Musical theatre for children

Children's theatre festival:

By Ranga Chandrarathne

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A scene from Walas Paula

Punchi Apata Den Therei

Thoppi Welenda

Play House - Kotte, a leading children's play producer, presents a two day Theatre Festival for the Young Audiences on December 5 and 6 2008 at Lionel Wendt at 3.30 p.m. and 6.30 p.m.

The latest creation 'Walas Pawula' (The Bears and Goldilocks) as well as the well received Punchi Apata Den Therei (We Know It Now) and "Toppi Welenda" (The Hat Seller) will be staged during the festival.

The festival is sponsored by the HNB Assurance PLC (for the third consecutive year) in a bid to promote Children's Theatre in Sri Lanka and thereby contribute to the wellbeing of the country's future generation. In a socio-cultural situation where there is no adequate patronage for good theatre for children and youth, the support extended by HNB Assurance PLC to hold a two-day theatre festival for children is commendable. As a result, the theatre tickets are priced at affordable rates with a view to reach a wider audience.

The Play House - Kotte has been organizing festivals of theatre for children and youth annually for the last twenty-five years. The institution was established in 1981 by Mrs. Somalatha Subasinghe to further the cause of Children's and Youth.

Some of these productions have been internationally acclaimed. In this sense, the festival of theatre in December can considered a joint effort by two acclaimed institutions which are working towards to promote social welfare and reconciliation through their chosen fields of activities.

Walas Pawula is an adaptation of popular fairy tale (The Three Bears and Goldilocks) while Punch! Apata den There! and Toppi Welenda are based on well-known international folk tales.

All plays are produced as musicals and in the adaptations, new characters and situations have been incorporated particularly to communicate with the Sri Lankan child. The production style of the plays has been developed so as to give the young audiences as well as the whole family an aesthetic journey of entertainment.

Choreography, lighting, I costumes, stage props, and music of the dramas have been carefully crafted to convey the children a sense of basic art forms and provide meaningful entertainment.

Both plays are special in many characteristics including costumes design and innovative theatre techniques.

The music enhances the sense of beauty of the visuals generated on stage by the professional theatre group of the Play House Kotte.

The composition of music of these dramas has been based as on our traditional melodies which are modified and adopted into the present context. The language of these theatre pieces are both musical and performance based.

They have been developed in a manner to inculcate in children a sense of pride in our own culture as well as to promote the importance of the institution of family and its values. The lessons of love, humanity and care for nature refreshingly presented in the plays are thought provoking which in turn facilitate an intellectual and entertaining discourse with children. All the three plays are written by Somalatha Subasinghe. 'Walas Pawula' is directed and choreographed by Dr. Chandana Aluthge and Punchi Apata Den Therei and Toppi Welenda are directed by Somalatha Subasinghe. Music for Walas Pawula is by Tharupathi Munasinghe and M.R. Chulasinghe has composed music for the other two plays. The cast of the musicals comprises Wickrama Senevirathne, Rohitha Karunaratne, Wishvajith Gunasekera, Sanjaya Hettiarachchi, Sharmaine Gunarathne, Suresh Fernando, Pujitha de Met, Dilum Buddhika, Dinuki de Silva, Pramudi Karunarathne, Mayura Kanchana, Namal Jayasinghe, Geetha Alahakoon, Ishara Wickramasene and a number of new comers trained at Play House-Kotte.