a musical that spoke of the unspoken and shed light to the issues we keep in the dark. An absolute eye opener! 

We spoke to the audience members and gathered their thoughts on the play; 

“The lighting and the singing was excellent. The play is executed very well and all the actors are really good!” - Aamir 

“It’s nice. The music is great and I really enjoyed it.” - Tuan 

“It was a great show. Lyrics and the singing were perfect. The concept was different from the traditional musicals. The message is a good message that Sri Lanka should really think about!” - Yashoda 

“Excellent! It’s such an important topic to be bought up. I thought it was well produced and well composed.” - Sam 

“It’s very easy to follow and fascinating. Main actress was amazing. I haven’t heard of this theatre company before so it’s definitely nice to see new names doing great things.” - Surani 

“The score was great and so were the actors, especially the female lead. ” - Janath 

“I’m watching it for the second time and I love it. We don’t normally watch these kind of plays but it’s so different and refreshing!” - Shala 

“It’s definitely different and I like that it’s for a more mature audience.” - Vishwa 

“I found it very sad. The drama portrayed the issue very well and you just feel for the family, especially the husband. Lighting is amazing and was really effective. Great singing!” - Jehan 

“I thought it was really good and very strong.” - Rajitha 

“Good acting and good singing. A very timely musical.” - Ishtara 

“It’s something different to what we always see in theatre. I’d love to see more of this in Colombo!” - Failul 

“I thought it was very innovative for Sri Lanka. Singing was absolutely excellent. All in all a credit to our young people and I really hope to see more shows of this calibre in the future.” - Bobby 

Photographs of audience members by Waruna Wanniarachchi