A stage draped in white and dangling tea cups welcomed those who entered the Borella Punchi Theatre. The minimal props immediately caught our eye, as the quaint mud bricked walls of the theatre ensconced its audience for a night of solitary theatre.
A lone willowy figure of a lady in white caught our eye, she was pacing between the screen of white sheets and a tea set, drinking sips of what looked like tea and gesturing to the fans above her on the balcony. The intimate setting was packed, with many friends lending their love and support to this one woman show. Jessica Haines, the star of the show, was ready to cast her magic and take us along on the journey of a girl called Violet.
Violet is a precocious child with two special loves, a fascination with tea and a rather curious and imaginative penchant for food. Each opposing side of the stage had two tea pots, symbolic of our theophile protagonist and a model house which represented the home space. Our story begins with young Violet; a girl with an imaginative streak growing up in Africa with the prospect of her whole life ahead of her.
Pictures: HollyPowersPhotography
She gets sent to boarding school and thus begins her spiral into the agonies of growing up and cultural expectations of young girls. Her love of food soon leads her down a slippery slope resulting in a food disorder.
Internal struggles
She subsequently moves towards various stages of her life such as college, with many humorous incidents adding a sense of gaiety and lighthearted in between the serious undertones where she has to deal with internal struggles with body image and the hardships of a young woman maturing in a world obsessed with the physicality of human beings.
One of the most creative and symbolic elements in the play is the white sheet draped panels where shadows are used to highlight the perennial battle within the subconscious, the interplay between the good and the bad, the aspects of light and dark which govern most of our lives. The shadow work is impressive and spells binding, a testament to the plethora of skills under Jessica’s belt. Her talents in shadow puppetry come to life with the shadows imparting an otherworldly dimension to a stage with minimal props, while bringing to life the torments and complexities of the human psyche.
Another recurring figure in the drama is the demon, a personification of the deep dark recesses of our mind that negatively affect our perceptions of reality. All of which is brilliantly portrayed by Jessica with contorted facial expressions as she wraps a white shawl around her head, flickers a light and begins snarling in an ominous tone. This one woman show gave us so much diversity and vibrancy and points to ponder than a stage filled with myriad cast and characters.
Full circle
Haunted by her mind-made demons she returns to her home in Africa, a place associated with comfort, belonging and the innocence of childhood. The tale of Violet enters full circle with her own daughter who grows up among the lush African terrain and is clearly the light of Violet’s life. Returning to the left hand corner of the stage, with an image of the house symbolizing the comfort and safety of hearth and home she pours a soothing cup of tea and begins recounting her life to her daughter.
Jessica Haines, a versatile South African actress who wrote the play gives a stellar performance as Violet; she is a bundle of energy and morphs into various personifications with ease. She uses the limited stage set with skill and dexterity and invokes her larger than life presence upon the audience with her dancing, roughhousing and clowning. The play directed by eminent South African actor and director; James Cunningham who has worked in over 15 countries and is known for his innovative theatre performances has no doubt rendered his magic to the production. Although the set design is minimal the acting, pacing, and the visual and metaphorical undertones leaves a wonderful impression on the audience.
Albeit, we felt the play ended too soon, an hour just flew by as we were taken along a rollercoaster ride of emotions through the being of Violet, representing a collective consciousness of the trials and tribulations of being a young girl and a woman. So what inspired this seasoned actress to stage her play in Sri Lanka, which she has made her home for the past three years?
Positivity
The audience at the Punchi Theatre
“Sri Lanka has been such a gift to me,” says Jessica. “Culturally, there is such artistic talent here from the arts to the performing arts, there is diversity, an eclectic mix of culture and warmth and generosity of the people. I have found the artists here to be so open and generous and the experience so far has been incredible. The positivity is such that the people have been so amazing, in terms of helping me stage it that the support, the encouragement has been overwhelming and I am so grateful to the island and to the people and the artistic setting here.
“I know it’s a struggle for any artist to earn a living but I suppose I also wanted to show artists here that actors and musicians can do a one hander. You don’t need to pay rights for a production where the scripts cost a fortune and you need big sets and budgets to tell a story, you can do it quite simply with a few boards a couple of sheets and your imagination as long as you believe in the story, anything is possible.
“I am South African I have grown up in a third world country, so I know what it’s like to make art with a little budget so this has been the perfect platform for me” says Jessica.
We are indeed thankful for Jessica for bringing her wonderful production here and we hope she continues to bring forth provocative performances filled with grace and vibrancy for us to enjoy and be inspired.
