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| Sunday, 18 January 2004 |
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By Farah Macan Markar
Opened on January 2, 2004 in a "Geta Gevadilla" (house warming) fashion, with an all night "Pirith" ceremony and a "Dhanaya" for a hundred priests the next day morning, together with a mini "Perahera", lit up with "Vesak Kudu", it is a fully equipped theatre, with a seating capacity for around 230 people (ground and balcony), with rehearsal rooms, a meeting room and facilities for sound recording and special effects. There is also a standing rail for school students to watch plays in different angles, as well as a cafe and a pub.
The idea of Punchi Theatre is to promote and develop theatre in Sri Lanka. Other than the main hall on the ground floor, there are two mini halls in the second floor, separated by a sound proof movable screen, which can be removed to make it one big hall, if necessary. Says Malini "We hope to use these mini halls for exhibitions of art, flora, pottery, photography, books and other creative artifacts". The two halls hold a seating capacity of about 40-50 seats each and can be used for experimental small theatre productions as well. Sri Lankan theatre has come up through trial and error. Namel hopes to use the theatre to conduct training and academic courses in dramatic arts through related lectures, seminars and conferences. "I want to encourage the fellowship and mixing of all artistes (veterans and youth) to relax, have discussions and exchange ideas" he says. For this purpose he has even bought some mats, which can be laid out on the floor of the mini halls so that people can sit around and have group discussions as well as rehearsals. An Artiste's haven, Punchi Theatre, will be the ideal place for artistes to meet, discuss scripts, write scripts together, have creative writing meetings, poetry and book readings, arguments, debates and constructive criticism. The Weeramunis would also like to have regular programmes to pay tribute to Sri Lankan and International Artistes on their birthdays, through having readings or productions of their works, as well as seminars and lectures on their writings.
Namel himself is a producer and translator of plays. He's won the President's Award for the best translation and done stage productions with foreign artistes abroad in both English and Sinhala. A lawyer by profession he studied theatre at a University in Los Angeles at the age of 60 soon after his 60th birthday. He passed out with High Honours in his Masters. Having lived, studied and worked most of his life abroad Namel has returned and settled down in Sri Lanka to give something back to the country of his birth, in the form of arts and theatre. Punchi Theatre. Finally says Malini of her cousin whom she has always wanted to marry since small days, and finally captured "He did what he wanted to do in life, in spite of all the difficulties. He worked towards his dreams and he never gave up. That is why Punchi Theatre is here today". |
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The inside has turquoise blue pillars, wine coloured walls and a
cemented ceiling. The stage in the middle is not the usual rectangle but
curvaceous. The outside resembles a White Ant Hill, with clay mat
plastered walls and creepers of "Araliya", "Ruk" and
"Kalani Tissa" growing all around it. A magical cottage out of a
fairy tale? Not really. It's a little theatre blooming amidst pieces of
forestry, in the ever turbulent city life down Cotta Road, Borella. This
is Namel and Malini's Punchi Theatre.
Run by husband and wife Namel and Malini Weeramuni, Punchi Theatre is a
40-year old dream come true. A veteran theatre goer himself, being
involved in the local theatre since 1959, to build his own theatre has
been Namel's dream since the 1960s. Says Malini "We collected the
money bit by bit from our savings, putting it into a special tin. We
worked towards making our dream come true, and today we have reached
there".
Designed by Architect Muditha Jayakody, who has done his work free of
charge, Punchi Theatre is a little theatre concept and caters for a small
audience. Namel wants the theatre to run a play everyday continuously for
two weeks regardless of whether there are ten people or a hundred people.
The first play to hit the theatre will be the English version of "Sinhabahu"
which being the opening play will go on for four weeks running. The coming
productions to Punchi Theatre will be the Sinhala play "Hatharaweni
Thattuwa", "The lame and the blind" an English translation
of a Sinhala play and Jehan Aloysius' "The Ritual". The plays
will continue one after the other. "We want to have a regular flow of
plays with no breaks in between. The idea is for anybody to be able to
come here and see a play any day" says Namel.
