Just two weeks to go before opening night, and we’ve been rehearsing all this time without Karen (playing Julia), who lives in Singapore. She came down a week ago, and the effect is amazing. The play has really come to life and taken shape.

Karen and I started Mind Adventures together in 1999, with our friend Michelle Perera. To my mind, it would be hard to find two better actresses. By 2002, both had left the country, and it has taken me a while to find actors as gifted as they are. But I have found them, and Piyumi in particular is now with us for the third time. Our last show, 3 Star K starred Piyumi in a role that was a little unusual and strange to say the least.

All the women in this play are friends of mine, and I have either acted with or directed all of them before- except for Ameena. Fazeeha for example, was in the first play I ever created and directed- The Album in 1992. This current production is the first time we’ve worked together since.

I met Ruwanthie for the first time in 1998. I had just returned from London, and within two weeks of arriving, was drafted into the production of Widows by old friend Feroze Kamardeen.

[In fact this is also when I met Karen and Michelle for the first time. Widows will always remain my ideal of a theatre experience. Never have I experienced such bonding within a cast that also included Mohamed ‘Adam’ Adamally, Neluka Silva, John Benedict and Feroze.]

I have the utmost respect for Ruwanthie and the work she does, which has taken her to England, India and Japan amongst other places. There is no local playwright more successful than her and her energy and determination are truly inspiring. She and her brothers comprised the crew on our first production, Slag and I’ve helped backstage as well as acted in her productions.

This is the beauty of the English theatre in Colombo. Everyone works with everyone in some capacity or the other and we all grow from the experience.

More tomorrow…