That's a Wrap!
After one month, we've finished our time at the lovely Tea Leaf Vision School in Maskeliya.Everyone involved in our social drama project worked extremely hard and we are so proud.After various vocal exercises, the students were able to project their voices loudly, 'all the way to Sri Pada'! (Aka Adam's Peak) so that the audience could truly hear their hard-hitting words and messages. Indeed, the audience not only heard the messages but were provoked into discussion after the performance.Here are a few examples:
I can't believe it - these students are Tamil... They have never been so confident.
Janani Priya, Intern, TLV
I could see the students created everything themselves. They cared so much.
Miss Patirage, Manager, TLV
Please please please leave us a big manual so we can do the same!
Miss Arumugam, Teacher, Tea Leaf Vision
What impressed us and the teachers so much was the time in which the students created their performance. The words, characters and content were all theirs; we had merely given them the tools and confidence from which to create and articulate them. The way in which our participants were able to let their imagination and creativity dictate their work is one of the reasons we love this work so much!
As we mentioned, the performances contained sensitive issues that are highly prominent in the hill country. When these issues were performed, the students mostly reacted with concentration and thoughtful silence. However, some serious scenes unintentionally caused laughter within the audience. This shocked us. It was clear from the ideas and the work they produced, that the students did not find these issues funny, so we were totally bemused as to where this laughter was coming from.
However, after discussions with the TLV teachers, we realised that we had been expecting a very Western reaction from our audience; the kind of reaction that we, especially as drama students, are almost trained and taught to produce. The teachers reminded us that issues like alcoholism and domestic violence are so prevalent amongst these communities that the young people are almost numb to them. Laughter, it seems, is a coping mechanism that comes from deeply-rooted issues presented in a relatively new way. The students are not accustomed to the media (such as the highly popular 'Kollywood' Tamil films) presenting their lives as realistically as the raw performances did. It's almost an alien concept for them to not see a slapstick, melodramatic portrayal of Sri Lankan and Indian life.As ever these issues have given us food for thought, and reiterates the importance of continuing to question our practice with every new project.
An important aspect of our work is its longevity. We are keen for our social dramas to be integrated into the Tea Leaf Vision curriculum. We left Tea Leaf with the Tie Dye manual, with detailed instructions such as how to truly achieve the jazziest jazz hands (..drama jokes strikes again). We have left exercise banks galore, as well as suggestions on how to deal with students undergoing different emotions and frameworks for future workshops.We are also really looking forward to implementing a link between future Manchester University students and Graduates with Tea Leaf Vision to carry out future work. Stay tuned for future developments..The performances also signified the end of the first term, which meant it was time to stuff ourselves with cake and ice cream and have a school disco, with all the old moves being whipped out in our shalwar kameezes.In true Sri Lankan spirit, we had another party the next day with the teachers! Their commitment to the school constantly impressed us so it was great to see them let their hair down and bust out all of the Tamil movie dances!
It was extremely sad to say goodbye to the school and all of its enthusiastic members. They have made a huge impact on our lives, and in turn, we hope we have on theirs. The school will always hold a special place in our hearts and we will endeavour to keep in contact and re-visit and work there in the not so distant future!
Achinika hotel saw us off in great style- from biryani binging, New Years partying, dancing barefoot on the street to welcome huge shrines-on-wheels, bubbling the auspicious milk rice, touring families homes and temples to hiking up the don that is Sri Pada (and its 5000 plus steps) for a magical sunrise... We did it all!
We truly count Shyama et al as a part of our family now.It was only right that 'Tata' (Shyama's Father) drove us to the first leg of our 'Flashpacking' tour of Sri Lanka. First stop- time to relax on the beautiful beaches of Tangalla!