Jerome Lakshman de Silva
Artistic Director
Jerome’s involvement with Holy
Family Convent has a long
history, including his
direction of plays and musicals like
Smike and Hassan to
many entries for the Annual
Inter-school Shakespeare Drama
Competition. Therefore it was
no surprise that he was asked to
create the ultimate visual image
which has received accolades from audiences
internationally. Jerome is now
the much-loved Artistic Director of
Soul Sounds, travelling with
them on all their tours.
Jerome has always had
theatre in his heart. Having debuted
as an actor in school plays he has
gone on to build a theatrical career
spanning 35 years, amassing over 80
productions to his credit.
Always wishing to pass on his learning
and experience, and keep the
virtually amateur theatre continuing
in the country; together with the
interest shown by many students that
he had come in contact with, Jerome
formed The Workshop Players. The
Workshop Players is an amateur
theatre group consisting largely of
teenagers and is dedicated to
promoting peace through theatre.
Seen as a leading figure in
theatre in Sri Lanka, Jerome
received the TOYP (Ten Outstanding
Young Persons) of Sri Lanka Award
for his contribution to Theatre and
Drama in 1982. In 2003, he became
the first recipient of the YMCA
Colombo's
Synergy in Theatrum Award. He has also been
awarded and felicitated by many
leading schools and other theatre
groups for services rendered in the
field of theatre and drama.
Jerome’s popularity and his
ingenious input into the theatrical
paradigms of Sri Lanka became known
when his productions included
popular hit musicals that otherwise
were not known to have existed among
the local audiences. So much so,
that his adaptation of Les
Misérables in 1996 and 1997
received standing ovations night
after night. The reason, Jerome had turned
the only reasonably equipped theatre
in Sri Lanka seating 625 persons
with a 25x20 foot stage, into a
revolving stage that was
unimaginable while creating
adaptations purely from sight of
visuals seen on the brochures.
On the other hand, he had created
hope of dramatic excellence for
children, for whom theatre of this
nature otherwise would have been
only a dream. The little earnings
from each of these productions set
the stage for the next bigger
challenge, and throughout the years
Sri Lankan audiences have
experienced productions such as
The Royal Hunt of the Sun, West Side
Story and The Lion King.
To the audience, the productions had
renewed their interest in theatre
with zeal to make an extra effort to
watch the actual productions
spending colossal sums of money in
terms of local currency, the next
time they visit the West End,
Broadway or touring productions
in Singapore, Australia etc.
Such theatrical excellence made
Jerome a winner of one of two
scholarships among nominees from
North Africa, the Middle East and
South Asia to become a fellow at the
Salzburg Seminar, Austria for
Session 340 – “The Power of Theatre:
Artistry, Entertainment, Social
Commentary” in September 1996. The
Course Faculty included Arthur
Miller, Ariel Dorfman, Andre Brink,
David Thacker, Benedict Nightingale
and Christopher Bigsby. Jerome also
participated in the Master Classes
by Andre Brink and Ariel Dorfman
while in Salzburg, with the UK's
Royal National Theatre actors.
Jerome created history
in Sri Lanka as the only Theatre
practitioner to excel in both
English and the vernacular Sinhalese
theatre in Sri Lanka. This he
achieved by taking his maiden
Sinhala production, translating the
personally endorsed script of Ariel Dorfman’s Widows to winning four awards and an honourable
mention at the National Drama
Festival 2004.
Of the many roles Jerome has
played on stage amounting to over 80
(as in some productions he has
played multiple characters) he rates the
roles of Dromio Twins in
Shakespeare’s Comedy of Errors, Ali
Hakim in Oklahoma, Kwame Nkruma in
Nkrumah Ni Africa Ni, Julius Caesar
in Julius Caesar, Bottom in
A Midsummer Nights Dream, Sam in Athol Fugard’s
Master Harold and the Boys,
Gus the Theatre Cat in Cats,
Fagin in Oliver as some of his
most cherished experiences on stage. |
