Don’t miss ‘The Merry Wives of Colombo’!

Saturday, 17 March 2012 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Indu Dharmasena’s hilarious comedy ‘The Merry Wives of Colombo’ was inspired by none other than Shakespeare’s ‘Merry Wives of Windsor’. This modernised version of the Bard’s work has been localised in characteristic Indu style to bring it up to date and a bit closer to home and deals with, love, lust, trust and jealousy.

The main thrust of the play is to eradicate various pre-conceived notions that society have about people merely because they belong to a certain social group. Apart from the women’s characters being stereotyped according to their lifestyles, men too are often generalised. The play therefore attempts to show a mix of people and how they respond to various situations.

The story revolves around the wives of two wealthy businessmen and their relationships with their husbands. Tammy Kahapituwa and Madhu Alewathura are good friends. They are positively angry and insulted when they discover that they have both received love letters from the same man, none other than John Sabagadara, an MP and philanderer who not only considers himself god’s gift to women, but is also hoping he will have access to their husbands’ wealth through them. So they in turn with the help of their friend, Sandra and Sabagadara’s sidekick Bandhu plot to teach the randy old Sabagadara a lesson he won’t forget easily.

However the plot thickens when the trouble making gossip Upeksha informs the two husbands Rajiv Alewathura and Nigel Kahapituwa that their wives are cheating on them. Nigel totally disregards the gossip as he’s confident of his wife’s fidelity. However Rajiv being a jealous and possessive man goes into a jealous rage. Then when he hears from Sabagadara himself about the ‘rendezvous’ planned with his wife, Rajiv is determined to go to great lengths to catch them in the act.

The cast comprises of Koluu playing ‘Girly’ who is ironically a socialite and restaurant owner. Stefan Raymond plays the philandering politician, John Sabagadara. His sidekick Bandhu is played by Gehan Cooray. The two wives Tammy and Madhu are played by Sanjana Selvarajah and Sanwada. The two husbands, Nigel and Rajiv are played by Abbasali Rozais and Indu. Their hypochondriac friend Mahesh is played by Anoop Kapukotuwa who is acting for the first time in one of Indu’s productions. Another newcomer to the group is Niroshi Perera playing the role of the happy go lucky Sandra. The trouble making gossip Upeksha is played by Trinushka Perera who is also acting with Indu for the first time.

‘Merry Wives of Colombo’ will be staged at the Lionel Wendt Theatre on 30, 31 March and 1 April 2012 at 7:30 p.m. The play is presented by the Rotary Club of Colombo Metropolitan and the proceeds will be utilized for their charity projects. The show on the 30 Friday is exclusively for HSBC customers so please call HSBC for reservations. Tickets are now available for 31 March and 1 April at the Lionel Wendt Theatre.