‘Dhawala Bheeshana’ back in Colombo
View(s):Veteran playwright and award winning filmmaker Dharmasiri Bandaranayake’s ‘Dhawala Bheeshana’, the Sinhalese translation of the play “Men without Shadows” by French playwright Jean-Paul Sartre will be staged at 3.30 pm and 6.30 pm August 23 at Elphinston theatre, Maradana. The play is staged as part of ongoing Preksha Theatre festival, organised to attract theatre lovers back after long break during Covid-19 pandemic.
First produced in 1988, original script was translated to Sinhala by Cyril C. Perera and the music was composed by Dr. Premasiri Kemadasa. The play was re-produced in year 2012 and was selected as the Sri Lankan representation for the 15th Bharat Rang Mahotsav which was held in India. This festival is an international theatre festival organized annually by the National School of Drama in association with the Indian government.
The play Dhawala Bheeshana was selected to perform in the main festival in Delhi as well as in the parallel festival in Jaipur, Rajasthan. The two performances held in 11th and 13th January were well received by the audiences earning a standing ovation for the performance held in Jaipur. The theme, presentation and acting of the play were highly commended by print media articles published in India.
With the exception of the senior artistes W. Jayasiri and Neil Allas, the new production of Dhawala Bheeshana launched several new artistes including Oshadee Gunasekara (Lucie), Ishara Wickramasinghe (Francois), Jehan Appuhami (Henry), Susanga Kahandawalarachchi (Sorbier), Jagath Chandralal (Canoris), Arunodh Wijesinghe (Pellarin), Charith Senanayake (Clochet), Sunimal Perera (Kobea), Amil Galanga and Kosala Lakshitha as soldiers.