This, that and everything
Ishara Jayawardane
Stage Door, a fairly new theatre school opened by Vinodh Senadeera,
will present an evening of Song, Poetry and Drama in what will be a
memorable evening for all those who attend the occasion on September 18.
"It is called Stage Door which I started in January. I was teaching
at home but I wanted to do something different with my drama students. I
wanted to expand a little more. So I've opened up a place called The
Stage Door, a theatre school which focuses on Drama, poetry reading,
storytelling, improvisation, singing, dance and art. And if parents want
they can enter their children for professional exams. The main idea in
starting this is being in the teaching profession I find that students
today are so involved in going for tuition and studying that they have
no time to spend on doing things they like at leisure. They are running
from one teacher to another" said Vinodh Senadeera, director of Stage
Door.
Senadeera pointed out that he doesn't insist on exams for students
because he doesn't want them to have another exam atop the school exams
that they already have. Stage Door is a place that they can come to and
relax for one and a half to two hours, engage themselves in things which
they like to do: a lot of activities like drama and singing.
"We are now doing our first production as stage door. Where it is all
centred around our classroom activity work. It is what we are doing in
school we are now showcasing to the outsiders. The school itself runs
only on Saturdays. There are four sections: seniors, intermediates,
junior and primary. We do a lot of poetry, drama and singing. Once a
month we do something different like a Movie Day, we had our Avurudu
festival so there are a lot of things we do on a regular basis. We want
them to enjoy the arts. Every child has some sort of talent. The kids
come and unwind themselves and they are not caught up in an exam
atmosphere," added Senadeera.
The seniors will be doing an item called Selected. It includes items
from Shakespeare, Oscar Wilde and Carl Muller. They are also doing Tales
of Mother Goose for the little kids, which is a lovely story about
nursery rhythms and many characters from nursery rhymes. The youngest
group is doing some lovely poems. It is a very creative one-hour show.
They are trying to make this a wonderful experience for the children so
they can get on stage in costumes and to experience what it is to be on
stage.
"I have been to Drama Schools where we did only Speech and Drama. In
my school in addition to doing speech and drama the child gets to
experience a variety of performing arts in one place. That is the
difference. It is about enhancing the creative powers of the child. I
want my students to experience what it is to do a production. Bringing
all the knowledge they have learnt on to the stage. There is no point in
having Stage Door if I am teaching them at home and not showcasing their
talent," explained Senadeera.
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Students
engage in the rehearsals |
The songs for the production have been carefully selected by its
Music Director, Shanon Jacob, to suit the genre of the play and more so,
to suit the ages of the children, so that they could relate to the
songs. The students will be accompanied on drums performed by the
students of Stage Door, who have been trained by their in house drum
instructor, Jude Theagarajah.
The production is directed by Vinodh Senadeera, and the music is
co-ordinated by Shanon Jacob, and the production is produced by Marlon
Jesudason, all three who are the founder members of Stage Door.
The play will take place at Punchi Theatre.
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