Children walk for children

Gateway students open their hearts:

Ruwanthi ABEYAKOON

WALK: Gateway College celebrates its 10th anniversary today, with a walk and a street drama, both events focusing and celebrating the child.

The street drama consists of the three plays ‘The journey’, ‘The clock’ and ‘The

 bully’ are largely bilingual. They are both entertaining and thought provoking.

A cast of 30 students between 12 and 15 will take part in the street drama. Proceeds of the walk are for the ‘Childrens’ Heart Project’ and for the Maithree Lama Nivasa. A few teenagers shared their thoughts with Daily News Teen.

Vijini Dahanayake, 13, said the drama is wonderful.

“We never experienced such a thing. We never had auditions. It was totally different. Every one said it was good. Practises were fun and we learnt a lot. It was a new experience. We are going to have a walk for the first time. I enjoyed being in the drama and we will have a good show today,” she said.

Noreyana Fernando, 14, said overall the play was fun. “It was fun. We are helping to save a few lives and we felt good. We are doing something for a worthy cause. We had different kinds of audiences in the performances we had,” she said.

“We have taken part in all the dramas but this is a new experience. Today we hope to do even better and bring out the message about children. Children around the world deserve much as we do.

The script is our own ideas and it talks about child rights. We had many workshops where we had the hot seat. We imagined that we were children facing problems and our teacher assisted us to put the ideas together and form the play,” they added.

Sajin Alles, 14, said the play was fun because it consisted of their own ideas. “We had a big crowd at Nugegoda. We practised a lot. I enjoyed taking part in this play. I am in the Drama Club and I was chosen for the play from the Drama Club. I hope to do my best today,” he said.

“Normally we have to memorise scripts. In this play we not only learn about theatre but we learn to think about the less fortunate children.

We learn to be thankful for what we have. Everyone can watch the play. It is a new experience. And it was enjoyable. We hope to do some more performances in the future because it is interesting, said Dimitra Abeysekara, 14.

Luqmal Saleem, 12, depicts the character of a boy conscripted by the terrorists and who is forced to fight.

“The teacher told me to imagine a sad child and it was my idea. There is a lot of emotion in the play. It is a tragic scene. We learnt that all children are not free. Through the play we are giving a lecture to the elders to think about child rights,” Luqmal explained.

Chanidu Ranatunga, 13, plays the role of a child who is running away to find a better place. “Children discuss and try to solve the problems. We have put our ideas together in making the play. It is fun and interesting. It is a good experience and today will be our best performance,” Chanidu said.

“These are true situations children are facing. My drama teacher helped me to get into the character. We understood that lives of all the children are not the same.

It is important to tell the others that children are important and they should be taken care of,” added Joshua Morris, 13.

Dinul Wijetunge, 11, provides the sound effects of the drama by playing the drums. “The sounds are important to keep the interest of the audience. When the bombs go off in the play I give the sounds. I really enjoyed the play. We have performed twice and we are ready for the Saturday show,” he said.

Nipuna Siribaddana, 15, takes part in all three plays. “My character in ‘The journey’ is a boy who loses his parents in a bomb blast in Colombo. I play a minor role in ‘The Bully’. If you concentrate acting is not difficult.

Today we will perform for the school crowd and parents. It is a new experience and it is very interesting. We are doing the play for a good cause. Fortunate people should help the less fortunate. We should have a heart to think about others,” he explained.

All teenagers thanked their drama teacher Sashi de Costa for directing this play.

Pictures by Palitha Gunasena