LANKAN PLAYS FOR CHILDREN AND YOUTH

Lankan Children's and Youth Theatre Organisation is a voluntary organisation that promotes theatre in Sri Lanka. Based in Colombo, this organisation has performed in various international theatre festivals. Two of their plays 'Thoppi Wellendi' (The Hat Seller) and 'Vikurti' (Distortion) were staged at the Music Academy, Chennai on the 21st of September, in collaboration with the Indian Council for Cultural Relations.

The plays were original and refreshing, with a mix of English and Singhalese dialogue. The first play 'The Hat Seller' is a children's play, which actually is a common folk tale. It represents the superiority of brains over brawn. The second play 'Vikruti' deals with issues relating to adolescents and parents in developing countries. The pressures and anxieties faced by students in a world of exams and 'scope-oriented' education is well showcased with the aid of Singhalese songs and modern dancing. The story revolves around a bright student who is forced by her mother to undergo the rigorous routine of tuitions so that she enters medical college, which she does, at the cost of her identity and individuality. The play deals with a host of other problems faced by students, like parental pressure, which is a manifestation of unfulfilled ambitions of parents, being projected onto children, disguised as parental guidance.

One feels that the dialogue could have been more forceful and the duration of the play shorter. But on the whole it was a commendable performance, which gave us an insight into the problems faced by Sri Lankan youth, which seems no different from what plagues youth in India. The play was directed by Somalatha Subasinghe.

ANNA WEISS

By popular demand, Mike Culler's 'Anna Weiss' was recently staged for the second time, at the Museum Theatre, Egmore. 'Anna Weiss' was first staged at The Edinburgh Theatre Festival.

This play deals with a rather controversial system of hypnotherapy, which causes women to recall horrific memories of childhood sexual abuse. The cast comprises Kaveri Lalchand as Anna Weiss with Divya Sreenivas playing Lynn, her patient and P C Ramakrishna as Lynn's father, David.

The play starts with Anna Weiss and her young patient Lynn moving to a new home to escape from the memories of her childhood sexual abuse. Lynn invites her father over in order to confront him. The result is a shocking revelation that shatters all three.

Kaveri Lalchand impressed with her superb delivery and P C Ramakrishna had the audience spellbound with his commanding voice. Divya Sreenivas was equally brilliant in her subdued portrayal as the traumatised Lynn. Their scintillating performance only added sheen to Mithran Devanesen's superb direction. Surely Anna Weiss would rank among Devanesen's best.

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