by Tyron Devotta
On a rainy November afternoon, inside a rehearsal studio tucked away in the heart or Colombo, Jehan Aloysius is quietly orchestrating a Christmas story.
Not the commercial, glitter-drenched Christmas we pass in a supermarket — but the Dickensian one: the Christmas of goose roasts, Victorian carollers, crinolines and music specially designed to bring the spirit of this year end festival. His latest production, A Christmas Carol: The Musical, opens the festive season in Colombo this year, at the Lionel Wendt. Lush costumes, layered orchestral scores, and a cast that looks like they have walked straight out of an old English painting.
But behind the grandeur is a story of craft, grit, and a man who has spent 24 years of his life wearing every hat that Sri Lankan theatre demands.
Young Scrooge and Isabelle - played by Dion Nanayakkara and Rachel Hettiarachchi
The Hats
Spend five minutes with Jehan and you understand why people describe him as a one-man with many hats.
He writes the script.
He composes the music.
He designs the costumes.
He choreographs.
He directs.
He produces.
He even creates the marketing material.
“I don’t do all this because I’m a control freak,” he laughs. “It's a necessity. In South Asian theatre — especially original theatre — you simply cannot afford the luxury of being just a playwright or just a director.”
Original theatre is expensive. Sponsors prefer the familiar. So Jehan learned early that if he wanted to bring something new to Colombo’s stages, he would have to build it himself — every note, every stitch, every beam of light.
He studied playwriting with the Royal Court Theatre of London, but everything else he learnt out of sheer survival. And, increasingly, passion.
A Dickensian Dream
For A Christmas Carol, Jehan knew the music had to be rooted in the Victorian world from which Dickens wrote. So the score sits somewhere between classical operetta and the modern sweep of Les Misérables and Phantom of the Opera — semi-operatic, orchestral, but with updated textures that make it feel familiar to a 2025 audience.
“I want this play to last for decades. I want people to bring their grandchildren to see it one day.”
Evergreen is the word he uses often. He wants the music — and the story — to remain timeless, just as Dickens intended the spirit of Christmas to be.
Cast of A Christmas Carol: The Musical
The Ragged, the Regal
If the photos circulating online look rich, it’s because they are.
This time Jehan has staged his “big show” — the production marking 24 years of StageLight & Magic, leading into its landmark 25th anniversary. And with that came a creative decision: no shortcuts.
Four fashion houses worked on the costumes.
Eight workshops across Sri Lanka built the sets — from scratch.
Scrooge’s wooden table is real mahogany.
The chairs are built to last generations.
“Because the play travels through time. The Regency period has a completely different silhouette from the 1840s. And then you go back further to the 1700s. You simply cannot cheat.”
The opulent gowns, the tailored tailcoats, even the ‘ragged’ costumes of the poorer characters — nothing is random, and nothing is borrowed from a prop box. Jehan wants this production to live on year after year. The wardrobe is an investment, not an expense.
Where does he store all this?
“In my home!” he says, bursting into laughter. “We have costumes older than me.”
They are handled lovingly — hand-beaded, hand-stitched, archived with care. Some pieces were created decades ago by Mrs. Saloudin, his trusted costumer of 30 years.
Respect for the costume is part of the training. Every child and adult in the cast is taught to handle them as if they were museum pieces — because someday, they will be.
And Potluck
Training a cast ranging from age 10 to seasoned opera singers is no small feat. And rehearsals run for nine months — sometimes more.
These are not full-time actors.
They are doctors, lawyers, opera singers, professionals, parents — all volunteering their evenings and weekends.
“You can’t fuel that with money,” Jehan says. “You fuel it with culture.”
The troupe has movie nights watching Oliver Twist, Annie, and even films on Dickens’ life (The Man Who Invented Christmas is a cast favourite).
They have cake sessions.
Potluck dinners.
Workshops where everyone — veteran or child — trains together.
There is no star system.
No hierarchy.
No ego.
The result: not a single fight or misunderstanding in the entire nine-month process.
“When parents message me saying they see positive changes in their children — that is the real reward,” he says quietly.
A cake treat session
Dickens Still Speaks
Jehan is fully aware that bringing Victorian England to Sri Lanka is a cultural leap. But he argues that the novella “A Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens is the very reason we celebrate the season the way we do.
“Everything — the feasts, the carolling, the generosity — all of it comes from Dickens,” he explains. “Before this novella, Christmas wasn’t even a major festival. Easter was far more important.”
Dickens changed the world by telling a simple story about redemption, generosity, and the possibility of becoming better versions of ourselves.
Jehan honours that tradition — but also extends it.
Dickens, surprisingly, made only passing references to faith. Jehan brings the spiritual element back in — gently, respectfully, inclusively — so that the season feels anchored in something deeper than shopping lists.
He is, in many ways, restoring Christmas to itself.
Opening the Season
By launching the show in mid-November, Jehan hopes to capture the Christmas spirit before the rush and noise of December overwhelm Colombo.
He also hopes to build a tradition — one where audiences return year after year, where the actors grow with the repeates; Tiny Tim grows into tomorrow’s Young Scrooge, and where the production becomes a cherished part of the city’s cultural calendar.
“I want this play to live long after I’m gone,” he says matter-of-factly.
And considering the mahogany furniture, the hand-sewn costumes, and the voices rising in chorus from that rehearsal room — it is not an overly ambitious idea.
A Christmas Carol – The Musical (Sri Lanka, Jehan Aloysius)
📅 Dates (2025)
- 22–23 November
- 27–30 November
All shows at 7:30 PM.
📍Venue
Lionel Wendt Theatre, Colombo 7
🎟️ Ticket Prices
- Balcony (Unreserved): LKR 2,500
- Reserved: LKR 4,000 / 6,500 / 8,500
Tickets are available via MyTickets.lk.
