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| Wednesday, 10 November 2004 |
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Sanda Langa Maranaya Triangle of passionate love
Kaushalya Fernando, five time winner of the prestigious Best Actress Award at the State Drama Festival, Colombo, is directing the Sinhala version of Blood Wedding as 'Sanda Langa Maranaya'. The play is, one of the famous trilogy based upon Spanish society, written by Federico Garcia Lorca in response to a newspaper article concerning a local murder in rural Spain. Garcia Lorca is probably the most celebrated dramatist in Spain and, according to theatre critics and academics, one of the most poetic playwrights of the 20th century. Passionate love The story of the play is a triangle of passionate love among a bridegroom, a married man, and a young bride. According to critics , the play basically is a tragedy of missed love, treating certain universal themes such as extremism intolerance and inflexibility in society. That makes the play very relevant even today. Blood wedding has conquered many types of performing art forms, stage plays, ballet, musical, film, etc. throughout the world in different languages, reaching different cultures. For its high drama, freedom of thought and relentless tension. Blood Wedding no matter when and where it performs, has been dazzling and entrancing the audience. Sanda Langa Maranaya is Kaushalya's debut direction. Kaushalya Fernando and Nadee Kammellaweera translated the play into Sinhala. The production work formally began in May this year. Prior to that Kaushalya held regular sessions of acting workshops for about three months to orientate and fine-tune the young group of actors of the Play House in Kotte for the new production. Play House in Kotte, founded by Somalatha Subasinghe in 1979, is the only one of its kind in Sri Lanka, which produces mainly musical plays for children and youth, with professional actors. According to Kaushalya, the basic style of the production of 'Sanda Langa Maranaya' is semi-musical-surrealistic-type. She incorporates as choreographed movements, music and rhythm and vivid lighting and colours in addition to very intense acting on stage. Stylised realism Kaushalya is confident that with stylised realism on the stage as a production strategy would impart the audience an entertaining yet intense theatre experience. She believes the fact that primarily theatre should be appealing to the spectators. Without mass participation, a strong theatre culture will be a distant dream. Kaushalya, with her vast experience on stage, screen and television and very enthusiastic artistes of the Play House in Kotte who have joined hands with her are working untiringly to bring a memorable theatre experience to the Sri Lankan audience. Kaushalya also tries to bring forth the youth aspect with the style of production she exercises in the play. Energetic, very honest and intense behaviour to issues in life symbolises youthfulness. In "Blood Wedding", it is a bouquet to youth who behave in that manner turn out to be the victims of fanaticism in society they live in. Kaushalya experiments with these elements of youthfulness in the play to build the dramatic intensity. Working with a very youthful group of actors and other creative workforce in "Sanda Langa Maranaya" production, Kaushalya exerts herself to make it a very familiar experience to the Sri Lankan audience. Somalatha Subasinghe, the veteran playwright and actress, after a brief spell of absence, gives soul to one of the leading female roles in "Sanda Langa Maranaya". Chamila Peries, Wishvajith Gunasekera, and Prasanna Mahagamage, the new generation performing artistes, who are groomed at the Play House in Kotte, give flesh and blood to the three main youthful characters that are wrapped up in the triangle of love. Other characters are played by Lucian Bulathsinghala, Nadee Kammallaweera, Suresh Fernando, Nayomi Gunasiri, Lakmini Seneviratne, Sharmaine Gunaratne, Mayura Kanchana, Sanjaya Hettiarachchi, Champika Kannangara, Ishara Wickramasinghe, Thilokanee Gunasekera, and a number of newcomers to the national theatre groomed at Play House-Kotte. Nadeeka Guruge, an upcoming young musician of a different breed, composes music for the play. Because the play is based on rural Spain, Sri Lankan folk music provides the basis for the score while the guitar has extensively been used to beautify the score with Spanish flavour, augmenting the intensity of acting. Choreographed movements created by Chandana Aluthge take the play to the very edge of stylised realism, the production strategy used by the director. Choreographed movements, music, and intense acting are wonderfully concerted to enhance the dramatic sensuality on the stage, making way for a momentous theatrical experience to the audience. Namal Jayasinghe creates stage sets and properties while make-up is by Sumedha Hewawitharana. **** Back **** |
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Produced by Lake House |
Directed by Kaushalya Fernando Sanda Langa Maranaya will go on the
boards at Bishop's College auditorium, Colombo on November 13 at 7 pm and
November 14 at 3.30 pm. and 7.30 p.m.
