By Chamindra Wickremasinghe
The Truth Is Unbelievable is an exhibition of paintings, film and art installation on the life work of Bhikkhu Sumedha, organised by the Goethe Institute, German Cultural Centre, commemorating its 50th anniversary. The exhibition is curated on the priest’s wish by the artist Cora de Lang.
Bhikkhu Sumedha (Aja Iskander Schmidlin) born in Switzerland, lived the last decades of his life in a cave in Manapadassana Lena in Dulvala, near Kandy. He didn’t want to be remembered as German or Swiss, but simply a Sri Lankan monk.
The Truth Is Unbelievable is the culmination of Bhikku Sumedha’s last days spent with Ven. Mettavihari, Cora de Lang and Richard Lang in his cave. It is a presentation of their interviews with him, recorded images and sounds, viewing his installation in the cave.
In the film, Bhikku Sumedha reflects on the heart of the Dhamma, transience of sensual pleasures, the dangers of impermanence, the mask-like nature of selfhood, and the possibility of a peace that transcends all conditioned modes of understanding.
His paintings which are semiotics reflect a coming together of a deep emotion and intellect. He visualised the Dhamma, and also dived theoretically in the depths of Theravada thought.
The Truth Is Unbelievable will be held until September 21, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Sri Sambodhi Vihara, opposite Goethe-Institute, Gregory’s Road, Colombo 7.
****
The Accused – forum theatre by Royal College
By Jayashika Padmasiri
“For me, a big part of it was at the end, the verdict-No emotion, No anything, that spoke a thousand words…. I heard enough from him.” (Richelle Nice)
What is it like to be part of a court room? To watch everything takes place? The black coats moving around, running with files, the occasional laughs that occur from the crowd, The words “order”, “order”, echoing through the court room. The verbal attacks that take place, words getting thrown back and forth by lawyers. The suspect waiting in anticipation. The prosecutor’s anger occasionally rising, loved ones, family members, all of the characters waiting, to hear one single word uttered, “Guilty”… or “not guilty”… and the rest…
If you always wanted to be part of the court decision making process, The Royal College, Colombo brings to us, “The Accused”, a drama by Jeffrey Archer which gives you, the audience, an opportunity to become a member of the jury.
How many times have you wished you could change the ending of a story? Did you ever read a detective story and wish someone had been innocent?
Well here’s your chance to make that decision, and contribute to the making of the story, to give life to your own verdict.
Must all stories have a single ending? What if you were to change events leading up to the conclusion? Would that affect the outcome of the story? In real life situations, we come across millions of occasions on which a single act, performed differently or not at all could have changed life-altering events and changed the course of our lives forever. A movie director made Butterfly Effect based on this concept. Forum Theatre, fairly new to Sri Lanka and performed previously only by Ruwanthi De Chickera and her theatre company, is what this school production is all about.
The Director of the play, Sajith Amendre, speaking to The Nation said, “The idea of forum theatre is still new to our country. But we wanted to do something new and different. So we are taking this chance. It is a risk we are willing to take. This is a play for everyone who wants to be Sherlock Homes. It is a real life courtroom experience. You are a part of the jury, even during the leisure hours; your mind is working, as if you’re in a courtroom and a part of the jury.
The story brings forth the life of Dr Sherwood, who is accused of murdering his wife, the judge, lawyers and another lady called Jennifer Mitchell who is suspected to be the mistress of Dr, Sherwood are the main characters of the play. However, in this play, every person in the audience is a character, since they are contributing to the drama.
The Accused consists of 20-30 actors and will be held the Ladies Collage Auditorium on 14, 15, 16, September. Tickets will be available a week before the performance. Hafeel Farize, Feroze Ahamad, Sanjaya Jayewardene will be palying the main roles.
****
No comments:
Post a Comment