The fourth Colombo Theatre Festival for Young Audiences organized by Play House-Kotte is to showcase two award winning plays, “Vikruthi” (Distortion) by somalatha Subasinghe and “Hari Apuru Davasak” (A Wonderful Day) by Chamika Hathlahawatta on December 5 and 6 at the Lionel Wendt, Colombo.
Under the theme of ‘Theatre for Education and Reconciliation’ the festival organized by the courtesy of HNB Assurance LTD has selected two plays considering their deep-insights into the socio-cultural issues.
“When selecting the plays for the festival the only pre-requisite that was taken into account was the merit of creativity of the production. Therefore, the underlying idea of this selection process is to promote high quality theatre productions,” said Chandana Aluthge.
‘Vikruthi’ (Distortion) is a played at 3.30 pm and 7.00 pm on December 5 and is a satirical exposure of a hapless generation of youth whose lives were dominated by an incessant struggle between the parents’ aspirations and the youth’s abilities and preferences. Vikruthi cast includes Kaushalya Fernando, Namal Jayasinghe, Prasannajith Abeysuriya, Geetha Alahakoon, Mayura Kanchana, Suresh Fernando, Sharmaine Gunaratne, Pujitha de Mel, Sanjaya Hettiarachchi, Nimmi Priyadharshini, Wickrama Seneviratne and a number of new comers to the national theatre groomed at Play House-Kotte.
‘Hari Apuru dawasak’, will be staged at 3.30 pm and 7.00 pm on December 5 and it was influenced by “A Wonderful Sunday“ a film by Akira Kurasawa which is written and directed by Chamika Hathlahawatta. The story of the play revolves around a girl and a boy, who are in love, are trying to spend a Sunday with Rs. 175.50/=. The play discusses major social issues of contemporary Sri Lankan youths such as lack of economic freedom and poverty.
Hari Apuru Dawasak bagged a number of awards including the “Best Play” award at the National Drama Festival 2008. The play also represented Sri Lanka at Cairo International Festival for Experimental Theatre, October 2009.
‘Hari Apuru Dawasak’ cast includes Dharmapriya Dias, Anuradha Perera, Oshadi Hewamadduma, Sanjeewa Disanayake, Madhushan Hathlahawatta, Ruwan Malith Peiris, Kaushalya Mendis and Indika Donald. Pradeep Chandrasiri has created costumes and stage sets while Ranga Samarakoon has designed the stage lights. Music is by Theja Buddhika Rodrigo.
Lanka Children’s and Youth Theatre Foundation (LCYTF) or better known as Play House-Kotte was established as a voluntary organisation in 1981 by Mrs. Somalatha Subasinghe, the veteran playwright and theatre director, with a view to promote in particular children’s and youth theatre and mainstream theatre in Sri Lanka. |
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