‘Come to our theatre gama’
The Kolamba Kamatha Festival (KKF) 2025 – the first theatre festival of its kind in Sri Lanka – will take place at the BMICH premises starting Thursday, March 27 (World Theatre Day) through Sunday, March 30. The festival will showcase 22 plays in all three languages (some even in multiple languages) and provide a platform for workshops, masterclasses and panel discussions. While the scheduled events require tickets for access, the festival grounds are open to all to enjoy the food, drink, activities, crafts, and even host their own performance or debate.
“This is our (miniature) version of the Edinburgh Festival,” enthuses Festival Curator Bimsara Premaratne, “and I hope it will be the launching pad for a great many adventures to come!”
KKF’s Curator Bimsara Premaratne and Director Chanchala Gunewardena. Pic by M.A. Pushpa Kumara
The idea for an Edinburgh-like theatre festival in Sri Lanka came from Festival Advisor, former President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga. She approached Festival Director Chanchala Gunewardena with the idea some time after the latter successfully ran the first Matara Festival for the Arts in February 2024. Chanchala then brought in Bimsara. Actual planning for the event began in November last year, just four months ago.
“At the BMICH the infrastructure is one of a kind which makes it possible to get it done so fast,” says Chanchala, adding that the two festival Co-Managers Tharindu T and Shashika M bring invaluable know-how of the technicalities at the BMICH that makes everything that much more efficient. “So, we called people, and all the plays wanted to do it! From the admin side of things, I could say this is utter madness, but Bimsara was also able to say ‘we have a great community and we can do this’.” And so they have done.
The plays
“If it were up to me, I’d be buying tickets for everything and spending the whole day or even the whole weekend at the festival,” says Bimsara, laughing. “Obviously you have to make some choices since some of the activities will overlap, but there’s definitely something here for everyone.”
Among the productions that will be staged at the festival are the well-known names “Nathuwa Bari Minihek” (A Man Much Needed) by Rajitha Dissanayake, “Bakmaha Akunu” by Dayananda Gunewardena (an adaptation of Pierre Beaumarchais’ “The Marriage of Figaro”), “Sakwala Riya” by Suresh Madushan Perera, “Kottam” by Janakaraliya, “Thatta Gayikawa” by Dr. Kanchuka Dharmasiri (an adaptation of Eugene Ionesco’s “The Bald Soprano”), “Sanduda Watenna Sikuraadata” by Chalaka Ranasooriya, “Velichame” (Oh Light) by Selvaraj Leelawathy “Patterns of Our Genocides & The Children of the Little Olive Park” by Stages Theatre Group and “Atharamediya” by Nilanka Nisalangel (Showwave Productions).
“The fun thing about theatre is that you don’t need to understand the language fully to enjoy a performance,” Bimsara continues. “We are showcasing a lot of work that’s enjoyable across languages and most of the workshops and presentations are also designed to be at least bilingual.”
The festival will also include a free screening of “GROWTHesque” a solo coming-of-age play by Leeth Singhage which debuted at the Edinburgh Festival in 2022 and went on to the United Solo in New York City where Leeth received a standing ovation and won the award for best emerging actor.
Adult only shows will include “What’s Going On? Reflections on Othering in Sri Lanka” by The Grassrooted Trust and “I Am Hungry Too” by Kalam Collective, while for those seeking lighter entertainment, the Workshop Players will present “A Musical Theatre Songbook”.
Among the children’s plays to be showcased are “Un Daanawa Api Kanawa” (roughly translated “They Toss, We Eat”) by The Children of the Athwela Partnership, “Heena Thuney Kathandare” by Pubudu Subhashana Kurugala and “Surangana Kathawak (A Fairytale)” by Interact for Change and Unnamed Theatre Group and “Dreams of Winder” by Dulan Weerasinghe.
“We are also focusing and highlighting young rising stars of Sri Lankan theatre,” Bimsara points out, adding that the festival will include the three finalists of the KKF short play competition.
“Some of these performers are coming from various parts of the country,” Chanchala points out, adding that they hope to draw future KKF audiences from around the island as well as from among the wider diaspora.
The real stuff
One issue that both Chanchala and Bimsara hope KKF begins to address is the fact that theatre is not a lucrative profession in Sri Lanka, and that it ought not to be so. They are gearing the festival to be a springboard not just for conversation around the issues of professional development, but for professional development itself.
“We wanted to think of things that would be useful to the community,” Chanchala says, “and to young people especially.”
To that end, there will be multiple masterclasses, panel discussions, hands-on workshops and interactive sessions on each day of the festival for aspiring actors, playwrights, directors and sound engineers among others. Sessions will be directed by the likes of Nimmi Harasgama, Rajitha Dissanayake, Priyantha Dissanayake, Nadie Kammallaweera, Ruwanthie de Chickera, Peter D’ Almeida, Nishantha de Silva, Nishan Daniel, Chinthaka Lakmal Jayakody and Nipuni Sharadha.
The space
The festival grounds will include six purpose-built studio/performance spaces for actors and dancers as well as a large part of the outdoors of the BMICH grounds. A special Festival Market featuring Sri Lankan art and craft will be hosted by The Good Market at the Nuga Sevana and Terrace areas while other food, drink, entertainment and activity centres with something for young and old alike will be placed around the festival grounds.
“This is going to be our theatre gama,” says Chanchala, “and everyone is welcome. It’s just the shows you have to pay for. So come, hang out with us for the weekend!”
Tickets for the shows are priced at Rs.1000 with a special student rate of Rs.200 (Student ID required). Visit kolambakamatha.com or call over at the Kamatha premises to view the full programme and purchase tickets. The Festival’s official social media handle is @kolambakamatha
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