Cultural Diary

'Strange Tales' at Punchi Theatre

A scene from the play

Director Sashi Mendis

A production for the entire family "Strange Tales" will go on the boards on March 13 and 14 at the Punchi Theatre, Borella at 6.30 pm. The five plays are adaptations of childrens' plays by Ted Hughes. Directed by Sashi Mendis, "Strange Tales" is presented by forty students aged between 10 and 15, most of them who have attended drama classes with Sashi in the last five years.

It is bound to be an evening of theatrical entertainment. There is "Sean, the Devil and the Cat". Sean ventures into the dark wood and encounters the devil and his cat. This is play of suspense laced with humour with characters such as Mr. Poppopocolis, the rich millionaire whose daughter thinks she is a cat. Then there is "The Pig Organ" where the King might just turn into a pig. "The Meteo" is all about the predictions of a mad scientist whose instructions are faithfully followed by his disciples Mr. Vongongtop and Jitterwit. "Beauty and the Beast" is not at all the well-known fairy story in which a beautiful girl who perhaps runs away or is kidnapped by a bear. "Orpheus" is based on the Greek myth. It is a poetic drama which will be presented with choreographed movement and music.

The students have been working towards these plays in the last six months while at the same time learning about various dimensions of performance. The original scripts have undergone much change in terms of editing, changes in story line, and its final presentation has been the result of discussion, improvisation and exploration of different ideas. In this sense the drama class has been a time of creating as well as practising and working towards a performance, where characterization, skills of voice, movement and expression have been perfected. Above all it has been a time of recreation and enjoyment for the students, in spite of hard work a performance requires.

This is the fourth production Sashi is staging with students who attend drama classes conducted by her. In August last year she directed the play "Victims" with the senior students of Gateway College. It was an original script, out of sessions of improvisation with senior students of the school. Also, last year took on the boards "Kids On Stage" a production with students between ages of five and nine.

Grand programme by a grand master

March brings a very rare musical treat. The Chamber Music Society of Colombo is proud to present the world famous French concert pianist Jean-Bernard Pommier, who will thrill local audiences with a selection of monumental piano sonatas. The project is sponsored by airline partner SriLankan Airlines, and hotel partner Hilton Colombo Residencies.

Pianist Jean-Bernard Pommier

The recital will be at the Goethe Institute (German Cultural Centre), 39, Gregory's Road, Colombo 07, on Saturday, March 13 at 7 p.m. Tickets priced at Rs. 2,000 and Rs. 1,000, are available at Titus Stores and Liberty Plaza from Thursday March 04.

The programme for the evening will include Beethoven's Sonata no. 23 in f minor, op. 57 "Appassionata", flanked by Mozart's Sonata no. 18 in D major, K. 576 and Liszt' s only, mighty Sonata in b minor, S. 178.

Born in 1944, Pommier began piano classes at the age of four with the Russian pianist Mina Koslova, and gave his first piano recital at the age of 7. He went on to study piano at the Paris Conservatoire with Yves Nat and Pierre Sancan, as well as conducting with Eugene Bigot.

In New York, he worked with Eugene Istomin. He won first prize at Berlin's Young Musicians' International Competition in 1960. He became the youngest finalist at the 1962 International Tchaikovsky Piano Competition in Moscow, even winning first honourable mention from the chairman Emil Gilels (the year that it was won by Vladimir Ashkenazy and the late John Ogdon).

At the same time, he began recording with EMI. Ten years later, he began a long collaboration with Herbert von Karajan and the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, in Berlin and at the Salzburg Festival. He has since embarked on a career which has taken him to all of the world's leading concert halls, to rave reviews by audiences and critics alike.

More recently, his concerto partners have included Pierre Boulez, Daniel Barenboim, Bernard Haitink, Kurt Masur, Zubin Mehta, Michel Plasson, Georges, Semyon Bychkov, Charles Dutoit, Riccardo Muti, Lawrence Foster and Sir Simon Rattle. His recital and concerto appearances have included major centres such as London (with all 5 major orchestras), Amsterdam (with the Royal Concertgebouw), Tokyo (with the NHK Symphony), Leipzig, Dresden, Chicago, Paris and Moscow; as well as the Philharmonic Orchestras in Los Angeles, Vienna, Berlin and New York.

He also enjoys an active career as a conductor working with major orchestras in Europe and America.

He also frequently takes up the dual role of pianist and conductor with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, the Northern Sinfonia (England), the Sinfonia Varsovia (Poland), the Israel Chamber Orchestra, Lausanne Chamber Orchestra (Switzerland), the English Chamber Orchestra and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra.

His chamber music partners have included Isaac Stern, Itzhak Perlman, Pinchas Zukerman, Leonard Rose, Jean-Pierre Rampal, Paul Tortelier, Jaime Laredo and the Guarneri and Vermeer Quartets. He has given master-classes in Chicago, London, Lausanne, Durham and Melbourne.

Recent recital highlights include a complete cycle of the 32 Beethoven piano sonatas in London in 2008/09.

His native France has bestowed the title of Officer of the Ordre national du M(c)rite and Chevalier de la L(c)gion d'Honneur.

Entries invited for 'Channels'

The English Writers' Cooperative of Sri Lanka invites original unpublished creative writing in English, by Sri Lankan writers, to "CHANNELS" magazine.

Short stories maximum 1,500 words; poems maximum 30 lines will be accepted, translations will be not accepted.

Material will not be returned and the editorial board decision will be final.

Entries, typed double spaced, with name, address, telephone/e-mail details should be e-mailed to [email protected]. Postal entries may be sent to EWC 25/13 Kalinga Mawatha, Polhengoda, Colombo 5 before April 9.

Media Manthra

The founder of the Media Manthra institution is seen here with leading dance teachers who will perform on the Sivarathri night.

Students taking part in the dance recital.

Media Manthra, an institution to promote dance and music headed by veteran media person S. Viswanathan will stage a dance festival on Mahasivarathri night on March 13, at Ramakrishna Mission Hall, Wellawatte. Several dancing exponents and their students will perform at the event.

P. Rathakrishnan Ex-MP, and D. Easuwaran, Honorary Consul for Mauritius in Sri Lanka will be the chief guests.

The founder of the Media Manthra institution is seen here with leading dance teachers who will perform on the Sivarathri night.Students taking part in the dance recital.

Pic: Vipula Amerasinghe

Tribute to Indian Carnatic Saint Swami Thiagaraja

A Carnatic musical tribute to Indian Carnatic Saint Swami Thiagaraja was held at the Indian Cultural Centre in Colombo last week. The musical tribute to the Saint is an annual event in South India and Sri Lanka. A large number of Carnatic Musicians from various parts of the country including Jaffna and Batticaloa also took part in the event, which was organised by the veteran artist Mrs. Arunthathy Sriranganathan, with the cooperation of the Indian cultural centre.

'Gladiator Premaya' at Punchi Theatre

Lanka Children's and Youth Theatre Foundation (LCYTF) will present "Gladiator Premaya" (Gladiator Love), an original stage play in Sinhala at the Punchi Theatre on March 19 at 3.30 and 6.45 p.m. The performance is a joint effort by LCYTF and Women and Media Collective to mark the 100th anniversary of International Women's Day.

A scene from the play

The LCYTF, better known as Play House-Kotte, was established as a voluntary organisation (as Lanka Children's and Youth Theatre Organisation) in 1981 by Mrs. Somalatha Subasinghe, playwright and theatre director, with a view to promote in particular children's and youth theatre and mainstream theatre in Sri Lanka. Over the years LCYTF has produced a repertoire of internationally acclaimed mainly musical theatre for children and youth and award winning mainstream theatre productions. Today LCYTF is the leading producer of theatre for children and youth, and one of the major training and skill development centres for actors and other creative professionals in Sri lanka. With its theatre productions over the years, LCYTF has also been able to set new standards for the Sri Lankan theatre.

"Gladiator Premaya' is created by the youth theatre artists who have successfully completed the Diploma Programme in Drama and Theatre conducted by Ms. Kaushalya Fernando in 2009. The Diploma programme entails all round training such as acting, scriptwriting and analysis, directing, movement and vocal training. over 25 years, the LCYTF has been training numerous talented youth who are at present engaged in the work of both theatre and film industry at professional level in Sri Lanka.

The storyline and the script of the play have been developed by the young theatre artist, who has completed the training in Drama and Theatre arts at LCYTF. Development of the script was done under the supervision of Namal Jayasinghe who was the chief resource person of the scriptwriting and analysis section of the diploma programme. 'Gladiator Premaya' is based on a certain Sri Lankan contemporary social issues. They are dramatized on stage to bring forth the youth point of view of the issues. The play is co-directed by Prasanna Mahagamage and Namal Jayasinghe.

'Gladiator Premaya' cast includes Wishvajith Gunasekera, Priyantha Siri Kumara, Nadishani Weliwita, Harsha Thennekoon, Sulochana Weerasinghe, Nadishani Padmasiri, Geetha Alahakoon, Mayura Kanchana, Nilanka Dahanayake and Dilip Kumara.