CentreStage Productions is now preparing to stage their next hit production - The Day Will Come... which will be performed at the Punchi Theatre, Borella from the 12th – 15th of June 2008 at 7.30 p.m. The play, which is written & directed by Jehan Aloysius, was shortlisted for the Gratiaen Award for literature in 2000 in a collection of plays.

The Day Will Come... boasts a stellar cast of prominent English theatre personalities which includes Mohamed Adamaly, Prasad Pereira, Rajiv Ponweera, Shanaka Amarasinghe, Natalie Blacker and Wanda Godlieb, supported by Michelle Herft, Sashane Perera and Geethicke de Silva.

The plot is set in the future ‘somewhere, sometime’ where a young demented dictator passes a radical law to gas everyone over the age of fifty five in order to solve the issue of overpopulation. Believing that he is ‘making way for the new' he claims that it is a ‘wastage of resources keeping them alive when they are no longer productive’. The result is a war on the Elders which leads to a group of ‘geriatric rebels' taking refuge in an abandoned factory underground. But how secure are they from their children? And whom can they trust?

The play is a gripping and surreal look at the future of the planet, while also highlighting certain issues in society, which makes The Day Will Come... an evening of suspense with food for thought.

As the show’s creator Jehan states, "In a sense the play can be termed as an allegory that deals with ageism, the abuse of the elders, as well as the effects of progress and overpopulation in societies around the world."

The theatre troupe’s recent successes include the sell-out productions of Caliban’s Rebellion, Pyramus & Thisby, Bengal Bungalow, Rag – The Musical and The Ritual – all of which have enjoyed full houses and excellent reviews. In fact their recent production was sold out including the extra performance night.

Tickets for The Day Will Come..., priced at 750/-, 500/- and 250/- (balcony), are now available at the Punchi Theatre. So rush now! Please call 2672121 for ticket details.

Jehan’s quote:

"It’s been an exciting process working with such an experienced cast. I can honestly say the actors fit their roles perfectly. I guess I’m very glad I’ve waited 14 years to produce this play which I wrote when I was just 16! In fact, this is the first of my four plays shortlisted for the Gratiaen Prize 2000 (in the manuscript ‘The Screaming Mind’) that I have chosen to finally produce. As a director, I now feel sufficiently distanced from the playwright and am able to adapt the script while rehearsing it. In a way, I feel I’m rewriting the script as I direct it, as all directors do in a way. I’ve been doing a few light plays recently, so I’m enjoying working on this piece of serious theatre that makes people think."

The Day Will Come...

• The play: The Day Will Come...
• Presented by: CentreStage Productions
• Written & directed by: Jehan Aloysius
• Dates: 12th – 15th June 2008
• Venue: Namel Malini Punchi Theatre, Borella
• Time: 7.30 p.m.

About The Day Will Come...

The Day Will Come... is a surreal and absurd look at certain very real issues. In a sense the play can be termed as an allegory that deals with ageism, the effects of progress and overpopulation in societies around the world.

The play is set in the future ‘somewhere, sometime’ where a young demented dictator passes a radical law to gas everyone over the age of fifty five in order to solve the issue of overpopulation. Believing that he is ‘making way for the new’ he claims that it is a ‘wastage of resources keeping them alive when they are no longer productive’. The result is a war on the Elders which leads to a group of ‘geriatric rebels’ taking refuge in an abandoned factory underground. But how secure are they from their children? And whom can they trust?

The Writer / Director

Jehan Aloysius is a prominent theatre personality who has been associated with over 40 major productions of the English and Sinhala theatre over the last 15 years alone. As an actor, Jehan has been linked to leading theatre troupes, playing the lead in hit productions such as Cats, Les Misérables, Middle of Silence and The Lion King. In 2005 and 2006 he performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in the multi-award winning production of Children of the Sea, which brought Kylie Minogue to Sri Lanka and Edinburgh. His directorial credits include the spectacular Prince of Egypt (2003), The Ritual (2002-2004), the sell-out success Bengal Bungalow (2004), Rag - In Concert (2005), Pyramus & Thisby (2006-2007), Caliban’s Rebellion (2008) as well as numerous Shakespeare performances for St. Joseph's College since 1998 - all of which have been finalists and champions in the Shakespeare Drama Festival under his direction. As a playwright, his plays have been produced both locally and abroad, while his play The Music Box was produced by the University of Colombo, and a collection of his plays, titled The Screaming Mind (which includes The Day Will Come...) was shortlisted for the 2000 Gratiaen Award. Since the Tsunami, Jehan has been involved in a variety of humanitarian efforts by conducting workshops in tsunami camps around Sri Lanka. In fact, he left a career in advertising to focus on the use of ‘theatre for development’.

The Troupe

CentreStage Productions is an amateur theatre troupe formed by Jehan Aloysius in 2001, in the hope of using various theatre techniques to produce and promote cutting-edge theatre in Sri Lanka. The focus of this non-profit troupe has always been on young people, and its initial aim was to foster their skills in all forms of theatre - from the very act of scriptwriting, to acting, direction and production. However, since they initiated their humanitarian ‘StageHands Project’ in 2006, they have also focused on using theatre for initiating social change that can develop, empower and mobilise communities to grapple with social and personal issues. CentreStage Productions regularly conducts theatre workshops with schools, theatre troupes, and amateur dramatists both of the English and Sinhala theatre circles. CenterStage Productions is constantly invited to perform at theatre festivals, and is one of the few companies to take their productions out of Colombo as well. They also had the privilege of being the opening act at the premier StageRite Theatre Festival in Bangalore in 2002 and the only English performance to be invited for the National Drama Festival in 2004. They will also be performing at an international theatre festival in India this October.