Theatre lovers around the globe are all abuzz once more as they eagerly await the return of the wild fairies who are back to tickle, tease and titillate their imagination at Pyramus & Thisby, Jehan Aloysius’ hilarious adaptation of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. These mischievous fairies of CentreStage Productions are back to wow audiences at the 8th Theatre Olympics in India. The Theatre Olympics, established in Greece in 1993, is being held in India for the very first time. Theatre enthusiasts and performers from all around the world are gathering once again to celebrate their love and passion for the stage.
Pyramus & Thisby is a magical blend of Shakespeare’s verse, exciting dance and music from low-country Sri Lanka. The play boasts a stellar cast of prominent English theatre personalities as well as dancers, acrobats and musicians. Jehan Aloysius, the show’s creator states, “the first five runs of
Pyramus & Thisby were a phenomenal success. The cast had worked so hard through months of gruelling pre-work and rehearsals devising the show at workshops, while also learning acrobatics and various styles of Eastern dance. It was humbling that the audiences were unanimous in their appreciation of the work that had gone into the show.”
The plot revolves around a group of artisans, headed by Quince, as they rehearse a play titled, Pyramus & Thisby in the forest. A battle between the armies of the Fairy King and Queen over the mystical Indian boy, and the machinations of the mischievous ‘Puck’, lead to chaos in the human world. Meanwhile, ‘Bottom’, the weaver, becomes the unwitting victim of a magical transformation which leads him into the arms of the mesmerized Fairy Queen. In all this mayhem, the artisans wonder if they will ever be able to stage their tragicomedy - Pyramus & Thisby!
The cast features Jehan Aloysius as Bottom the weaver, supported by Dion Nanayakkara, Kavishka Perera, Dushyantha Hettiarachchi, Harshana Rathnayaka, Prabhath Devindra, Roshni Guneratne and Upekha Daniel in the lead roles. The show’s lighting is by Thushan Dias. Pyramus & Thisby will be staged in Delhi and Kolkata on March 11 and 13, 2018 respectively. For more information about the show, visit their official Facebook page –
Pyramus & Thisby – A Magi-Comedy by Jehan Aloysious.