‘Andarela’ celebrates silver jubilee
Veteran playwright and award winning actor Jayalath Manoratne’s theatrical creation, ‘Andarela’ celebrates its silver jubilee this year with a series of shows around the country. The play which was staged in the main cities and rural villages in Sri Lanka and a number of places around the world will go on the boards at 7 pm, today, September 30 at the Lionel Wendt Theatre, Colombo.
It had its maiden show in 1993. ‘Andarela’ is a play made around the character of the welknown court jester that one comes across in Sri Lankan folklores. However this is not the story of Andare. “This is the story of present day’s Andares living in contemporary society. They play different roles,” says Dr. Manoratne. “They may be rulers or subjects. Aren’t we jokers or Andares who are part of this generation that lead the country to destructions yet smiles with various jokes,” he added.
‘Andarela’, comes in a musical format, is coloured up with Sri Lanka’s traditional melodies and tranditional dances. Music direction is by Rohana Beddage and choreography with traditional dance styles are by Vidyaratne Fernando, stage setting depicting a historical king’s court and traditional villages are by Prof. Lionel Bentarage and costume designing is by Sweenitha Perera.
Most of the original cast with some of the veterans in the theatre continued to remain over the last 25 years; they include Rathna Lalani Jayakody, Sampath Thennakone, Nimal Jayasinghe, Susil Wickremesinghe, Ajith Lokuge, Sarath Chandrasiri, Ishara Wickremesinghe, Nilmini Kottegoda and Jafath Beneragama.
Organised by Somapala Pathirage, the silver jubilee show is arranged by Sathjana Sahurdha Sansadaya and ‘Andarela’ is presented by Priyankara de Silva.