Students of Holy Family Convent present Ravana Hatana
The lights are dim, the audience is hushed and all eyes are riveted on the battle brewing on stage. The intensity of the performance is palpable.
This is “Ravana Hatana”, a dance drama presented by the students of Holy Family Convent, Bambalapitiya, under the direction of renowned musician and director, Pabalu Wijegoonawardane which depicts the story of King Ravana as told from a Sri Lankan perspective.
This is Pabalu’s second dance drama on King Ravana, following ‘Maharavana’ in 2008, and is the product of about ten years of ongoing research into folklore, stone scriptures and other local historical records on King Ravana.
“People often think of Ravana as this evil king, but he is remembered in our history as a righteous and progressive ruler,” said a teacher of the school’s Sinhala Sahithya Sangamaya, which is organising this production.
This is also Pabalu’s first time working with the students and he is amazed at how well they have got along. For Pabalu, the biggest difference in comparison to his previous productions was working with an all female cast in a dance drama where 95 percent of the roles are male.
A majority of the cast also had no advanced training in dance. “There is no dialogue, so anything that needs to be conveyed must be done through dance and acting,” said Pabalu.
“But the students have really improved over the course of rehearsals. They are very self-motivated.”
“I have not let the production value drop just because I’m working with school children. Even when composing the music and script, I never thought of this as just a school production.
I always held them to the standard of a professional production,” he said.
With over 150 students and a powerful soundtrack driving the movement on stage, there is an epic feel to this production that compliments the story it wishes to tell.
“This is the untold story of King Ravana. It’s a different side to the Ramayana story,” says Gabriyella Narayan, who plays Sita in the drama. Dilkushi Athukorale, who plays Ravana believes, “people should know about our history”
. Although they have had to work around their A/L studies, both students feel the sacrifice has been worth it.
It is Grade 7 student Deenu Ratnayake’s first time acting in a Sinhala drama and she tells us, “it’s been awesome”.
‘Ravana Hatana: the untold story of the Ramayana’ goes on the boards on October 16, 17 and 18 at 7 p.m. at the Holy Family Convent Auditorium, Bambalapitiya.
Tickets priced at Rs. 500, 750(balcony), 1000, 1500 and 2000 can be purchased from the school.