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| Wednesday, 8 May 2002 |
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A taste of Sri Lankan modernity by Nuwan Senadhira
The exhibit caters to paintings in water colour, line drawings, fabric paintings and temple murals, all for sale for ardent art lovers. The gallery is open for public any day from 10 am to 6 pm. They would prefer if you'd call them and take an appointment beforehand. There telephone number is 500873. Manjista Manjusri, the eldest daughter of the legend, an old girl of
Visakha Vidyalaya, started painting in her mid-teens. Her field comprises
of water colour, fabric paint, line drawings and ofcourse temple murals
like her father. She has worked for the cultural triangle project,
assisting in the preservation of the Dambulla paintings. Manjista also
assisted her father in painting the mural at the entrance to the
parliament at Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte.
She has held exhibitions in Sri Lanka in 1975, 1976, 1998, 1999 and 2001. In 1978, she also did some cover pages for the Ceylon Observer. Currently she is conducting Art classes seven days a week, weekday and weekend classes, specialising in teaching the students the basics in shading, sketching, landscape, animals, birds, portraits and creative art.
Saman Kumarasinghe, Manjista's husband, is a lover of natural beauty and wild life, and a vegetarian, which he specifically wanted to be mentioned. An old boy of Carey College he has succeeded in holding three exhibitions. He is more into water colours and acrylic paint and sold most of his paintings abroad as well as in Sri Lanka. His colourful paintings that attract the eye are inspirations from different religious cultures and the scenic beauty of Goa,India; Nepal and Maldives. Saman originally hailed from a family of businessmen, but now is a full time artist. In fact now, Art is his business.
Magic in their Souls -an inspiring performance Review: Gotta sing, Wanna dance Presented by: Voice in Harmony Directed by: Ruwani Seimon Seneviratne The usual experience of music-loving theatre goers has been to attend performances where one listens to singing in perfect pitch (or sometimes imperfect pitch) but little else. The apologia for this has often been that, if one is to aim at pitching well, then everything else has to be sacrificed to that end. It has been made out that it is simply not possible to dance, act, move and still be able to sing well. And this we have come to accept. We, as audiences, ungrudgingly close our eyes and merely listen (since we can do no more). We have come to believe that the total performer, like some mythical beast, exists only in the realm of some wild fantasy (or perhaps on Broadway) but certainly not anywhere in Sri Lanka. On the 25th April the Voices in Harmony directed by Ruwani Seimon Seneviratne shattered that myth (at least for this reviewer) by proving that they could not only sing (which fact they have established through their previous performances) but that they could also perform. What is the difference? When one sings, one merely sings. It can be almost painful to watch a singer striving to hit a particular note, unless that singer is well-versed in the art of creating the illusion that s/he is actually enjoying the activity. At the end of a "song" both singer and audience feel like they have been put through a wringer. But when one performs, one shares with the audience, so much more than just an appreciation of the words. And this is exactly what this choir has succeeded in doing. In comparison, with their previous performances, this show proved their maturity as a performing outfit, and not merely as a singing group. Their repertoire was wide and varied, and demonstrated their skill at handling the deep emotions of a "phantom of the opera", as well as the light hearted gaiety of "grease" with remarkable ease. The confidence in their performing skills was evident in their movements, which were well-synchronised, and considering the length of the show, fairly demanding on a physical level. Perhaps having a choreographer helped in no small way to turn this show into the success that it was. It was also satisfying to note that the costumes and sets, not to mention the lighting, displayed a somewhat higher level of professionalism than that has been seen in previous performances by this outfit. Finally, this reviewer believes that the Voices in Harmony has taken one small but encouraging step towards a concept that is now a talking point in theatre circles of this country - integrated theatre. By this is meant the idea that a true performer would be one who can dance, sing as well as act, and can do all three to a high degree of professionalism. It is important that we develop these skills in our performers, for if not, we would have to confine ourselves to dancing shows, singing shows, and acting shows. A preforming group with integrated skills would be what takes us closer to the international standards we have come to admire in, for example, the Broadway musicals. Hopefully we might see something of that calibre from this talented group, sometime in the future!!! Cassandra The Ritual at Peradeniya CentreStage Productions together with The British Council will present a repeat performance of 'The Ritual' on the 12th of May, at 7.30 p.m. at the WUS Hall, University of Peradeniya, Kandy. The play, written and directed by Jehan Aloysius, played to sell out audiences at the British Council Garden recently, and boasts a stellar cast of prominent personalities from the English theatre such as Tracy Holsinger, Avanti Perera and Anushka Pareira, with computerized lighting by Thushan Dias and make up by Buddadasa Galappatti. |
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Produced by Lake House |
Manjista Manjusri has taken over the brush from where her father left
off, the renowned temple artist the late Dr. L. T. P. Manjushri. She
further fell into the marital trap with yet another artist specialising in
modern art, Saman Kumarasinghe. The couple has got together and recently
opened up a mini-gallery for the public at 74, Fife Road, Colombo 05
[Their home].
