The talented young thespians of the Sunera Foundation took to the stage on Wednesday, May 16 to perform at the finals of ‘Samanalayaya 2018’ at the Lionel Wendt Theatre in Colombo.

The colourful and educative plays of the finals night of Sunera Foundation’s annual drama festival included ‘An Amazing Gift’ performed by the Katugastota workshop, directed and written by Chathura Dissanayake, ‘A Hard Day’s Work’ by the Galle workshop, written and directed by Danusha Stela, ‘Colours of Nature’ from the Palugaswewa workshop, written and directed by Lakni Jayaratne and ‘Best Friend’, directed and written by Nishantha Jayasekara and performed by the young participants of the Kurunegala workshop.

The night also saw dance and music performances by workshop participants from Wattala, Kurunegala, Dehiwala and Maharagama.

The regional performances took place over two months with 19 plays in 10 districts before the finalists were selected.

Sunera Foundation conducts workshops in 38 locations island-wide for about 1500 differently abled young people with the aim of using the performing arts to empower them. “I am asked whether most of the performers are not ones with disabilities. Our goal is to be asked this question. It shows how well our young people have performed,” said Sunethra Bandaranaike, Chairperson of Sunera Foundation.

All the plays were written, directed and trained by the trainers of the Foundation. The trainers are Sunera’s strength,  Ms. Bandaranaike added.

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