A Christmas Wish, presented by past and present Peterites and a few guest actors went on boards last weekend, on the 6th, 7th & 8th of December at the Lionel Wendt.

Being a school production there was absolutely no lack of enthusiastic parents and friends filling up the venue. I also believe they were largely satisfied and simply delighted by being able to see their son or brother perform on stage.

The play was directed by Jehan Bastians and Neidra Williams. The production was presented by the English Literary and Drama Society of St. Peter’s College in association with Silent Hands Creative Writers Circle.

To sum up the show, I would say it was a great family treat and I am sure every child present would have greatly appreciated the show. While the story was somewhat predictable, it retained the familiar good cheer of Christmas and the spirit of gift-giving. Given that it’s a school production with a range of ages and energy levels I felt it could have been put to better use – the choreography was fairly simple, but not without vitality, nevertheless.  

The story, narrated in a semi-musical style, was about chaos in the North Pole, as Santa’s(Danu) evil sister, the Snow Queen (Neidra) attempts to overthrow him and own Christmas and make it cold and macabre like her. In the meantime a fatherless family(Natalie – Dmitri & Peter – Devin) in earth wishes for a father and husband. Santa calls off sick and sends his new front man, Mike (Iranga) down to people to deliver gifts, who grants the family’s biggest wish at the end. Meanwhile, Santa overcomes Snow Queen with his love and warmth, after a momentary lapse of evil’s success. As the play ends on an all’s well that ends well note, it touched several integral points about the seasonal spirit. (Characters were played alternatively, and some names here are specific to the opening night on which I watched the show.) 

The lighting and sets were superb. If the story attempted to increase faith in a fictional realm or character (that is, the North Pole and Santa Claus), then the sets and lighting lent a great hand in achieving this. The change of sets also required a number of blackouts, almost after every scene, which wasn’t too appealing, and during which for some reason the boys in the audience felt the need to clap everytime!      

Dmitri Gunatilake played Natalie and Devin Randeniya her son, Peter. Both roles were well acted out. Dmitri’s singing saved the day at several points. She stood out both in her acting and singing and was a great plus to the entire production.

The reindeer scenes were by far the most enjoyable, with lots of humour and well executed characters. Special mention to Amaya Wijesinghe and Demintha Fonseka, who played Rudolf.   

The role of Mike, played by Iranga Mendis Wickremasinghe, Jack Frost (Ivan Saverus), and the Snow Queen (Neidra Williams) were decently executed ones. I particularly liked Iranga and Eshan singing “While You Were Sleeping” by the Casting Crowns soon after the interval, which was a poignant reminder about the heart of Christmas. “Grown up Christmas List” was another song, touchingly placed throughout the play, which carried the essence of the season in it. The play also had some age-old popular carols that added to the good fun and are always a pleasure to recall during the month.

I’d conclude that while as a production ‘A Christmas Wish’ may have had its ups and downs, the play sure drove home the reason behind the season, particularly through some meaningful songs and a story that demonstrated that packages don’t the make the perfect gifts, but people do.


Comments

Jeevan

"Absolutely brilliant job by everyone. I had Christmas spirit oozing out after the show. Congrats to everyone."    

Miriam

"I thought it was a childish play in both a good and bad way.  Lighting and Snow Queen’s set was great. I thought it a bit sad really but I think that’s because the plot was rather unsubtle. Acting was ok but I expected to see more young school boys playing leads."

By Nivedha Jeyaseelan
Pics by Nisal Baduge