Paraconsistent Thought: Notes from a field diary
The beautiful Fenya of Greek decent asks me with a humble smile if I know the Sinhala word that gives meaning to ‘shame’. Having received ‘yes’ for an answer she sits on…
Arts and Theatre
Gramasevakata Pissu: Political censorship and popular culture
– J.M. Coetzee , seated at the foot of my father’s easy-chair, not understanding (as a nine, ten, eleven-year-old) the incisive commentary the show was making. Soon enough as a teen, I…
The Days We Screamed
Yes, we screamed. Mostly out of fear. At times, in joy when the opposing side faced more loss than us. Lives were taken for granted, numbers of the fallen mattered much more…
Uncasing Horror Sleeping Between Pages: A Review of the Pillowman
On July 7 and 8, Irish playwright Martin McDonagh’s award winning play ‘The Pillowman’ was presented at the Punchi Theatre in Borella by Stage Light & Magic Inc. Yours truly was at…
Unfolding a Fabric of Spectacular Enchantment: A review of ‘Pyramus and Thisby’
‘Enchantment galore’ upon the senses of theatregoers seemed the motive and motif for the twelfth year anniversary show of ‘Pyramus and Thisby’ written and directed by seasoned theatre practitioner Jehan Aloysius, which…
The Multiculturalism of Sinhala Song: a Review of Sons and Fathers
Multiculturalism in Sri Lanka is often understood as the co-existence of distinct ethnic communities, whose individual histories have unfolded independently during different eras, in different parts of the country.[1] Conventional historical narratives…
Thatti
I worked with Building Bridges on a four-month series of art and creative skills workshops at St. John’s College, Mattakkuliya. It is a co-educational school whose students come from diverse backgrounds in…
Constant Tug of War
Independence Day is marked with military parades and empty rhetoric on peace. The Sri Lankan State continues to exercise power, profiting from political instability, disenfranchisement and control over Tamil bodies and land…
Floating Space Theatre Co. presents ‘rite | now’ at Global Voices Summit
How much do we remember of the time before the internet? How much of ourselves will we leave behind because of the internet, and how much of this do we imagine we…
In conversation with Tharanga Goonetilleke
Tharanga Goonetilleke is a Juilliard-trained Sri Lankan opera singer who has sung internationally, including with the New York City Opera, at Carnegie Hall and the Symphony Orchestra of Sri Lanka while providing…
Exploring “Contempt” – An upcoming reading by Floating Space
Manoeuvring power relations and negotiating the language of legal discourse – these are central themes of “Contempt” a reading presented by Floating Space, to be held this Saturday (July 15th, 2017) at…
Awards, Recognitions and Sri Lankan Creative Writing in English
. About Concerns of Judges When speaking of the concerns we have as judges with regard to our experiences in judging the entries for the 2016 Gratiaen Prize, I am speaking on…
The Art of Connection: Two organisations take on reconciliation
As a 16 year old, Nushelle de Silva was entirely unprepared for the experience of seeing Jaffna in its ‘raw state’ during the ceasefire in 2004. Traveling there on a field trip with…
Laughing in the Dark
LONDON – As a former Soviet citizen, I can tell you: it’s never a good sign for a political system when artists start speaking out against it. And when their statements visibly…
Writing to Reconcile: A personal journey
Image from Write to Reconcile Last fall, in Toronto, I went to see a play that was written by one of the writers in this anthology, Sindhuri Nandakumar. The play was called…
