Passion Play at Pitipana

Whist here in Sri Lanka one of the pieces of work I have to do for my MA Photography studies is a series of pictures which has a narrative; something which tells a story. I was unsure what I was going to do for this until I had the good fortune to meet a photographer from Sri Lanka by the name of Dominic Sansoni who is one of the best known photographers in the country and who kindly made time for me to come to his studio and talk to him. I asked him about things that might be interesting to photograph around Sri Lanka and he had a few suggestions, one of which was the Easter Passion Play at Pitipana. 

Pitipana is a small fishing community a few km south of Negombo, and is famous for it's (quite lavish) bi-annual production of the Easter Passion of Christ. It was first introduced by the Portuguese, some time in the 1700's. Opposite St Mary's church there is a theatre (also originally built by the Portuguese) for the purpose of the passion play, and it is believed that Pitipana was one of the first places in Sri Lanka to do it. Sri Lanka is predominantly Buddhist with around 8% Catholic (mostly in coastal fishing regions such as Negombo and Chilaw) so the passion play at Pitipana is, I believe, fairly unique. 

I went and asked the vicar (Father Asitha) if I could come and document the process of putting on the play, from rehearsals to performance and he was very happy for me to come. So, starting back in February, on Wednesdays and Saturdays, I cycled the journey, in the dark with no lights (on my bike, or on the road) to Pitipana to document the rehearsals. When I first arrived I wasn't sure what to expect , though I did think the director may have been told I was coming. Not so, apparently - my arrival was obviously a bit unexpected. At first I felt a little like a fish out of water - a tourist with camera, in a very non-tourist small community, but I was immediately made to feel welcome. Though there weren't many English speakers present, those that could, came to talk to me and ask me all about what I was doing. No one was in the least bit bothered by my (or my cameras) presence, and though a little shy everyone was happy to be photographed. If I did something like this in the UK people would, more than likely, be  be suspicious of my motives and with the presence of children I would have to have parental consent forms signed before I even took my camera out of the bag. After I'd been there a nice man came up to me and  gave me a cold bottle of coca cola, and explained to me that he was playing the part of Jesus in the play; it's not often that you can say that Jesus gave you Coca Cola. I was also introduced to 'Mr Stephen', the director (complete with floppy hat) who explained each scene being rehearsed, such as "Baptist the John". I thought the play would just cover the life of Jesus, but actually it started with Adam and Eve, and the whole thing lasts about 3 hours! I should have guessed really, Catholics don't do things by halves. 


As the weeks went by I began to feel like a part of the play, and felt almost like one of the community...and each week, without fail, Jesus gave me a cold fizzy drink. The rehearsals began to make sense, as each scene became recognisable as something from the Bible. My Dad being a church of England priest, and having had a fairly church going upbringing was an advantage here, I actually knew what was happening without being able to speak the language. As Amateur dramatics goes, the performances were actually really good, but the thing which was most interesting for me, was the sense of community, and purpose, which seemed to be in the air. And also, they were clearly enjoying it too. This is something which every alternate year the whole community gets involved in (Pitipana and another local church take turns to host the play). Whether on, or off stage there is something for everyone to do; costumes, set making, music etc, everyone came together to make it happen. There was one week that was different; there was a big argument, involving everyone, about whether the music for the performance should be provided by an orchestra or one bloke and his computer. Eventually one of the priests had to come in and settle it. 


The night before Good Friday (when the performance would happen) I went to photograph the stage set being made. It was a hive of activity and they worked late into the night. They use the same backdrop each time (I guess there's no need for a different one as the story stays the same!) but setting it all up was a big job. 


On Good Friday I arrived early to get shots of the cast getting ready, and was surprised at how elaborate it was; fake beards and everything. They had all made their own costumes, which were great, if not a little bizzarre in some cases (fluffy tiger skin toga...?!) There was a sense of excitement in the place, but no one seemed to be nervous or stressed. I was told there would be up to 10,000 people in the audience, which I'm not sure was anywhere near accurate, as I just didn't think there would be that much room infront of the church for that size of crowd. 


For the duration of the performance I was allowed to be onstage. One side was nice and shady, but swarming with red ants (which I discovered have a nasty bite). The other side of the stage was in the full glare of the midday sun. I decided to brave the sun. After about 45 mins the sweat was pouring off me and I could barely see straight through my camera let alone compose a decent shot, and I began to get the feeling that the audience nearest me were running a sweep stake on how long it would be before the daft tourist would fall sideways off the stage and have to be carted off to hospital with heat stroke. 


Even though I had to spend large parts of the play underneath the stage cooling down and drinking water it has to be said that the bits I did see, and manage to photograph were great. Really well performed, looked and sounded great. The music was provided by an elaborate looking set up of keyboard and computer (I guess the guy who wanted computer music won the argument...) as well as the choir, who were all under the stage. 


At the same time as being well performed, it also has to be said that there were moments of comedy, though thats probably more to do with my sense of humour...whichever way I say this it will undoubtedly sound condescending, so I apologise, but you have to put it in context; this is not oscar winning Hollywood block buster stuff, it's the members of a fishing community putting on a performance about Jesus (among other things, if you include Adam & Eve, Abraham and Isaac etc). But there were some really good performances, notably from the devil (who scared Noah so much that Britta had to take him home) and also from Jesus and Judas. I also noticed that some of the better actors played more than one part. Though not Jesus...guess his role was a bit too major in the whole scheme of things. 


In the end, Jesus got crucified of course, and the curtain closed. Obviously they didn't actually nail him to the cross, that would have been awful (especially after all the cold drinks he'd bought me over the previous weeks). When the curtain opened again, there was a model/dummy of Jesus on the cross, complete with moving head and rolling eyes, which kept opening and closing, operated I noticed by two strings and a pulley!


Then, all the actors stood still, a pulpit was brought on stage, and Father Asitha came on stage to deliver a sermon. I'll be honest - my heart sank. Feeling severely dehydrated, not to mention hot and sticky I began to wonder if this was a ploy to keep the audience here for Mass; leave the grand finale (Jesus's resurrection) until after a couple of hours of church...I'm afraid I didn't stay to find out. I was just about ready to drop. And in any case, Jesus didn't come back to life until Easter Sunday, so surely the play couldn't end with that on Good Friday?! Also, there was a video camera team on the stage (the side with the red ants, sensibly they had worn shoes, not flip flops) who were packing up while the priest was delivering his sermon, so I took this as my cue to leave. 


Though I found the actual performance difficult (because it was just so hot!) I still have to say I really enjoyed the whole experience; from the very beginning people made me feel really welcome. The performance was a delight to watch, all their hard work over the previous months came together in a colourful and well produced performance. The audience was huge, and the actors  looked extremely passionate about the whole thing. And in a way, that's what I enjoyed most about it...maybe that's where the term passion play comes from. 


I've made a photo album of the pictures I took during my time there (telling the story chronologically of the passion play production) which I'm taking up to Pitipana tomorrow to give to the church. Lets hope they like it half as much as I enjoyed being there.  

Here's some of the pictures I took;

The Devil tempts Jesus in the wilderness

Mr Stephen the director talking with the devil...

One of the Priests has to settle an argument over the music for the play

One of the 12 disciples

Mr Stephen the director, during stage set up.

Making the stage set

Stage set preparations

Ajith (who played Jesus)

On the morning of the play Jesus's gets his beard 

Make up

Fluffy tiger skin outfit and mohican hair style

John the Baptist

Juice break

Mary, mother of Jesus

A hectic scene, but not stressed! 

The view from the stage

Pharisees

Judas leads the soldiers into the garden of Gethsemane

Jesus, after his arrest

Judas realises what he's done...

Pontius Pilate and his wife

Jesus on his way to Calvery 

Life like model with moving head and eyes which opened and closed...

Tsunami warning

On Boxing day 2004 an earthquake off the coast of Indonesia caused a devastating Tsunami all around the Indian Ocean. With waves up to 30 meteres high it killed 230,000 people. One of the worst hit countries was Sri Lanka. 

Last week, whilst sitting in The English Hour (see recent post) someone came in and said that a Tsunami warning had just been issued for Sri Lanka. Apparently it was due in about an hour. What to do? Head inland, or to high ground perhaps? All I could think of was that our house is about a couple of minutes from the beach, and that my laptop was sitting on the kitchen table and I would lose it, and everything on it. I'd backed up it all up of course, on an external hardrive wich was also sitting in the kitchen. 

So I left my wife and young son in the cafe and jumped in a tuk tuk to go and rescue it of course. Now I know that sounds bad, (abandoning the family) but none of the other westerners in the place seemed to be panicking. I reckoned I could be there and back in 20 minutes. The Tuk Tuk driver didn't seem to be too bothered about driving towards the beach, so I thought if he's not bothered, I'll be alright. When I got home our neighbour came running in in a panic telling me to get inland, and ran around helping me pack. Hilariously he gave me Noah's rubber ring (he's learning to swim) and said it might be useful...fat lot of good in a 30 meter wave, but it's the thought that counts. I asked him where he was going to go, he said everyone was going to church, which is neither very far inland, or on high ground. 

In the tuk tuk back to the cafe (and my family) there was a strange mix of people heading at various speeds and states of panic inland. One or two tourists in a right old panic, as well as quite a number of Sri Lankan's carrying on as normal, milling around, in no particular hurry. Back at the cafe the remaining customers had all opted to accept an invitation to the inland home (a couple of km's) of a  German lady called Hieda. So I went and stocked up on beer, and off we went. 

A few hours (and lots of drinks) later the warning was called off. We were all obviously relieved and so carried on drinking, and eating. I was also quite relieved because I had felt rather torn; as a photographer, shouldn't I have been out there (on a suitably high point) waiting for the 30 Meter waves to come rolling in? Or should I be looking after my family, and drinking cold beers in the really lovely house the nice German lady lived in? Tricky business. 

Thinking about it, the strange thing about the whole situation is how varied people's reactions were. There didn't seem to be much coordination in the way people responded. Some were literally fleeing for their lives, whilst others were casually sitting around, as on any other normal day. Heida, who had been living in the south of the country in 2004 and witnessed first hand the devastation was keeping calm throughout the evening, but talking to her later it was obvious she had seen some fairly horrible things the last time. 

A couple of weeks previously, on one of mine and Noah's cycle rides (on this occasion along the railway line) we had come across a derelict train. I love stuff thats old and broken, and can't help pointing my camera at it, and this was no exception. After I'd taken a few pictures a man told me that this was the train which had been hit by the Tsunami in 2004, and that it had been the biggest rail disaster in history with around 1700 fatalities. A sobering thought. Perhaps next time I'll just let my laptop get wet.

Exodus; people heading inland, away from the sea during Tsunami warning. 

People heading inland, as I head back to the beach. 

In the Tuk tuk, heading inland too. 

Inside Heida's house...nice pad! 

Drinking, and trying to google for Tsunami information.

Tsunami train 2004. 

Tsunami train 2004, parked at Kochikade station, for some reason. 

Inside one of the carriages. Scary to think that 1700 people died on this train. 

Needless to say that didn't bother Noah, who likes trains a lot. 

The English Hour

After two months of rice and curry I have to admit to having cravings for food from home. Don't get me wrong, I still get great satisfaction from the sensation of burning lips, and a sweat breaking out on my forehead from yet another plate full of rice and curry, or vegetable roti, but the odd cheese and ham sandwich (with actual cheese and real ham!) is something doesn't go down so badly. 

Recently we discovered 'The English Hour'. It's right next to a supermarket in Negombo, called Arpeco, which is a huge air conditioned treasure trove of western style as well as Sri Lankan foods, and plays loads of truly awful 80's soft rock ballads. We like going there just to hang around in the nice cool (air con) air, and use that as an excuse to buy stuff which we don't really need, and can get half the price elsewhere. Now we have two reasons to go to Arpeco; cool air/over priced western products AND The English Hour. 

I noticed it when we first arrived and thought we ought to go there, but didn't really think it would be an actual proper English Tea house. In one sense it's not, as it's run by a French lady (the lovely Catherine), who is married to a Scottsman (Alistair) so not much English about it when you think about it like that. But who cares?! They sell a really great range of (Ceylon) Teas, and have real cakes and buns (suspiciously French though I think...no bad thing of course, not half as stodgy as English cakes!) and also lots of savoury delights such as burritos and Croque Monsieur (which in English is called a cheese and ham sandwich), as well as a very fine looking 'high tea', with one of those three tiered plate things with lots of sandwiches on. 

Perhaps it's more English in sentiment than anything else, and that alone would be enough for me...pop into Arpeco to cool down for a bit, and then go for afternoon tea at the English hour. Luvlyjubbly. 

The other thing about The English Hour is it seems to be an ex-pat hub. When we arrived here I wasn't at all interested in hanging out with a load of ex-pats, just not my cup of tea (please pardon that really awful pun) but I have to admit we have met some really nice people there, and made some friends too. It's not that we don't get on with Sri Lankan's...Sri Lankan people are such warm, happy people, I just love them (mostly). It's just that it's nice to meet other people who are experiencing a similar thing...being a foreigner, in a foreign country. 

It also has a shop in one room off to the side, full of sarongs, and fabrics and stuff, which is not as interesting to me as the cakes, but looks nice, and seems to go down well with the ladies who visit. 

Here's some pics;

The English Hour

The shop, full of fabrics, dresses, sarongs and all that...

The shop...

Catherine; the boss (we think she is ace). 

The ladies who make all the lovely food, and pots of tea. 

Croque Monsieur, with beetroot salad.

Burrito

Noah having a rare moment of calm, after playing cricket and tennis with the two ladies who work in the kitchen. 

Clogard

I don't know why I feel the need to post a blog about the toothpaste I am using in Sri Lanka, but it makes me laugh every time I brush my teeth...it's called Clogard. 

Maybe it's the fact that the packaging design is suspiciously similar to Colgate, I mean even the font is the same (well, the english one, not the Sinhala one, obviously). 

Or maybe it's the attempt to find a name that sounds vaguely similar to Colgate (just enough to subconsciously make you think it might be the same thing). Definitely something about the name Clogard which just doesn't sound appealing, but which made me laugh enough to want to buy it. 

Or maybe I've just had too much sun!

Oh, and it tastes of cloves. Mmmm. 

Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage

Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage is one of Sri Lankas's allegedly 'must see' tourist attractions... I went last time I was here, about 10 years ago, and thought it was OK, but if I'm honest I wasn't that fussed about going again. However, we were invited to go by some some friends of ours here - Rukshan, Shamali, and their little daughter Rukshi (family of some of our friends back in Bradford) and Noah was really exited about seeing real elephants, so we were very happy to go, just for the day out with them. It's about a two hour drive there from Negombo, so we all set off in Rukshans car about 9.00am in the morning. Really enjoyed the drive up there...plenty to see. 

Local price for entry is 200 rupees. Tourist price for entry is 2000 rupees. Fair enough, someones got to keep the elephants fed I guess. Once over the initial "ooh, look at the elephants..." thing, I found myself thinking more of "Hmm, look at the tourists..."It was bizzarre, hundreds of tourists (mostly western, though some large parties of school kids) all standing around pointing cameras, camera phones, ipads, video cameras etc at the elephants.

I like animals, and yes, looking at a fully grown elephant, or even a baby one is pretty cool. But I was bemused by the level of excitement shown by the tourists...and the slightly surreal nature of (as Rukshan said) 'a row of elephants, standing opposite a row of white elephants', all pointing cameras. It was a bit like watching two opposing forces about to do battle. There were a few staff standing around with long poles to stave off the elephants in the event of a stampede, but apart from the the only thing separating the two sides (tourists and elephants) was a row of small boulders. I had to laugh when I overheard a teacher shouting at some members of his school party who were being a bit over zealous with their camera phones; "Come on girls, think about the life insurance!" 

So after standing around having their pictures taken the elephants are herded into a big shed where the tourists all go and stand and gawp at the elephants being fed milk in a bottle; judging by the amount of milk an elephant can get through I guess this is where much of the 2000 rupee entry fee goes. After that, and many more thousands of photos, they were herded out of the main orphanage complex, across the road, down the 'high street' (long row of tourist shops) to the river where they all splash around for a bit, and have their photos taken a few more thousand times by the (by now) embarrassingly over excited tourists. 

Naturally I took some photos...of the tourists; 

An Elephant! 

and another one. 

Tourists watch an elephant eating some leaves.

and queue up to have their photo taken with one. 

The row of tourists faces the row of elephants

The two opposing sides...

A herd of elephants come wandering down the high street.

...and a herd of tourists frantically take pictures.

The elephants have a splash about and the tourists take another few hundred photos.  The slide shows when they get home from holiday will be endless...

I have to say, we had a great day! Really enjoyed watching the tourists watching the elephants. I've always been a people watcher...this felt a bit like a people safari. 

And of course Noah had a great time, and it was great to spend the day with Rukshan and family!