Kotte productions go on stage

By Anuradha Kodagoda

Two popular play-house Kotte productions are on boards at the University of Peradeniya Annual Theatre Festival 2012. On March 15 Gladiator Premaya (Gladiator Love) directed by Namal Jayasinghe and Prasanna Mahagamage and on March 16 Vikurthi (Distortion), written and directed by Somalatha Subasinghe, will be presented at Peradeniya University Open Air Theatre.

Gladiator Premaya (Gladiator Love)

Gladiator Premaya was created by the youth theatre artistes who have successfully completed the Diploma Program in Drama and Theatre conducted by Kaushalya Fernando in 2009.

The Diploma Program entails all round training such as acting, script writing and analysis, directing, movement and vocal training.

The play was first performed in Colombo in 2010 and was well received by the audience as well as theatre critiques.

Gladiator Premaya was adjudged the Best Play of the year at the Youth Theatre Festival, 2011 and won several awards for Acting, Direction, Writing, Stage Management and Lighting. The play also won awards for the same categories at the National Drama Festival 2012.

The storyline and the script of the play have been developed by the young theatre artistes, who have completed the training in Drama and Theatre arts at LCYTF.

Gladiator Premaya is based on Sri Lankan contemporary social issues.

They are dramatised on stage to bring forth the youthÆs point of view of the issues.

The play is co-directed by Prasanna Mahagamage and Namal Jayasinghe. áGladiator Premaya cast includes Vishvajith Gunasekera, Priyantha Siri Kumara, Nadishani Weliwita, Harsha Thennekoon, Sulochana Weerasinghe, Nadishani Padmasiri, Geetha Alahakoon, Mayura Perera, Nilanka Dahanayake and Dilip Kumara. Costumes designed by Namal Jayasighe, Kaushalya Fernando and Prasanna Mahagamage, Stage sets designed by Namal Jayasighe and Prasanna Mahagamage, Stage Lighting designed by Chandana Aluthge, Stage management is by Isuru Kashyapa and Lahiru Nimantha.

The Production Manager is Thilina Perera. Make-up is by Priyantha Siri Kumara and Bhanu Prasanna.

The play is co-directed by Prasanna Mahagamage and Namal Jayasinghe. Kaushalya Fernando and Chandana Aluthge are executive producers of the play.

Vikurthi (Distortion)

Vikurthi (Distortion) is a satirical exposure of hapless generation of youth whose lives were dominated by the incessant struggle between the parentsÆ aspirations and the youthÆs abilities and preferences.

In the 1980s, at the time the drama was conceived, the widespread social tendency was that the aspiring parents were trying to achieve the missed opportunities of their own lives through their children.

Consequently, the children were forced to study for competitive government examinations such as GCE (O/L) and GCE (A/L), specifically in the Science Stream disregarding their aptitudes and available resources at respective schools and the universities.

The play discusses in depth how this anti-social process denied youth of their own life, which in turn deeply affects them in many ways. The production is a semi-musical which is a familiar theatrical experience to the local audiences.

Vikrthi was first performed in 1982 in Colombo and since then had been performed more than 1,000 times in Sri Lanka.

The play is considered a landmark theatre production and as a result it became a trendsetter of a new style of modern theatre in Sri Lanka.

It is also considered as a pioneering effort of youth theatre concept in Sri Lanka.

The professional theatre group of the Play-House-Kotte has performed ôVikurhtiÆ in English in major cities in India and Australia in 2000.

The play has been well received by the foreign audiences. Vikurthi cast includes Kaushalya Fernando, Namal Jayasinghe, Prasannajith Abeysuriya, Geetha Alahakoon, Mayura Kanchana, Sanjaya Hettiarachchi, Wickrama Seneviratne, Sulochana Weerasinghe, Dilum Buddhika, Palitha Abeyratne, Mihiri Priyadharshini, Harsha Tennekoon, Dilip Kumara, Music is composed and directed by M.R. Chulasinghe.