Colombo Theatre Festival, a platform for young theatre directors to showcase their productions will go on the boards with award winning theatrical experience from December 3 to 5 at 3pm and 7 pm at the Lionel Wendt Theatre Colombo.
Organised by Lanka Children’s and Youth Theatre Organisation (LCYTF) or better known as Play House-Kotte started by veteran playwright and theatre director Ms. Somalatha Subasinghe, the festival will show three plays “Vikurthi” (Distortion) by Somalatha Subasinghe on December 3, ‘Gladiator Premaya’ (Gladiator Love) by Namal Jayasinghe and Prasanna Mahagamage on December 4 and ‘Sanda Langa Maranaya’ (Blood Wedding) by Kaushalya Fernando on December 5.
Sanda Langa Maranaya was adjudged the Best Play of the year at the National Drama Festival 2005 while ‘Vikrurthi’ has been one of the most popular stage plays produced in early 1980s and ‘Gladiator Premaya’ is the latest theatrical endeavour by the Play-House –Kotte acclaimed by theatre critiques.
‘Vikrurthi’ a satirical exposure of a hapless generation of youth whose lives were dominated by the incessant struggle between the parents’ aspirations and the youth’s abilities and preferences. In the 1980’s, at the time the drama was conceived, the wide spread social tendency was that the aspiring parents were trying to achieve the missed opportunities of their own lives through their children. The play discusses in depth how this anti-social process denied youth of their own life, which in turn deeply affects them in many ways. The production is a semi-musical which is a familiar theatrical experience to the local audiences.
Vikurthi is played by Kaushalya Fernando, Namal Jayasinghe, Prasannajith Abeysuriya, Geetha Alahakoon, Mayura Kanchana, Pujitha de Mel, Sanjaya Hettiarachchi, Nimmi Priyadharshini, Wickrama Seneviratne, Sulochana Weerasinghe, Dilum Buddhika Perera and a number of new comers to the national theatre groomed at Play House-Kotte.
Story line and the script of ‘Gladiator Premaya’ has been developed by the young theatre artistes, who have completed the training in Drama and Theatre arts at LCYTF. The play is based on certain Sri Lankan contemporary social issues. They are dramatized on stage to bring forth the youth point of view of the issues.
Gladiator Premaya cast includes Wishvajith Gunasekera, Sampath Chaminda Jayaweera, Priyantha Siri Kumara, Kalana Gunasekera, Nadishani Weliwita and many others.
‘Sanda Langa Maranaya’(Blood Weding), is the Sinhala version of Garcia Lorca’s Blood Wedding, one of a famous trilogy based upon Spanish society, written in response to a newspaper article concerning a local murder in rural Spain. The story of the play is a triangle of passionate love among a bridegroom, a married man, and a young bride. The play basically is a tragedy of missed love, focusing certain universal themes such as extremism, intolerance, and inflexibility in society which makes it relevant for all times.
Sanda Langa Maranaya cast includes Kaushalya Fernando, Sampatha Chaminda Jayaweera, Lucian Bulathsinghala, Sulochana Weerasinghe, Mayura Kanchana, Nadee Kammallaweera, Lakmini Seneviratne, Sanjaya Hettiarachchi, Pramode Edirisinghe, Nayomi Gunasiri, Palitha Abeyratne, Geetha Alahakoon, Dinuki de Silva, Dasun Pathirana and a number of newcomers to the national theatre groomed at Play House-Kotte. |
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