The Joyce Goonesekera AMI Montessori House of Children proudly presented 'The King and I' on Saturday August 8. The children taking part in this performance were aged between four and a half and five and a half years and are currently in their third year of Montessori.

"This performance is an adaptation of 'The King and I.'," said Enoka Fernandopulle, who directed the play."The point of this performance is to provide insight for parents into the development aspect that takes place with their children in a Montessori atmosphere", she said.

The presentation began with the lighting of the oil lamp and thereafter a procession of boys and girls dressed in national costume, shirt and sarongs and lama sari respectively.

The welcome speech was then recited in Sinhala, Tamil and English by three of the children and then the
curtains opened to reveal the preliminary scene from 'The King and I.' All the children wore splendid costumes from gold jackets and sarongs worn by the boys in the opening scene to the glorious togas and colourful apparel on display in the varying scenes. The costumes of the children of the royal family were in enriching colours of bright red and deep blue, with gold crowns to top it off.

The lead girl wore a white ball gown and her partner was in a suit and tie. One scene opened to an outburst of colour emanating from a dance routine with swirling ribbons and even a Chinese dragon. A dance was then conducted by the ladies of the royal palace. This included girls with bright gold fans and tambourines, adorned with pink dresses, dancing across the stage.

The performance wrapped up with a special song by the royal princes and princesses. The proceedings then came to a close with a final curtain call as all the kids stepped forward to take a bow and sing one final song.