As the global pandemic takes its toll on the vibrant theatre culture of Sri Lanka, with little opportunity to give the art of theatre life on stage, the Sunday Observer brings to its readers a series of weekly pictorials of past theatre productions which can be appreciated for their ‘visual splendour’. It is hoped that these pictorials will contribute at least in some small way to keep alive the thirst for theatre among our readers and drive the ‘spirit of support’ for theatre artistes to return once more to the stage and enliven the country’s cultural life.
In this ninth instalment of the ‘Throwbacks to Theatre’ pictorial series, the Sunday Observer brings to sight, moments on stage from the spectacular production Premawantha Kumarayo [A Sinhala translation of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, which was translated to Sinhala by Jayawathi Jayasinghe] directed by veteran actor of the stage and screen, Priyankara Rathnayaka. This play, which was produced by Lal Handapangoda, went on the boards of the Lionel Wendt in February of 2016.
The captivating photographs featured in the pictorial of Premawantha Kumarayo were provided to the Sunday Observer by theatre photographer Hemantha Arunasiri.
