'Walas Pawula' in Gampaha

STAGE DRAMA: The latest children's theatre production Walas Pawula (Bear Family) presented by the Lanka Children's and Youth Theatre Foundation (LCYTF) or better known as 'Play House', Kotte will be staged at the Yasodara Balika Vidyalaya, Gampaha, on October 7 at 10.30 a.m., 2.30 p.m. and 6.30 p.m.

Based on the fairy tale "Goldilocks and the three bears", the script has been developed to suit the local

audience by veteran children's playwright and theatre director, Somalatha Subasinghe who is also the founder chief of 'Play House' Kotte. Walas Pawula is directed and choreographed by Dr. Chandana Aluthge, an artiste of the new generation groomed at the 'Play House'.

Chandana, a Senior Lecturer in Economics at the University of Colombo, has been one of the senior members of 'Play House'. Walas Pawula is the debut play he directed.

Chandana had been the choreographer, lighting designer, and artistic director in several plays presented by the 'Play House' previously. His skills had won many national awards and the outcome of Walas Pawula will be no exception.

Walas Pawula is a musical and the production style of the play has been developed so as to give the whole family an aesthetic journey of entertainment. According to the director of the play, the production style had 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 family.

The lessons of love, humanity and care for nature taught by Somalatha and her 'Play House' add beauty to life and make it liveable with grace.

Tharupathi Munasinghe has composed music while stage props and costumes are designed by Namal Jayasinghe and Kaushalya Fernando and Pujith de Mel.

The cast comprises Wishvajith Gunasekera, Sanjaya Hettiarachchi, Chamila Peiris, Prasanna Mahagamage, Niranjala Manjaree, Sharmain Gunaratne, Suresh Fernando, Mayura Kanchana, Nayomi Gunaratne, Geetha Alahakoon, Chamila Priyanka, Dinuki de Silva, Pramudi Karunaratne, Hiran Abeysekera, Ishara Wickramasena, and a number of new actors trained at 'Play House', Kotte.

Exhibition to mark Children's Day

PAINTINGS: Presidential award winning artist Mangala Madanayake will hold an exhibition of children's paintings and his own works to mark World Children's day at the Town Hall, Galle, on October 4 and 5. Mangalika Nanayakkara, course director of Splendid National school and Arosh Bambaranda, the director of the school had organised the event.

The aim of this project is to enhance the public's ability to appreciate art and to bring forth the talent of children.

The exhibition will also include some paintings by the teachers of the school.

Around 500 paintings by 100 children will be on exhibit. The mediums used are watercolours, pastels, oil paint and ballpoint pens. Madanayake will present 20 paintings done in different shades of ballpoint colours and are based on different themes.

Stage set for 'Spellbinding' music

MUSIC: True to style and tradition, the choir of St. Bridget's Convent has set the stage for "Spellbound - binding the world in harmony," the fourth in a series of vibrant and dazzling concerts, which takes place at

the Lionel Wendt from October 5 to 7.

Under the expert direction and guidance of Ruwani Seimon, 66 Bridgeteens aged 11 to 19 years have devoted their time and talent to give of their best for what promises to be a spectacular show.

About one and a half months have been spent perfecting a diverse musical performance, the main components being medleys of African, Latin and Sinhala music, as well as an item fusing many genres of music ranging from classical to rock.

The dedicated choristers have yet again juggled their time between practices for the show and their schoolwork, all for the love of music, and the special teacher who is very much a part of their lives.

"We have tried, as much as two hours of music will permit, to represent as many of the regions of the world and their ethnicities as possible and it has, as always, been great working with the Bridgeteens," says Seimon.

Peumi Rodrigo, the choir leader promises that "Spellbound" will be yet another innovative and unique show, filled with great singing and brilliant dance sequences.

"The African music in particular is something that no other school choir has attempted, and we're very excited

 about it," she adds. The African medley consists of earthy native African songs such as 'Asika Thalie' and 'Oremi.'

Groups of hand-picked voices will also come together in four side items which include the popular Hindi song 'Dhoom', the Cellblock Tango performed by the senior choristers and 'Don't worry, be happy' sung by the juniors.

The Bridgeteens are no strangers to working under pressure, and are given a fair share of responsibility in dealing with costume designing and choreography. Some of them have been a part of the choir for over eight years but for many, this is their first show.

'Spellbound' follows the successes of the Bridgeteen choir, 'Story Tunes' (2001), 'Song... Dance. Magic' (2003) and 'Musically Yours' (2005).

Maestro Victor Ratnayake dazzles Canadian audience

Nimal Rajapakse in Canada

MUSIC: During his recent Canadian tour, the well-accomplished Sri Lankan music genius Victor Ratnayake dazzled the Canadian audiences in several major cities including Toronto and Vancouver.

Ratnayake and his fellow musicians performed in packed auditoriums to audiences of mainly Sir Lankan-Canadians, some who had travelled hundreds of kilometres in search of his unique style of popular and semi-classical music.

I myself drove 330 km to Calgary, Alberta, on September 16 having last attended Victor's "SA" concert at Peradeniya University 30 years ago. To my extreme delight, Victor had chosen almost all of his songs for this Canadian tour from the early "SA" repertoire which made him by far the most successful live-in-concert solo artiste in the history of Sri Lankan music.

In 1973, Victor pioneered the solo music performances with his "SA" concerts and to date has well over 1000 shows performed literally all over the world. In Calgary, he proved without a doubt that he has not lost a beat since his very successful days of the "SA" mania in Sri Lanka.

It was surprising to hear that this is the first time he had performed in Western Canada. However, from the response of the audience gathered at the Mount Royal College auditorium in Calgary, it was quite obvious that he delighted the young and the old music fans alike.

As usual, he blended the correct amounts of Buddhist devotional songs with his hits of the 1960s and 70s such as Paave Walaa and Devram Vehere. As always, his masterpiece Thotupola Aine drew huge applause and everybody joined in the singing of Neela Bingu Kela while clapping to the beat.

Accompanying Victor was the well-known tablist Hemapala Gallage, famous sitarist Nihal Perera, Vajira Gomas on keyboard and Priyantha Dassanayaka on flute. It was truly a talented group of musicians delivering a superb performance with the right balance of popular and semi-classical songs.

As fans of meaningful music, we were quite overwhelmed with the emotional reactions evoked throughout the three-hour concert. It reminded all expatriates of their far away motherland and her immense cultural heritage.

We express our heartfelt gratitude to Ratnayake and his accompanying musicians as well as the local organisers for their dedication and hard work to promote Sri Lankan music all over the globe.

Exhibition of paintings at the Alliance

PAINTINGS: An exhibition of paintings by Saman Siriwardene will be held at the Alliance Francaise de Kandy from October 6 to 12. The opening ceremony will be on October 5 at 6.30 p.m. Pradeep Nilanga Dahala Bandara, Diyawadana Nilame of the Dalada Maligawa will grace the occasion.

Saman was born in the village of Middeniya in the Hambantota district. He had his primary education at Middeniya Maha Vidyalaya and the secondary education at Weeraketiya Madya Maha Vidyalaya. Later he joined Heritage House as a Creative and Design Artist. Growing up in an atmosphere steeped in tradition has influenced Saman's style of painting.

Exhibition of paintings by top Pakistan artist

PAINTINGS: R.M. Naeem, an artist from Pakistan is holding his exhibition of paintings at Paradise Road Galleries, Colombo 3, till October 15. Naeem had gained recognition as one of the top contemporary artists in Pakistan and is the guru of Ali Kazim who held an exhibition at the Paradise Road in June 2004.

A holder of the of the degree in Bachelor of Fine Arts, first division with distinction at the National College of Arts, Lahore, Naeem had also sat for the Qualified Intermediate Grade Drawing examinations with first division and second division.

He had worked as assistant professor at the National College of arts Lahore, and for a number of studios.

He received the first prize in the exhibition of paintings on Defence Day organised by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Pakistan, the National Excellence award at the eighth National Exhibition of Visual Arts organised by the national Council of Arts in Pakistan and a couple of awards of honour in the annual Punjab Painting and Graphic Art exhibition. Naeem had held solo exhibitions in his homeland since 1999.