By Jennifer Rodrigo
Leaving the typical ‘let’s complain about everything’ Lankan spirit to wilt in its pot, I’m choosing to write about the highlights from my experience of this year’s festival which concluded on Sunday, 20 January.
1. The Fort of many colours
For food, you can’t go wrong with Lucky Fort on Parawa Street, Chambers on Church Street, Hoppa, Isle of Gelato, and The Original Rocket Burger on Peddlar Street, Crêpe-ology on Leyn Baan Street, Pasta Factory on Leyn Baan Cross Street, and Hammock Cafe at Dutch Hospital.
2. The candid and self-reflective nature of Sir David Hare
He described his parents’ union as an ‘odd’ one, but his childhood as being one of freedom, when compared to kids’ of these days.
“The thing wrong with theatre now is that young people have to wait 10 years before they are part of a production. In those days, people could enter theatre young. This makes me very sad,” he shared, offering an affecting account of becoming a writer amid the enormous flux of post-war England.
Hare wrote the screenplays for hugely successful films The Hours, Plenty, and The Reader. Most recently, his play Skylight won the 2015 Tony Award for Best Revival on Broadway.
“I left my wife for Kate,” he said, candidly, reflecting on his first marriage to Margaret Matheson, whom he described with fondness as being a “genuine person”. But him falling for young actress Kate Nelligan, he said: “wasn’t far from happening. Kate and I were on a mission to change British theatre. If you’re artistically in love, the other step isn’t far away from happening.”
He spoke of how he was torn with a sense of self-pity for most of his married life, and this was his ‘fuel’. “It’s a great shame to be honest. I’d love to have such a grievance now,” he concluded, laughing.
3. Mama’s Rooftop Guest House
The room was spacious, with a separate lounging area and a private terrace. The terrace was an ideal spot to sip my morning coffee, whilst looking out the windows at the pathways below.
Free WiFi, air-conditioning, breakfast and laptop friendly workspaces come with the accommodation.
4. A life on Stage by Simon Williams
“Dad, you’re the happiest when you’re acting!” he recalled his son and daughter as having said to him once; and this was apparent in his pensive smiles and jubilant nature while reliving his life as an actor during the session.
Famous for frequently playing upper middle class or aristocratic upper class roles, Simon is also known for playing Charles Cartwright in the sitcom Don’t Wait Up and Charles Merrick in medical drama Holby City. His recent films include Viceroy’s House and Goodbye Christopher Robin, and his last London stage appearance was in Alan Bennett’s Allelujah!
“I like to separate my life from my work,” he said when asked how he takes on such roles whilst claiming to have a “default setting of happiness.”
With six stage plays and two novels to his name, Simon currently has a weekly column in The Telegraph Magazine.
“The freedom of writing, after the constriction of acting was great,” he mused when asked what he liked best about the move from acting to writing.
Having not had a great experience with teachers when he himself was young (describing his educators as “very angry, after the war”), he ventured that “teachers should celebrate what’s good in children, not what’s deficient.”
With seven grandchildren and a content life with his wife, Lucy Fleming and their cockatoo, in Oxfordshire, Simon concluded that he’d like to think his entire life as being one long highlight.
5. The Lighthouse