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Mirror Magazine

Stages meets Sherman

Am I being watched or are you watching me?
"We are all being watched."
The stages theatre company has been invited to perform at "Cultureshock", the cultural festival of the 2002 Commonwealth Games to be held in Manchester in July 2002. This global venture will bring together ten youth theatre groups to perform alongside each other in a unique theatrical event. "Stages" will perform a play written by a group of young Sri Lankan writers drawn from the English and Sinhala stage.

For the purpose of writing an original script, "Stages" has been twinned with the Welsh theatre group "Sherman". The writing process is unique considering that the two groups have exchanged images of the culture they live in as prelude to recognising a common theme. Each group proceeded to analyse their twin's images and develop a series of questions, the answers to which further helped them evaluate and understand the other.
For example, "Sherman" answered - "Home is where you feel happiest" to the question "Where is home?" The question, "What relationship does the city have with the land?" was posed to "Stages" who replied, "The city feeds off the land, and in return, dumps its refuse and expands its boundaries, blurring the borders between city and land."

The next stage is to identify one common theme, which will be portrayed in accordance with the different realities of our two cultures. Many interesting and current topical issues have arisen through the dialogue, with issues of 'identity', 'accommodation' and 'youth and age' coming to the forefront. A unique theatrical piece can be expected as a result of the preparatory process undertaken with "Sherman," as well as the diversity of the writers group representing "Stages."

Drawn from both the Sinhala and English stage, the writers enrich the group with a variety of experiences, insights and theatrical techniques.

The play written by "Stages" will be performed at the British Council Auditorium from June 29 to July 4.

Watch out for more details on this exciting new project in the weeks to come.
How much further can your budget go?

"Your budget is getting bigger every day. It's as big as your credit card will allow."

Spring Time on 5th Avenue
Spring Time on 5th Avenue, a show produced by Jith Pieris goes on the boards on May 3rd, 4th and 5th at the Lionel Wendt.

This musical extravaganza is a celebration of songs from American musicals performed on Broadway down the ages 'Spring Time' will feature artistes Penny Ferdinand, Shenele Fernando, Eshantha de Andrado, Sanjeewa and Krishan Jayarathnam and Alli Fryer with a very special guest performance by a well known singer.

One of the highlights of the evening will be ABBA on BROADWAY (The Mama-Mia musical). On the keyboards performing an all-American special will be Beverly Rodrigo, while Neluka Seneviratne will play the violin. Four dances will depict the best of the United States.

The show is sponsored by TNL and The Sunday Times.

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