the black lullaby

A totally unplanned occurence it was, when on Saturday I decided to go for Equus with some friends. And I must say, the evening was not a waste.

I must say I haven’t seen a previous production of the same play so I did enjoy it muchly. Here’s what I thought…

In terms of the set – I loved its simplicity, for it is such a rare sight to see in Colombo productions today. The way in which one space was used for every single venue was very nicely done. I particularly enjoyed the riding scene when the four horses rotated the stage while boy and horse remained still in the centre. There was no movement from their end yet you could picture that journey in the misty dead of night so clearly.

In terms of performance, I was indeed fascinated by the chemistry that was created between Rohan and Hiran in their respective roles. Rohan’s delivery of lines really pulled you in and Hiran’s body language was something I believe he brought to us courtesy of his experience in Sinhala theatre, and it was a welcome gesture because he handled himself so well.

Apart from the two leading roles, I believe Tracy added a certain kind of magic that was key to the brilliance of the entire performance. What many people don’t get I suppose is that this was a very British play and it needed that subtle British feel to make it that much more real and intense.

Even though Subha may not have had much of a part to play, she did deliver her lines rather sincerely and it was lovely to watch. And while I commend her for the daring performance, having worked with her on Chatroom, I do think that there maybe perhaps slightly more she could have added to the part.

The only role that seemed to disappoint me was the one portrayed by Ranmali. Not meaning that she wasn’t good, because as an actor I do believe she got the role down to a T. But in terms of delivery, she acted to perfection, and that’s what I didn’t quite enjoy. Whereas everyone else gave a little piece of themselves to the performance, here was the only place I saw the script being read off word for word. I looked for more in her character’s relationship with the doctor and I found her to be a bit cold (maybe it was intended that way but I still felt otherwise).

I loved the lighting, especially in the stable scene. I liked the journey of transformation that we the viewers were taken on, it was like the perfect flow of words in the body copy of a press ad.

On the other hand, I did feel that certain areas of the script dragged a bit and I found myself losing interest maybe twice during the entire play but the attention was grabbed again before too long.

The horses were slightly disappointing, I expected them to be more than just stage props and in the riding scene, there was no connection between Nugget and the boy, even though the script constantly speaks of horse and rider being one. There could have been more of a connection there.

Overall I think it is a dreadful shame that Steve de la Silva doesn’t do more productions because his direction can clearly capture and wow an audience. But I suppose that’s why we wait for him to do something new even though it happens only once every few years.

If I were to rate it on a scale of 10, I’d probably give it an 8.5

Good show guys.

B.