Award winning playwright Rajitha Dissanayake’s latest theatrical production ‘Bakamuna Weedi Basiy’ (Owl on the Street) will have its maiden shows at 7 pm on August 4, 5 and 6 at the Lionel Wendt theatre, Colombo.
Three years after his acclaimed play ‘Apahu Herenna Behe’ (No Return), award- winning playwright Dissanayake, returns to stage with a political satire, ‘Bakamuna Weedi Basiy’, inviting the nation to relearn how to laugh at itself.
The play uses penetrating black humour in order to shake up a society made numb, and reduced to apathy and inactivity by dominant ideologies. As he did in his previous plays such as Weeraya Merila, and Apahu Herenna be, Dissanayake deals with our contemporary socio-political situations, and speaks truth to power with his new play, too.
“The play is looking at our own lives in the present moment. It shows how people react to power and act when they have power,” Rajitha said speaking about the play. “At present the free thinking of people has been affected by various ideologies imposed on them. People should have the freedom to think and if that is affected it is a serious situation of a country,” the playwright described.
However Rajitha admitted that the powerful medium of theatre had to be used with a certain theatrical and artistic limitation with the present social situation. ‘To do this one has to be really creative,” he said.
By the use of penetratingly intelligent humour, the new play pierces the facade of happiness maintained by a society that refuses to admit its incredible sadness caused by its own choosing not to think.
The Owl enters the street to remind people that they can think, and think they must and the play challenges people to choose the ‘street’ of undisguised dissent over the living room of fake contentment.
Written and Directed by Rajitha Dissanayake, the play includes a group of versatile actors such as Shyam Fernado, Jayani Senanayake, Priyankara Rathnayake, Dharmapriya Dias, Prasad Suriyaaracchi, Sampath Jayaweera, Nalin Lusena, Samitha Sudheeshwara and others.
Kapila Pugalaaracchi composes music, Ranga Samarakoon and Priyankara Rathnayake design lights, Dharmapriya Dias designed the set, the makeup by Priyantha Dissanayaka and the costumes are made by Gihan Fernando. Award-winning Malith Peiris manages the stage and the play is a production of Freedom Theatre Group. The box plan for ‘Owl on the Street’ shows on August 4,5 and 6 is now open at Lionel Wendt. |
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