Sunday Times 2
Jubiliee push to revive culture through cinema, theatre and literature
View(s):The year 1956 not only saw the dawn of revolutionary changes in the country’s political landscape with the election to power of S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike as Prime Minister and the ushering in an era of the “government of the common man”, it was also a coming of age year in the fields of cinema, theatre and literature in the country.
Veteran film maker Lester James Peiris entered the field of cinema that year with his directorial debut “Rekawa”, which went onto be nominated for the prestigious Palme d’Or at the 1957 Cannes Film Festival while in the field of theatre Professor Ediriweera Sarachchdra made waves by bringing to stage his legendary play Maname. The same year saw the release of Martin Wickramasinghe’s novel “Viragaya” which many critics have hailed as his finest novel.
Veteran film direcor Lester James Peiris, his wife Sumithra with Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe at the Temple Trees felicitation ceremony this week
To commemorate these landmark events, the Tower Hall Theatre Foundation (THTF) is organising several programmes aimed at bringing about a cultural revival in the country and reawaking an interest among the youth in local cinema, theatre and literature, THTF Director General Lionel Fernando said.
He and THTF Project Coordinator Anura Fonseka have been working tirelessly to ensure that 2016 turns out to be a year when they can reach out to the public and engage them to renew an interest in arts in the country.
One such connected event was held this week at Temple Trees where several members who were part of the original cast and crew of Maname and Rekawa were felicitated by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.
These included Dr. Lester James Peiris, Indrani Senaratne, Irangani Serasinghe, Ananda Weerakoon, Mallika Pilapitiya, Lionel Fernando, Pastor Peiris, Arthur Silva, Nanda Abeywickrema and Wimaladharma Deeyasena.
Among the other programmes in the pipeline is the compilation of a glossary of terms from Maname by Prof. K.N.O. Dharmadasa. It is for the benefit of the students sitting for the Ordinary Level and Advanced Level examinations, Project Coordinator Anura Fonseka.
Also Dr. Michael Fernando is in the process of writing a book on Professor Sarchchandra while a Tamil translation of Maname will be undertaken by Kavitha Rajaratnam of the Kelaniya University. Maname will also be staged at the Lionel Wendt on November 3, the day that marks exactly 60 years to the day the play was shown at the same theatre in 1956.
Additionally the movie version of Viragaya which gained immense popularity when it was released in 1987 will be shown with Tamil subtitles.
To celebrate the 60th anniversary of Rekawa, the movie will be shown at the Regal Cinema in December. It is being converted to digital format for the screen, Mr. Fonseka said.