Artistes come together to say ‘Thank you Jith for the music”

Veteran theatre personality Jith Peiris has made an enormous contribution to the field of performing arts in the country. As actor, director or producer he has been instrumental in nurturing many a young talent providing a platform to showcase their skills.

To acknowledge his contribution, artistes of various genres will come together to present an evening of song and dance at the Bishop’s College Auditorium on November 21at 7p.m. The show is organized by two friends who have worked with Jith for over three decades – designer and choreographer Senaka De Silva and Maeve Martenstyne.

Titled ‘A Tribute to Jith Peiris’, the evening will feature the Merry-An Singers, Noeline Honter, Shanelle Fernando and Ricky Bahar, Natasha Ratnayake, The Oosha Garten of Ballet, Menik Neydorf and the Kinetic Dance Project, Shannon Raymond Dance Company, Upeka, Khema, Ravi Bandu and Mohan Sudusinghe.

“Many of the performers have been associated with Jith at some point,” explains Senaka, describing their willingness to put the show together in his honour. Senaka’s own association with Jith goes back a long way, for he designed costumes and sets for many of Jith’s productions including ‘Boyfriend’, ‘West Side Story’, ‘Annie Get Your Gun’ and ‘Tribute to Stephen Foster’.

One of the finest productions the two worked together on was a costume pageant that presented various archaeological sites in the country enabling audiences to relive scenes from each of the historical eras – from Kuveni to the Kandyan period. Jith stage managed the massive production called ‘Island Heritage’ which was put together for the International Conference of Monuments and Sites in the ’80s.

Among the many productions to Jith’s credit are ‘Jane Eyre’, ‘Gypsy Gay’, ‘Tobias and the Angels’, ‘The Gondoliers’ and ‘South Pacific’ (in the ’80s) and ‘As You Like It’ and ‘Mid Summer Night’s Dream’, ‘Julius Caesar’ and ‘Anthony and Cleopatra’ (in the ’90s).

Incidentally, the first production at the Bishop’s College auditorium when it opened in 1995, ‘Dowry Hunter’ was directed by this versatile dramatist. Jith was also responsible for reviving the popular comedy, ‘Well Mudliyar How!’ that Colombo audiences have enjoyed time and again.

What can you give someone who has provided enjoyment to so many people over the years? This tribute is certainly fitting.
~ (EW)