Century of theatrical delight

Amalshan Gunerathne

To appease your aesthetic appetite, the veterans of local theatre are hoping to get together at one stage to perform timeless collection of theatre songs from days gone by. Theatre enthusiasts have lot to look forward to, as the show promises to be a nostalgic evening of theatrical delight, with some of the richest musical compositions from Sinhala theatre being rejuvenated and reenacted during the evening. Timeless theatre songs encompassed in to a one concert, 'Gee Ranga Siri' musical extravaganza hopes to touch your senses with rich aesthetic joy.

Songs from John de Silva's first ever theatrical production 'Siri Sangabo' to Jayalath Manorathne's 'Guru Tharuwa', the concert will showcase vibrant and rich collection of musical masterpieces woven over a century of Sinhala Theatre. The concert is expected to get underway at Lionel Wendt Theatre on January 23 at 7 pm.

Nissanka Diddeniya

For those who have lived through the heyday of local theatre, the concert will be a one to treasure, as it hopes to arouse your hearts to the fond memories of grand old days where greats such as Ediriweera Sarachchandra, Henry Jayasena, Dayananda Gunawardana, Gunasena Galapaththi, and Lushan Bulathsinghala ruled the local theatre.

Expressing his thoughts on the show, veteran artiste Nishshanka Diddeniya noted:

"The show will be great for those who want to relive some of grand memories of local theatre. It will be a great theatrical experience. Special thing about theatre songs is that they sustain the dramatic and story elements of the drama intact even during lyrical music. We want youth to be there as well. They should know the kind of rich theatre culture we used to have and they should understand its roots."

While the show hopes to recreate some of the most treasured and cherished moments in local theatre on stage, it also promises to make it an educative night, where through a series of brief narrations, the veteran group hope to enlighten the audience on how Sri Lankan theatre music evolved over the past century.

The show is timely one, as Diddeniya feels that local theatre has lost some of its melodious magic over the past three decades. With dramatists opting to recreate European translations on stage and with young dramatists moving towards absurd theatre, Sinhala drama has lost some of its richness, he feels. "Things like pop culture, reality shows, advent of television and technology also contributed to this decadence. We have also ran out of good writers whose language skills are rich enough to craft such great pieces of theatre, may be that is why we opted to do translations as well.

However, things are changing for the better and local theatre is on the rise again. People have got fed up of T.V and reality shows and moving towards theatre again which is great. Therefore doing a show such as this is good to draw more audience towards theatre."