Laughter and lessons of life
By Dr. C.B.Wilson
During my last visit to Sri Lanka I had the opportunity to see the most
sought after comedy, Charitha Hathak. It was recommended by certain colleagues
of mine in the medical faculty in Sri Lanka and it was crowded to capacity.
So much so that we had great difficulty in getting tickets. But it exceeded
all expectation.
The story revolves around an aircraft which is stranded before take-off.
Several inexperienced crew members, who try desperately to get it airborne
fail in every attempt as they lack the necessary know-how. The situation
Wilson Gunara-tne characterizes in this play makes us reflect on what could
happen when the wrong people are chosen for responsible positions in any
country. The humour begins when these inexperienced hands try to make the
aircraft airborne. The play is unique in that the seven characters are
well portrayed by Wilson using a different voice for each character.
He is ably supported by Ramanie Fonseka, Susil Perera and Premaratne
Tennakoon.
Despite being a comedy, Charitha Hathak involves realistic situations
of our time.
At the end, I had the golden opportunity of meeting Mr. Wilson Gunaratne
in person. If he had the chance to take this play with his talented supporting
actors to other countries he would be internationally famous overnight.
Charitha Hathak will be staged at the Tower Hall at 3.30 p.m. and 6.30
p.m. today.
Premiere of Lalanath's Fantasia
Lalanath de Silva's new work, Fantasia for Oriental and Orchestral Percussion
(2002) will be premiered on Saturday, February 23, at "The New Era Concert"
at Ladies' College. This is the second concert the Symphony Orchestra is
presenting with the Amsterdam Chamber Orchestra to mark the 400 year ties
between Sri Lanka and the Netherlands (1602-2002). De Silva's work was
composed especially for the occasion.
De Silva's free Fantasia is a celebration of rhythm in all its form
and subtlety. It is an attempt to capture the "environment of our genesis"
with the rhythmic interactions of a mother's heartbeat with the fetal heartbeat
of the growing child in her womb, with all the surrounding sounds.
The three soloists in Fantasia are Ravibandhu Vidyapathy, Arjuna Krishnaratne
and Neomal Weerakoon. Ravibandu and Krishna are two of Sri Lanka's leading
percussionists and drummers. Neomal Weerakoon is the principal percussionist
of the Symphony Orchestra of Sri Lanka.
He started as a percussionist in the Lanka Philharmonic and later became
its Timpanist.
Discouraging, counter-productive review
A reply to Lalanath de Silva's review on the Ensemble Resonanz - "Dynamic
sounds lost on music lovers" (Sunday Times, February 3)
In reply to Lalanath de Silva's review of the performance of Ensemble
Resonanz on January 22, I feel that a few facts cry out for comment, since
the inherent criticism might create a blurred picture of conditions under
which foreign cultural institutions can function in Sri Lanka.
1. Mr. de Silva repeats suggestions which are not new to him or us:
For acoustics Lionel Wendt is the better venue than Colombo Hilton's Grand
Ballroom. True, but it is much more expensive, which easily can contribute
to not presenting an orchestra at all. The fact that Colombo has no publicly
administered arts centre which could accommodate a touring project as a
partner, and that a facilitator like the German Cultural Institute has
to "buy into the market" events like this, instead of these local expenses
being picked up locally (as it happens mostly around the world) - generally
contributes to less chances to invite musicians to perform here.
2. Colombo and Sri Lanka are not considered as stopovers for ensembles
going further East from Europe, because of the lack of infrastructure here.
A partnership with the Hilton Colombo is in fact financially more feasible
than any hired venue - and these young professionals who are used to performing
in top European concert halls, were very happy with the acoustics.
3. The ticket prices should not be used as an argument at all, since
even concerts at the Russion Cultural Centre or Alliance Francaise or in
the so-called "cultural district" (what reasoning could make us call it
that way?) ask for at least Rs. 300 and 200 for entry.
5. Why only a few of the Symphony Orchestra members attended the reception
to meet the Ensemble Resonanz musicians- although all were invited- is
beyond our knowledge. Mr. de Silva should know the answer.
6. "They performed to a star-studded audience (sic), consisting largely
of the expatriate and diplomatic community" and ... "the music-loving public
was noticeable by their absence". Between half to two thirds of the audience
on February 22 were Sri Lankans.
7. "Sadly, accommodation deals with 5 star hotels". It is sad that such
an argument is used at all, even if our project partner gives rooms at
a price no other hotel in town could match. Would a local facilitator (if
such a body exists) dare to offer less comfort for an ensemble which has
to perform for two weeks every other night, with ten hours travel time
in between each concert, especially since they have to adapt to our climate
from the deep European winter?
8. "The ensemble did not hold any workshops" is correct. But in addition
to restricted funds on our side,if they did have a less tight schedule,
who would have come up with the offer of a venue free of charge, with AC?
Even in Indonesia, where times are as hard, the local music representatives
found a way to "embrace" a workshop by offering a suitable venue on their
own.
Until this country finds a solution to look into similar collaboration
schemes like Bangkok did many years ago with state, local business and
foreign help to establish a state-of-the-art cultural centre, impressions
given through a review of this kind are counterproductive and discouraging.
The symphony and Mr. de Silva do a great job through their inherently
educational work. Instead of making the obstacle-riddled path for foreign
facilitators a target, they should make their influence felt to wake up
local authorities and entrepreneurs about the arts centre which has been
debated since many years, but about which nobody raises a voice any more.
-Manfred Broenner
Director,
German Cultural Institut |
