YES, PRIME MINISTER Hits the Sri Lankan stage
‘Yes, Prime Minister’ will take place from 28th to 30th June 2019 at the Lionel Wendt Theatre. Tickets are priced at LKR 3500, LKR 2500, LKR 1500 and LKR 800 (Balcony – Unreserved). Box plans and tickets are now available at the Lionel Wendt box office and online via www.lionelwendt.org
Yes, Prime Minister is a political satire British sitcom written by Antony Jay and Jonathan Lynn and was popular as one of Britain’s best sitcoms and the series has received several BAFTA awards. Jay and Lynn also produced a stage adaptation of the sitcom with actors such as Simon Williams and
Charlotte Lucas. Amphitheatre Productions is bringing this beloved sitcom to the Sri Lankan stage this June with a 7-member cast consisting of Yasal Ruhunage, Jaliya Wijewardene, Abbasali Rozais, Minoli Peiris, Sahan Wijewardene, Kavinda Gunasekera and George Cooke. Today, we speak to Directors Jaliya Wijewardene and Yasal Ruhunage about this year’s production, their directing styles and the challenges.
JW: Yasal and I have been friends for over 20 years. We were both part of the Drama Society at Trinity College and we were part of several college productions for the Annual Inter-school Shakespeare Drama Competition,
most notably Hamlet in 2004 directed by the late Prof. Ashley Halpe which won us the championship that year. I had to take a break from theatre when I went overseas for university but Yasal moved to Colombo for university and had the opportunity of being part of several of Indu
Dharmasena’s productions during this time. We always had a dream of putting on an independent production at the Lionel Wendt and once I returned after university, we kept discussing it for a couple of years but our schedules never really aligned.
YR: So somewhere in 2014 -2015 we decided that we should just go ahead with it without planning too much. That’s how Amphitheatre was born. Jaliya came up with the name one night when we were driving back from somewhere. The Lionel Wendt was already fully booked for the year so we booked dates at the Bishop’s
Auditorium. At that point we didn’t even have a full cast! But everything fell into place quite well and here we are four years later. So far our productions have included Fifty-fifty (2016), The Senator (2017) and Well, Mudliyar (2018), all of which are much loved vintage Ceylonese plays. JW: “Yes, Minister” (19801984) and its sequel “Yes,
Prime Minister” (1986-1988) were political sitcoms which gained immense popularity in the UK and around the world. Despite its comedic roots, both shows were acclaimed for the accurate and sophisticated portrayals of the power struggles between politicians and civil servants in the British government. This stage version is very interesting in that it takes these same characters and places them in a modern-day setting.
YR: The play revolves around the Prime Minister Jim Hacker, Cabinet Secretary
Sir Humphrey Appleby, Principal Private Secretary Bernard Woolley, and Head of Policy Claire Sutton retiring to the Prime Minister’s country residence Chequers for a quiet weekend of brain-storming and strategising which soon spirals into a wild night of panic and confusion! The TV series and the play are both popular because of its clever writing. However, the play also introduces elements of a classic British farce.
YR: The main reason we chose this script for this year’s production was because both of us are huge fans of the original TV shows. We were looking to break away from the sort of plays we had done over the past three years and venture into something different. So, we decided to go with a British play, another thing that both of us are passionate about. When we read the play, we knew straightaway whom we wanted to play the various characters so that made the final decision very much easier.
Both the show and the play take jabs at the mechanics of the political machine rather than a direct hit at anything or anyone in particular. If any of it does resemble any situation that any country faces currently, it’s only a coincidence.
JW: And a testament to the brilliance of the writing!
YR: I think it’s more daunting to recreate an original, especially if it is well known. There are crowd expectations even before the play hits the stage. since “Yes, Prime
Minister” was a popular TV series and is well remembered, i think it’s harder to direct in order to keep to its authenticity.
JW: There are certain advantages in that we have a lot of reference material available which is often not the case. But at the same time as Yasal said it’s a bit daunting given the popularity of the original. But it has been an enjoyable challenge and we really hope the audience will find that we have done justice to a fantastic script!
JW: I think in terms of cast; we have been extremely lucky. The cast members were also avid fans of the show. Some of them know the lines in the TV show by heart! Therefore, our task of directing the actors has been relatively easy. If you have a cast that has good chemistry on and off stage, it makes the entire experience much more enjoyable and results in a good end product. All in all, I just think we have been really blessed to have had the opportunity to work with a very talented and dedicated cast. The key challenge with a small cast is that each character needs to deliver as there is no crowd to hide behind. But happily, our casting has worked very well for us in this instance and the cast plays off each other really well.
YR: Well our roots in theatre are pretty much the same. For both of us the foundation was laid through college drama and the guidance of
Professor Halpe. Subsequently, our introduction to the theatre in Colombo came through the opportunity to work with Indu Dharmasena. So
Jaliya and I both use whatever we’ve learned through these experiences. Also, when Jaliya and I sit down to discuss a production and how to go about it, we draw up a plan on how to work on the various key aspects. In most cases both of us end up acting as well so we share the load accordingly. So far, we have been able to work cohesively in all aspects.
JW: Well a lot depends on the setting and the type of writing you have to deal with. If it is local politics, there is the advantage that most if not all of the jokes, references and characters would be easily recognisable to the audience as a whole. However, when addressing politics of a different country, there is a chance that not everyone in your audience would relate to the subject matter, which makes your job as an actor and a director that much harder. That being said however, “Yes, Prime Minister” is based on a general view of politics and bureaucracy and much of the humour is derived from wordplay and comedic timing rather than specific references to current affairs of a particular country. Most of the subject matter in this particular play is universal so we haven’t had a lot of difficulty.