- Two West End stars of Sri Lankan origin share what singing ‘Anagathaye’ at the Abbey meant to them
When West End stars Roshani Abbey and Nuwan Hugh Perera performed WAYO’s ‘Anagathaye’ (‘In the Future’) at the Westminster Abbey Service of Celebration on Commonwealth Day 2023, 13 March, they were collectively doing something they both love – singing. But the rendition stood for a lot more with Sri Lankans near and far, particularly with everything going on in the island post-pandemic.
You only have to take a look at the YouTube comments below the video and hear from both of the artistes about the overwhelming responses they’ve received to understand that the song struck a powerful chord with the islanders. “We knew we were going to be the first performance in the Abbey and they had said that they wanted to start off with something strong,” explained Roshani in conversation with The Sunday Morning Brunch.
Roshani, who’s a Royal Academy of Music alumnus, studied at Ladies’ College and the British School in Colombo while in Sri Lanka. She is currently appearing in ‘Hamilton: An American Musical’ as Peggy Schuyler and Maria Reynolds with London’s West-End. Prior to this, she was understudying the role of Juliet for ‘& Juliet’ at the Shaftesbury Theatre. While in Sri Lanka, she was part of the Workshop Players, the Marianne Singers, and the Deanna School of Dancing. Apart from musical theatre, her other passion lies in teaching. She coaches students in singing, maths, science, and computer science and works as a data scientist as well.
Why ‘Anagathaye’?
The lyrics speak of great trials but also of hope and resilience and the feeling with which Roshani and Nuwan took to their mics bore testament to this.
The duality of the song – the fact that it calls out things that have gone wrong in Sri Lanka and inspires hope about a future – is what Roshani found the most touching. “I really liked how the lyrics spoke about the reasons that we’ve been suffering in the country, but then there was also a message of hope and looking forward to the future. It’s not a protest song. It’s a hopeful song, but it acknowledges where we’ve been and the reason we’re in this mess essentially,” she offered.
Nuwan is the lesser-known Sri Lankan face who played the role of Pi in the West End production of ‘Life of Pi’. His schooling in Sri Lanka was at St. Joseph’s College, Colombo where he was a part of the choir. “My grandfather had taped me singing a song when I was two or three years old and he had told my parents that I’ve got a gift for singing,” he shared of his impressionable years.
From then on, it was a life full of music and some dance for Nuwan. He trained under the late Ruwani Seimon and took part in classics like ‘Oklahoma,’ ‘West Side Story,’ ‘Phantom of the Opera,’ and ‘Les Misérables’. But the young Nuwan had no idea about months-long theatre productions happening in other parts of the world. Until, that is, he moved to the UK himself.
His life is currently divided between musical theatre, photography, and his band ‘Sleep Walking Animals’. While photography takes him on interesting journeys capturing intricate details of the productions he’s a part of, the band allows him to bring his own musical touch to life. Sleep Walking Animals has actually just finished recording their second EP. “We’re pretty proud of it. We’re hoping to release it sometime this summer. I actually managed to get some Sinhala lyrics into one of our songs,” enthused Nuwan.
Roshani and Nuwan, having crossed paths before, had wanted to collaborate on a song before. So when the former was approached by Sri Lankan High Commissioner to the UK Saroja Sirisena to perform at the Independence Day celebrations in London, the thespian asked Nuwan if he’d like to come on board as well.
The two performed in London where they were also screened by the Commonwealth Society for a slot at the Westminster Abbey Service of Celebration. After landing the performance, it was weeks of careful preparation for Roshani, Nuwan, and Sacha Spence (also of Sri Lankan origin) on guitar. Even though they had a fairly long list of songs to choose from, what they eventually settled on quite unanimously was ‘Anagathaye’.
“We rehearsed as much as we could. We got together, broke down the song, and tried different harmonies. We tried everything until we were happy with the dynamics of the song,” explained Nuwan. Their version of ‘Anagathaye’ only had the two of them on voice and Sacha on guitar, but this didn’t in any way take away from how compelling it was. Making sure the lyrics came across with meaning was the most important thing for all of them. “It didn’t really matter what the royals thought; we were representing Sri Lanka and what mattered more was what the people of Sri Lanka thought. It wasn’t about us either,” added Nuwan.
The lyrics for ‘Anagathaye’ were penned by Sanuka and Sangeeth Wickramasinghe. While the melody fills you with varied emotions, the words keep you tied to Sri Lanka’s history of pain and hope. There’s something truly remarkable in how the lyricists have managed to capture trial and triumph with a few verses.
‘From the anger planted in our hearts,
weapons shattered the peace between us.
Why are our leaders too greedy to leave the throne?
When we leave power behind, we do it on our own.
Enough suffering, so much grief,
let us slit the throat of Death to protect
the infants whose eyes will open tomorrow, humankind.
It is you who fly among the clouds, brother
It is you who swim in the ocean of smiles, my friend
On this unending journey, it is by the bright star that we cross over.’
What’s in a message?
After taking on and beautifully delivering on the honour of representing their country on a world stage, both Roshani and Nuwan have been inundated with love from fellow Sri Lankans. “Our country felt proud and that moves me,” shared Nuwan.
For Roshani, who’s half Sri Lankan and half Australian, singing ‘Anagathaye’ live for the world to see in such an iconic church building connected her a lot more closely to her island nation. She is also glad that people had an emotional and prideful response to it. “People were saying that it was nice to feel patriotic in the midst of everything that’s going on. That’s rare these days.”
Two souls who have done incredibly well for themselves, beyond bringing pride to their country of birth by chasing their dreams in musical theatre, both Roshani and Nuwan will likely always be remembered for a moving performance of a beloved Sri Lankan song.
We asked them for something to leave with readers. “You can’t go wrong as long as you remember where you’re from,” shared Nuwan. No matter where he goes, Sri Lanka will be home to him and this will never change.
“When I think about our people in Sri Lanka, I think that we are so resilient. Of course, I hate that we’re having to be so resilient. It’s not ideal in the slightest, but we are. And we do it all with a smile and a joke. We are going to come out on the other end of this. It’s not going to be quick. Maybe remembering that and keeping our community in mind and not losing who we are in all of this – that’s what I’d hope for us,” concluded Roshani.