Samanalayaya - 2010 was truly moving and showcased great young talents …fulfilling its objective of identifying the hitherto untapped talents of disabled young people to enable them gain recognition in society.
The annual event organized by the Sunera Foundation, the Samanalayaya drama festival held at S. De. S Jayasinghe Hall in Dehiwala recently kept the audience spellbound when children with special needs who had participated at regional Sunera workshops presented their dance and drama acts chosen for the final public show in Colombo.
Organized for the fourth consecutive year, six productions went on stage on November 26 and 27 in Colombo this year. They were “Avasara ne” by the participants of the Thalawa Sunera workshop, “Manu Satha” by the Dehiwala Sunera workshop and “Oba Ma Athara” by the Kurunegala Sunera workshop, “Sanhinda Pamula” by Badulla participants, “Heta Davasa” by Anamaduwa workshops students and “Api Nodanna Ingreesi” by Akuressa workshop participants.
Clad in colourful outfits the young ones came on stage to do their part the best as they can. The audience acknowledged them not just for their performances of high calibre but for their discipline and self-confidence. They were not shy or reluctant to perform in public and more importantly they remembered their roles.
The dramas such as Avasara Ne and Oba Ma Athara that revolve around families with disabled children and their interpersonal relationships attracted plenty of sympathy and praise from the audience when the cast engaged in a quality performance absorbing the real spirit of the story into their characters.
The dance acts performed at the show were not lacking in timing and rhythm either. A rare dance item that moved the audience and earned great appreciation was when six children out of a group of eight came on stage to present an entertaining, lively dance – they all had hearing disabilities. Yet, how well they did justice to the beautifully choreography keeping to the beat and the rhythm.
Under the Samanalayaya programme workshops are held in different places islandwide in kovils, temples, churches and community centres where professional trainers attached to the Sunera Foundation work on the scripts and direct plays on various socially friendly themes for the workshop participants.
These dramas conveying a message to society are based on a range of themes from protecting young from violence, protecting the environment, not marginalising people with disabilities etc. The trainer is however entrusted with the task of creating a role within the framework of the play to suit the persons depending on their disability. The dramas are first taken around the district after which six dramas out of a total of 27 are chosen by a panel to be brought to Colombo for the final show.
Chairperson of the Sunera Foundation Sunethra Bandaranaike, explaining that Sunera has worked with young people with disabilities for the past 12 years, says the aim is to make a change in the lives of differently abled children through their aesthetic talents. “They are often marginalised by society; sometimes by their own families. We have tried to make a leap from that to develop their creative talents, to build up self-confidence and get acceptance and recognition from communities for their abilities which have gone unnoticed thus far,” she said. |
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