a play without words

Directed by Jayampathi Guruge

Synopsis         Production       Reviews         Looking Back        Devising        Rehearsals        Cast         Downloads

Walking Path: a play without words, is a wordless ensemble performance which
examines the relentless, militarized, urban beautification drive which swept the
capital of Sri Lanka immediately after the end of the 30-year civil war.

July, 2014
Lionel Wendt Theatre
Colombo, Sri Lanka

Running time – 1 hour 15 minutes (no interval)
Language - No Language

The opening show was supported by  Lilamani Dias Benson, The Neelan Tiruchelvam Trust, The Center for Poverty Analysis, The Suriyasena Trust

Production 

Walking Path is a play about the aggressive urban beautification drive that took over
Colombo city in the immediate post-war years in Sri Lanka.

This play without words, written by Ruwanthie de Chickera, was created in response to the culture of unspoken intimidation that prevailed during this time in the country. The militarization of city parks, the surveillance of the populace which took place with the white-washing of the city, were matters that everyone knew but
which could not be spoken of.

Production Material

Reviews

Artists involved in creating this play reflect on the creative process; explaining how the idea came about, how it grew, changed and what finally made it to the production.

Read the Resource Pack and watch the Stages Looking Back Video to gain insight into the process behind creating this play.

Walking Path was devised following a close study of the culture of the several walking paths that emerged almost instantly in Colombo city after the end of the war.

Artists researching the play spent several hours and days in these walking paths, observing the behaviour of individuals and groups, speaking with persons visiting the parks, as well as those not allowed to enter, and also improvising situations which elicited reactions from the military who policed these areas round the clock.

The rehearsal process was a challenging 6-week long period in which the actors worked hard to communicate through non-verbal scenes.

An important distinction is that this was a play without words, but it was not a mime. This distinction was necessary for both the actors and the audience to understand.

So, observations gathered in the walking paths by the actors were scripted and then developed in rehearsal in a manner that the wordlessness of the play felt natural.