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By Ishani Ranasinghe
With two plays – Fifty-fifty and The Senator by a renowned playwright and a group of enthusiastic young actors… The Ceylonese Connection is sure to be something worth sitting through.

Presented by the Trinity College Drama Society, The Ceylonese Connection will bring to you two plays written by H.C.N De Lanerolle. Plays that will suit your taste? Something that will capture you? We decided to find out.

Fifty-fifty set way back in 1945 brings to you the story of Dionysius Sumanaseke-ram, a wealthy country gentlemen. The play is woven around Dionysius being coaxed by his boyhood friends Thambypillai and Hadijar to contest for a seat in the State Council. The three characters will be portrayed by Jaliya Wijewardena, Heshan Pethiygoda and Sajid Nasim.

The play follows Dionysius’ election campaign, which is spiced with the antics of his flirtatious wife Charlotte (Barana Waidyathilake), his seemingly innocent daughter Nanda (Heshika Deegahawatura), Abraham Muttiah (Jeevaka Somaratna), the black marketer and Chelvam Devarajan (Sumedha Kelegama) the campaign lawyer who is in love with Nanda.

Their next play The Senator is a sequel to the first play and is set in 1947. Here, the playwright brings in Dionysius’ nephew Somapala, a communist played by Harsha Dissanayaka, William Babbington-Buckham (Dhanushka Viswakula), an English friend of the family and Kamala Weerawardene (Jonathan George) a journalist onto the scene as Dionysius attempts to enter the senate.

Directed by Lakshmi Samarakoon the two plays will take the stage on April 2 at 6.00 p. m. at the Trinity College Main Hall. Tickets priced at Rs. 300/-, Rs. 200/- and Rs. 100/- will be available at the gate. The proceeds will be donated to the Trinity College Tsunami Relief Fund, which is rebuilding two villages in Karaitivu and Ninthavur. The electronic media sponsors for this event are Sun FM and Gold FM.

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