Diary of Events: Music, drama & poetry

It’s an evening of opera, art songs and musical theatre as young soprano Kiara Wickremasinghe with her teacher Menaka de Fonseka Sahabandu on the piano presents her debut solo concert “Ain’t it a pretty Night” on Tuesday, July 16 at 7.30 pm at the Russian Centre, No. 10 Independence Avenue, Colombo 7.

Wasantha Kumara Geekiyanage (tenor) and Ravindu Perera (baritone) of the Menaka Singers Opera Ensemble will be the guest artistes at this concert.

Playwright Jehan Aloysius and his dynamic theatre company CentreStage Productions present the new edition of ‘Rag – The Musical’ on July 19and 21 at the Lionel Wendt Theatre, Colombo 7.

A dramatic musical that deals with the topical issue of ragging, the show has been featured in the foreign press including the BBC. The talented cast includes Dion Nanayakkara, Angelo Gamage, Milinda Randeniya, Isira Edussuriya among others, including actors from the initial production.

On July 14, at the Lakmahal Community Library in Colombo 4, Prof. Rajiva Wijesinha will lead a discussion on the poetry of Anne Ranasinghe. The talk is from 10 a.m to 12 noon.

And if you are in the mood for more poetry, head to SNAFU on Kynsey Road, Colombo 8 on July 17 for a Poetry Night with Tashyana Handy and Sakina Aliakbar, Imaad Majeed and Mishal Mazin, Uvindu Perera and Mayun Kaluthanthri. From 7 p.m onwards.

SNAFU also hosts a Live A/V performance by Non-Applicable with support from Cracklepop on July 19.

Lakmahal Community Library Pic by: M.A. Pushpa Kumara