| Plus |
|
|||||
|
Arts Manchester applauds 'Fillin the Blanks'
By Ruwanthi
Herat Gunaratne Take
Sumathi for example. His character is forced to leave his home suddenly
due to a raging war. In the present Sumathi has built a life for
himself in the city. But yet he feels incomplete. He lives in a
rented home with minimum furniture, his entire life revolving around
his wife and their unborn child. But suddenly everything changes. The road to
his home, closed to him for so long is opened. Sumathi's mind hirs
in a vortex of emotions. One part of him feels that this may be
the beginning of better days whilst the other is wary, afraid to
expect anything. It's a saga of coming to terms with reality.
This
was the complex plot that made up 'Fillin the Blanks', a play that
the Stages Theatre Company performed at "Culture Shock",
the cultural festival of the Commonwealth Games held in Manchester,
UK last month. "Fillin
the Blanks" thrilled audiences when it was performed at the
British Council a few weeks prior to the group leaving for Manchester.
But how would it go down with an international audience? "Very
well," smiles Ruwanthie de Chickera, the director of the play.
"Surprising as it may seem impressing audiences overseas is
easier than impressing those at home. Attitudes vary." Their efforts
were rewarded with a standing ovation. One look at
these thespians and it is obvious that the "Manchester Experience"
was worthwhile. "We were there for around one and half weeks
and there was really no time to sit and chat. There were workshops
to attend, plays to watch. It was great." They not only
attended workshops but also held workshops of their own. "I
was really proud of our group," says Ruwanthie. "The turn
out was excellent." The two workshops that "Stages"
presented were based on "Translation" and "Forum
Theatre", both of which they themselves had experimented with
before. The diverse
backgrounds of each youth theatre group provided the ideal blend
of culture. The Indian group held a workshop on traditional make-up,
while the Far Eastern groups held workshops on martial arts and
movement based theatre. There were
ten other plays that were performed together with "Fillin the
Blanks" at the festival. One by a theatre company from Trinidad
was full of music, says Amal de Chickera, one of the five who collaborated
on Fillin the Blanks. "The carnival in Trinidad took pride
of place but a subtly projected political theme seeped through,"
he said. Were there
any pronounced differences between the plays? "The international
groups focused mainly on political themes and other such issues
that are part of their daily lives but in the case of the British,
youth related problems were prominent," said Thushara Hettihamu,
another of the playwrights. Six of these
groups were from Britain and they were twinned with an international
partner. Stages was paired with a Welsh theatre group "Sherman".
The twins collaborated
to develop a new piece of performance text based on a common theme.
They were given the option of either working together or as two
individual groups. Stages opted
for the second. But what of the play by their "twin"?
"The theme was the same. But any similarity ended there. The
biggest difference was that Sherman's actors were much younger than
ourselves. Popular culture also played a huge role in their interpretation
of a journey." A classic strum Maybe listening
to Ulrich Steier is all you need to convince yourself that this
is possible. This German
is a multi-faceted musician. Apart from the guitar, he plays the
drums, the electric guitar and also sings. The string guitar of
course, is his favourite. "Playing the piano is relatively
easier, since you get to use both your hands. But you have to use
just one hand and produce the same music on the guitar," he
says. Coming from
a musical background, Ulrich's parents both played the piano, while
his sister played the guitar. His father was a talented pianist
. But World War 11 put paid to any dreams of pursuing a musical
career. "Since
my father missed out on pursuing his own dream, he wholeheartedly
supported mine. Though today he is 78, he has learnt the computer
by himself, just so that he could correspond with me when I'm on
tour. That's how supportive he is," he said smilingly. "I'm a
happy person because I always knew what I wanted to do. I can live
through the guitar," he says. Beginning his
first music lessons at the age of three, he was nine when he took
up the guitar at the music school of Mulheim, Germany. Ulrich went
on to study under Professor Hans Graf at the Folkwang University
of Essen. Joining the Conservatory of Enschede in Netherlands, he
passed the extended qualification in music with honours and won
the Daagblad Tubantia/Twentsche Courant Prijs. Ulrich was
awarded the two year Chain Scholarship, and during this period studied
the guitar under various reputed classical guitarists. In 1999,
he was awarded the Chain-Diploma. Since 2001, he has been attached
to the Conservatory of Enschede as guitar lecturer. Ulrich Steier
has toured extensively in Europe. Among his several CDs, you can
find solos as well as duos, performed with artistes such as the
Italian tenor Franco Careccia. It was an invitation
by the 'GTZ' (German Development Corporation), which brought this
versatile guitarist to Sri Lanka. Having been
here for four weeks, he will be performing for lovers of classical
music in Sri Lanka, at one of his rare open-air concerts. The audience
will be able to savour a 'taste' of his newest CD release, 'Kemnader
Konzerte' as well as pieces from well-known composers such as I.
Albeniz, L. Brouwer and Beethoven. Though his
forte is classical music, being an artiste also open to other styles,
Ulrich will be playing with-known pieces as well as his own compositions.
Interacting
with the audience, Ulrich will be giving little snippets about his
instruments, the composers and their compositions. So just ignore
the fact that you might be a little naive about the intricacies
of classical guitar, and get yourself down to the Barefoot Gallery
tonight (August 18), at 7.00 p.m. Tickets priced at Rs.300 (limited) are available at the Barefoot Cafe. Leafing through
notes of colonialism "Money
doesn't grow on trees - does it? Plants have played a crucial role
in the history of colonisation and the development of world economics,"
says Fiona Hall. Fiona Hall
is a well-known Australian artist who has exhibited widely, both
at home and overseas. She has won several art prizes including the
prestigious "Contempora 5" award, Australia's most lucrative
art prize in 1997. Hall first
came to Sri Lanka in 1999 as the Australian artist-in-residence
at Lunuganga, the garden estate of Geoffrey Bawa, only to return
regularly thereafter. "Leaf Litter" is an exhibition drawn
from her ongoing work at Lunuganga. The works, fine leaf paintings
against a background of bank notes from the species' country of
origin, explore issues of colonialism and exploitation of natural
resources. "I have
always been very interested in bank notes and the economy in different
countries. I have been collecting bank notes from little wayside
shops in Australia and gradually my collection built up. It was
at Lunuganga, that the idea first came to me, to show how plants
were entwined into our lives," she replies when asked why she
chose bank notes as the background to her paintings. "I have
also had an immense interest in botany," she adds with a smile. "Leaf
Litter" aligns the distribution of plant species with the distribution
of monetary wealth. It also displays botanical connections across
diverse territories, for plants like people have colonised where
they can. Closely related species belonging to the same botanical
family have evolved and adapted to wide-ranging habitats, she explains.
"The variety
of plants here interested me when I first came in 1999. I tried
to paint leaves on a few bank notes and was fascinated with the
result. The next time around, I came prepared with my box of bank
notes and started painting." Unfortunately, the first works
of leaves on the bank notes will not be displayed as they have been
purchased by the National Art Gallery of Australia. A Na leaf has
been painted on a Ceylonese bank note, which depicts George the
VIth, the frangipani on a Cuban bank note, rubber on a Brazilian
bank note, and Gotukola on an Indonesian bank note. A moonamal
leaf adorns another Sri Lankan bank note. "In 'Leaf Litter' the currency of international trades, its circuitous routes and the material choices used for exchange and commerce have been pared down to two elements. One deposited almost as a gouache, is finely drawn as filigree veins on the other, the surface of money," comments Suhanya Raffel, the Head of Asian Art in the Queensland Art Gallery in 2001 on this exhibition. Kala Korner
by Dee Cee Another quality
film - Sunil Ariyaratne's 'Sudu Sevaneli' too didn't attract the
expected audiences. This is happening
when films with provocative or humorous titles (most of the time
with the 'Adults Only' tag) are drawing full houses, showing that
television has not really affected cinema. Whatever the reason,
it will only push the serious filmmakers away. It's so costly to
produce a film today and if you are not sure of recovering the money,
why on earth should one put in all that money and go through the
hassle of producing what would be accepted as a quality product.
The only consolation is that quality films are doing the 'festival
rounds' but that brings only prestige. From a country's point of
view, of course, there is recognition that we have good filmmakers
who are capable of competing with other countries making good films. 'Saroja'
girl excels The 'Saroja'
girl, Nithayamani turns in yet another lively performance proving
her ability to reach greater heights in years to come. The player
who acts as her father (Sellasamy is the name, if I remember right)
is a treat to watch, playing the role of the humble gardener perfectly.
Young Taraka acts well as the boy getting into tantrums. We see Sriyantha
Mendis so often on the small screen - it was a welcome departure
to watch him act in a film. I can't remember seeing Namel Weeramuni
in films before - we always remember him on stage, so it was memories
coming back. The Black July scenes at the end of the film created the impact that director Somaratne obviously wanted to achieve - to leave the message on the necessity for ethnic harmony. The Ritual needs
finances 'The Ritual',
the brainchild of young playwright cum actor cum director Jehan
Aloysius, is based on themes and subjects relevant to the South
Asian region. Rituals connected to marriage, reproduction, dowry
deaths and cooking are some of the main aspects brought out. CentreStage
Productions is now seeking sponsorship from patrons of the arts
to help meet the costs of their participation at the festival. Those
interested could contact CentreStage Productions at centrestage_mail@yahoo.com
|
||||||
Copyright © 2001 Wijeya Newspapers
Ltd. All rights reserved. |
