Play House Kotte takes ‘Hat Seller’ to Korea
View(s):Continuing the legacy of late playwright Somalatha Subasinghe, Play House Kotte, theatre group performed ‘Thoppi Welenda’ or “Hat Seller” at the Children’s Performing Arts Festival 2015 in Gwangju, South Korea recently.
Written and produced by the late Mrs Somalatha Subasinghe, ‘Hat Seller’ was the only South Asian play chosen by the organisers and was staged in English with Korean subtitles.
The festival featured 41 acclaimed children’s plays from 11 countries around the world. This folklore inspired play, was performed four times during the festival showcasing Sri Lankan culture and creativity.
Dr. Chandana Aluthge, Artistic Director who accompanied the performers, spoke of their time in Gwangju with pride: “It was great to see how well an international audience responded to our play.
We have invested a lot of creativity and energy in our plays and we want the world to see them. As Shakespeare once said, ‘All the world’s a stage’ and now a little bit more of the world has become our stage.”
Established in 1981, The Lanka Children’s and Youth Theatre Foundation, better known as the Somalatha Subasinghe Play House is recognized as a centre for teaching performing arts.
Over the years it has produced a repertoire of internationally acclaimed, mainly musical theatre for children and youth, and award-winning mainstream theatre productions.
They have showcased our culture at a number of international children’s theatre festivals in Europe and Asia.