The Cast of A Thousand and One Nights -

The Cast of "A Thousand and One Nights"

Amaya Perera as Sheherazade

What do you love about the role you’re playing and did your character have to go through any challenges? – “In terms of story line its one big challenge for her. She is telling stories to stay alive and even though that’s a challenge that’s what I love most about this character. It’s so imaginative, its unthinkable. You wouldn’t ever imagine that to stay alive one would be telling stories every night.

What was the biggest challenge taking this role? – “For the role itself I found Sheherazade very relatable but she’s a little bit evil. Understanding, giving my character more depth and presenting her in a way that would stay true to Sheherazade but also stay true to Amaya as an individual, that was the biggest challenge.”

Why did you want to be involved? – “Well, I’ve always loved drama and I’ve always been a very dramatic kid that’s for sure, I knew that I would genuinely regret my time as a school student if I hadn’t done a school production.”

Adveetha Meth Abeysinghe as Dunyazade/ Chorus

In what ways do you relate to your character? – “Dunyazard is literally me. Just except more of a chaos gremlin.”

What are the challenges about bringing this character to life? – “Both characters are very much like me except I’d say abit more exaturated. It wasn’t too hard but of course to meddle in with everybody and to know what you’re doing and how everything should be in place that was abit tough to get used to, but I think overall, all of us did a good job with our characters even if we found it difficult in the start.”

Tell us some of the process that went into making this production. – “We first had our auditions. everyone got selected for their roles and from then onwards we just started practicing putting in effort. I would say this year was abit more touch than any year due to the pandemic, but and covid was not going to stop us.

Siyath Anandasiri as Shahriyar

What was challenging about bringing this script to life? -“The problem in the original script is that Shahriyar was not exactly likeable, he does some really disgusting things. Over the course of the production, I got more and more comfortable with the character I play and the role I must portray.”

Why did you want to be involved? -“I really enjoy drama, so when I heard there was going to be another play, I was just onboard no matter what. Miss has done a stellar job previously so I’m thankful to be working with her.”

What were the challenges your character faced? -“At the start of the play, he gets cheated on by his wife and he goes through a depression which makes him want to kill every woman. When Sheherazade comes along he realizes that maybe he can be happy again.”

Abdurrahman Aslam as Prince/ Poor Man

Why did you want to be involved? – “I really like acting and wanted to join the drama club. I also enjoy working with other people and having ‘’mm““’“fun!”

Akindu Pathirage as Wazir/ Isham of Mosul

What do you love about the character you play? – “He is put in a situation of extreme difficulty and to bear that over a period of a thousand nights is remarkable”

Aneek de Mel as Pastry Cook/ King

Why did you want to be involved? – “Drama is a big part of my life, it helped me come a long way, and mould me into who I am today. “

Bhupesh Selvanayagam as Jester/ Abu Al Hasan/ Little Boy

What are the Challenges you faced bringing the script to life? – “I’m sure you have heard of andare. When you listen to his stories you notice that he is more famous than the king and the jester has certain qualities I found I hard to bring out.”

Chanuk Arasakularatne as Thief / Sheikh/ Brother of Sympathy the Learned/ King' s son

What was your favourite part of making this production?

“Working with everyone in the cast and figuring out how to adopt to my character. Behind the scenes for me was the best part in my opinion.”

Chithru Gunawardena as Boy

Why did you want to be involved in this production?

“I’ve always had a passion for drama, and I love putting myself in someone else’s shoes and exploring other emotions and situations. “

Chiran Premaratne as the Guitarist

Favourite part of this whole experience?

“Recording in the studio and recording the songs”

Lohan Perera as the Clarinetist/ King's son / Sheikh Al Fadl

Tell us some of the process that went into making this production?

“We started off just getting to know the words of the play and familiarizing ourselves with the story and built off from there. Producing scene by scene and transitioning from one scene to the next.”

Lourdi Perera as Sympathy the Learned/ Second Woman

What was your favourite part of making this play?

“All the dancing and singing and just hanging out with all the amazing ppl involved”

Maria Navamani as daughter Sheherazade/ Member of family

Favourite part about making the play?

“Being together and spending time together. I received so much love, and even when I messed up I was so scared that miss was going to scold me but instead they helped me fix them and make me feel welcome”

Mukarram Jameel as Harun Al Rasheed

Tell us the process went into making this production a success

“The process was basically that we had auditions and immediately pick our roles up. We started progressing. The longer we practise, the more we are accustomed and understanding towards our roles”

Dharishta Peiris as the lover/ Butcher

Why did you want to be involved?

“I just like acting and have been told I’m very dramatic, so I thought I’d join drama”

Nethuki Kumara as Policeman/ King's daughter/ Third Woman

Biggest challenge you faced bringing this character to reality?

“You have to be very confident in being that character and I’m not a very confident person.”

Nadupama Abeywickramasinghe as Robber/ Man in the Dream

What was your favorite part of this whole process?

“Being able to make so many memories during this whole experience.”

Osheen Martus as Family, sister-in-law, Second Child

What was your favourite part of this whole experience?

“All the friendships that were made, and all the bonds we created.”

Rayanka Jayawardane as Jester's wife/ Girl/ Mother/ First Woman

Tell us some of the process that went into the production of this

“a lot of long practices filled with a lot of laughter and sweat.”

Sayishiyam Kurincheedaran as Chief of Police/ First child

Why did you want to be involved in this production?

“I really have been wanting to be acting for a while, I like to act in basic words. It’s fun.”

Nithuni Perera as Thief/ Mother/ Sister-in-law

Why do you want to be involved in the production?

“I am extroverted and introverted at the same time, but I felt like I was insecure abouts myself. Acting is such a vulnerable thing, and you can’t be scared. I feel that I’ve gained confidence and learnt a lot”

Sintthuriy Bahlendran as The Tortoise/ Woman by the River

Why did you want to be involved in this production?

“I was in the last production of dolls house, and I really liked it so I decided to do it again.”