|
|
 |
 |
| Sunday, 5 September 2004 |
 |
|
 |
Features |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
|
Queen's College choir at British Council
The performance is a joint venture between the British Council and Unilever Ceylon Limited. Admission to the performance is by programme only, on sale at the British Council Arts Office, open on weekdays from 9.00 a.m. to 4.30 p.m. ###### Cutting edge entertainment
The dynamic theatre troupe CentreStage productions will present an evening of song and dance, titled The centre stage festival, on September 25 and 26 at the Punchi Theatre in Borella. The show, featuring the best of the original musical named Rag, is directed and choreographed by Jehan Aloysius, who has been associated with a host of spectacular musicals over the last 12 years. CentreStage productions has endeavoured to produce and promote cutting-edge original theatre in Sri Lanka. In the process, the troupe has brought several issues centre-stage as well. The company regularly conducts theatre workshops with schools, theatre troupes and amateur dramatists both of the English and Sinhala theatre circles, and have had the privilege of being the opening act at the premier StageRite theatre festival in Bangalore. This year, the theatre troupe performed the sell-out success, Bengal Bungalow, as well as their critically acclaimed play, The Ritual, which was staged in India, Colombo, Peradeniya and most recently in Jaffna. The CentreStage Festival is being produced in keeping with the theatre troupe's plans to establish a new theatre tradition of an annual event where original dramatic works and works-in-progress can be presented to an audience. The purpose of this festival is to present quality new productions as well as to encourage feedback on the works-in-progress. Hence, the premier CentreStage Festival will feature dramatised and choreographed selection from the troupe's major work-in-progress, the original musical rag. This tragic musical, seeks to objectively interrogate the phenomenon of ragging and violence in local universities. The theme of Rag is an extremely timely one. Indeed the play has proven to be uncannily prophetic foretelling events that took place several years after the play was written. Rag was written and composed by Jehan Aloysius with orchestrations by Avanthi Perera and choral direction by Deshan Cooray of the Old Joe's Choir. Moreover, as the narrative of Rag is mainly in song, the lead roles have been taken on by prominent singers who have made a name for themselves in musical theatre such as Dushyanth Weeraman (Guttila), Anjuli Gunaratne and Samantha Ferdinand (Mary Anne Singers), Shanaka Cooray (Old Joe's Choir), Ruveen Dias (Bengal Bungalow) as well as Jehan Aloysius. The ensemble will comprise The Old Joe's choir, who have made a name for themselves under the guidance of Deshan Cooray. The performance on September 25 will be for exclusive invitees. However theatre lovers will have a chance to experience the best of Rag on September 26 at 7.30 p.m. The main sponsor of the festival is The British Council. A limited number of tickets will be available at the venue from the second week of September. ###### Personal bonds on canvas by Lakmal Welabada
Using oils on canvas Chandrapala expresses love, affection, pleasure, hope and various personal bonds of people through his semi abstract paintings.Chandrapala obtained his B.A. degree from the University of Kelaniya in 1963 and mastered his arts in the Government College of Fine Arts (Heywood). An accountant by profession courtesy the graduate Training Scheme in the early 70s. Chandrapala has used the canvas, colours and paint brush as a means to erase his dull routine and brighten his life.
He participated in several exhibitions in Sri Lanka and won many awards. His paintings have been selected for international exhibitions in India, Bangladesh and Balgaria from time to time. Many art enthusiasts from Europe and States who visited art exhibitions where his paintings were on display chose his creations for their personal art galleries at their residences abroad. Chandrapala is not only a painter, but also a poet. He published his poetic collection Kulundul Belmak in 1974, Mawathe Geethayak in 1977 and Socretees Ha Pawahan in 1998. Dharmapala Olcot Memorial International Research Foundation awarded him the honorary title Lekaka Shiromani for his literary work in 1998. ###### Critic's corner : Beyond the windmills of time By Karel Roberts Rathnaweera
A note in, the September 'Rendezvous, the monthly culture bulletin of the Alliance Francaise, says that a photographic exhibition by Koen Broker will be held at the Auditorium of the AF from September 23 to 27. Titled 'Coastal areas of Sri Lanka: A Photographic Journey,' the would-be presenter says that he would like to show us Sri Lankans a wide variety of life and situations as they can be encountered in the coastal areas. This offer of a foreigner to show us some of our own facets may sound presumptuous, but it seems that the Dutch did some homework. A newspaper recently highlighted that a Dutch-Wattala village funded by a Netherlands philanthropist is sinking and the hapless occupants of the houses are fleeing for their lives for fear of being buried alive. How the windmills of time work, indeed! Broker writes that in the last two years he worked (primarily),as a biologist in the Coastal Zone Management project on the Southwest coast. He also works as a freelancer for several publications. Broker says that in the course of his work he encountered many different aspects of life. These encounters apparently ranged from people to scenic beauty, socio-economic and environmental problems such as erosion and exploitation of natural resources, poverty, pollution and destruction. He does not say what kind of destruction he means. 'Many of these problems almost seem to be unstoppable,' Broker writes in 'Rendezvous.'He claims to know the 'real life' behind the 'white beaches and beautiful sunsets!' However, despite all the problems that are encountered here,' he considers it a privilege to live through it all (what about the problems in his own land?), living and working in what he calls 'this wonderful stretch of land adjacent to the sea.' Koen Broker says that his photos are used as awareness and education materials. |
|
News | Business | Features
| Editorial | Security Produced by Lake House |
The Queen's College Choir, from the University of Oxford will perform
at the British Council hall at 6.30 pm on September 10. The choir is a
mixed-voice chapel choir, and their most recently released CD won the
Critic's Choice award in the internationally acclaimed specialist
classical music magazine 'Gramophone'. The choir numbers 21 in total, many
of whom are choral scholars.
Artist M. Chandrapala's 'eleventh one man art exhibition' under the
same title will be held at the Lionel Wendt Art Gallery from September 10
to 12.
"My father M. Sirisena was also an artist. He was famous as a
Pandal ('Thoran') painter. I continued my creative career with the Ceylon
Art Society while attending to my profession as an accountant at Veytex. I
became a full time artist only after I retired," he says. Chandrapala
took an interest in art and literature since his childhood.
A Dutch biologist named Koen Broker who describes himself as a
freelance photographer/writer, seems to be familiar with our coastal
culture. Hangover from the Dutch 'occupation' of the island from
1658-1709,what? Who knows? He knows about beach boys, fishermen, tourists,
sun lovers. Perhaps these types were present even when his ancestors were
here.
