Stages Theatre Group

CHECKPOINT – three strangely normal plays was first produced in Sri Lanka in 2001.  It sold out its first run and due to popular demand went into a second run – which was also a sell out success.  Following the immense impact of the production, Stages has received many requests to re-run the play.

In November 2005, the production – sporting a new cast – was toured across India as part of two separate theatre festivals; the WIPSA Festival of South Asian Theatre which was toured in the cities of Lucknow, Varanasi and Bubhaneshwar; and the Bahuroopi National Theatre Festival in Mysore. The troupe received critical acclaim for its performances in each of these cities. The Forum Theatre segment of the play received special mention, as this provided a completely new theatrical experience for the audiences.

What’s in a name?

‘CHECKPOINT – three strangely normal plays’, as its name implies, is a compilation of three pieces of theatre that have been chosen because they each provide intriguing reality checks into the world around us.  Like all good theatre, these plays expose the strangeness of our normal lives, a strangeness that is at the same time funny and disturbing.

24hr Store. The first of these three plays – ‘The 24hr Store’ is an original English script written by Thara Kumarasinghe. This half hour play is a bold, sleek and mature piece of experimental theatre which is a biting critique of the destructive nature of consumerism in modern society. Set in a chic department store, this play, written with absurdist undertones, takes the audience on a strange journey through the observations of a group of shop mannequins.    

Last Bus eke Kathawa. An original Sinhala script by award winning playwright Dhananjaya Karunaratna, Last bus eke kathawa is a one man show set during the 1989 JVP insurrection.  This play has been performed by Gihan de Chickera since 2001 on many occasions both locally and abroad.  Performed in India, the UK, Japan and Sri Lanka Last Bus is probably the most widely toured and performed piece of contemporary English theatre in Sri Lanka.

Forum Theatre. Arguably the most popular of the three plays, forum theatre offers the theatre audience an opportunity to get involved in the making of a play as never before. The concept is simple – the actors perform a stem scene which is taken to a state of crisis and then stopped.  The resolution to the problem is then in the hands of the audience.  The rest of the play unfolds according to the suggestions of the audience, made then and there.  A method devised by Augosto Boal, Forum Theatre is an exciting and engaging method used to address and stimulate dialogue on complex and sensitive social issues.  Stages is the first to introduce this type of theatre to Sri Lankan audiences in the year 2001.  This introduction was widely acknowledged as a milestone in English theatre in Sri Lanka.  In the past, the issues addressed by Stages through Forum theatre have included domestic violence, the ethnic conflict and homosexuality.

Cast. ‘CHECKPOINT – three strangely normal plays’ – brings together a stellar cast – putting on stage most of the biggest names in English Theatre today.  The cast includes Mohommed Adamaly, Tracy Holsinger, Nimmi Harasgama, Gihan de Chickera, Piyumi Samaraweera, Ruhanie Perera, Ryan Holsinger, Shanaka Amarasinghe, Niran Anketell, Jake Oorloff, Amal de Chickera and Dylan Perera.