News updates from June 2009 ↓

As we have been reporting, 13 of Sunera’s long standing trainers have been participating in a three month long Stagecraft training programme, which was conducted by Delon Weerasinghe.

This training process was completed on 21st June, culminating in an evening of performances titled “Readings” in which 5 minute excerpts from each script the trainers had been developing was acted on stage, in front of an audience of Sunera’s friends and supporters.

The evening was beautifully planned and the performances, immaculately executed.

Here are a few details from the evening -

Location - Punchi theatre, Colombo

Time - 6.00 - 7.00pm

Performances - consisted of twelve small performances, lasting 5 minutes each, in which each script writer chose excerpts from the scripts they had developed and directed these exceprts using other Sunera trainers and a few professional trainers. 

1.  Pariththyagaya - directed by Sandun Bandara and scripted by Menaka Priyadarshana

 2.  Nevathuna then sita - directed by Nissanka Rajini and scripted by Prabath Attanayake

 3.  Himi pooja - directed by Indika Bandara and scripted by Supun Shanaka

 4.  Verdeema - directed by Menaka Priyadarshana and scripted by Nishantha Jayasekera

5.  Vinivida - directed by Asanka Munasinghe and scripted by Nissanka Rajini

6.  Anduruwala - directed by Dinesha Sandamali and scripted by Prasad Chaturanga

7.  Hithuwakkarayo - directed by Gayathri Rangabandara and scripted by Sandun Bandara

8.  Bondavu Sihinaya - directed by Prasad Chaturanga and scripted by Indika Bandara

9.  Harda Sakshiya - directed by Prabath Attanayake and scripted by Pramila Raynayake

10.  Abiththa - directed by Pramila Ratnayake and scripted by Asanka Munasinghe

11.  Numba Mage Murakaruda? - directed by Supun Shanaka and scripted by Dinesha Sandamali

12.  Oba Enathuru - directed by Nissanka Rajini and scripted by Gayathri Rangebandara

Audience - The Punchi theatre can seat 200 people.  We had an audience of nearly 100, consisting of donors, local government officials and theatre actors and directors, with whom we could share this experience.  The applause at the end of the performances was enthusiastic.

Feedback

Jehan Aloysious (theatre director and actor) who was in the audience said- “It was a really entertaining evening, and of a very high standard considering that they have been rehearsing these plays for the last three days.  The themes were varied, but a couple of the performances were very clever, as they contained role revearsal, suspence and an intense story line, all  of which were conveyed in such a short span of time.  All in all, a good evening.”

Supun (Sunera Provincial Development Officer, Dehiwela )- “This was a great learning experience for us.  Delon had such a complete and detailed curriculum for us so that we were able to receive detailed inputs in all aspects of theatre and performance.  I had been so very ill over the last few days, but everyone pooled together and helped me through it.  It was a real team effort, plus a valuable learning experience.  I am so glad I had the opportunity to go through it”.

 Trainers and actors on stage

 trainers who were part of the programme with their certificates of completion

We are pleased to launch our new awareness raising film, which captures the real essence and spirit of our work and our philosophy.

This film, which was funded by the German Embassy in Sri Lanka can be found on this website at the bottom of the ‘Vision, mission and philosophy” page.

Click here to access this page and learn more about this film.

Stage 2 of the medical camps, which were counselling sessions for workshop participants parents has now been completed.

The counselling for parents and caregivers took the form of group discussions.  Each parent/caregiver was asked to bring along one member of their community who could share in the exercise.  This is the first time since Sunera’s inception that it had an exercise like this, where parents and caregivers were given the opportunity to share their issues and receive advice from a professional counsellor. 

The counsellor introduced parents and caregivers to innovative methods which help them to communicate with their children more effectively on a day to day basis, which in turn would result in a more happy and peaceful home environment for children and caregivers alike.

This programme also endeavoured to change attitudes of communities as large by raising awareness of important community players such as Social Service Officers, Public Health Inspectors and Grama Niladharis. 

Approximately 1000 parents benefited from this project, which has raised awareness amongst parents, caregivers and the community at large as to how we can all interact more effectively with persons living with disability.

We wish to thank Sarvodaya for its time, resources, doctors and unstinting support with regard to this project.

Sunera’s 13 senior trainers, who have been undergoing scriptwriting and stagecraft training with Delon Weerasinghe, complete their 3 stage training programme on 21st June 2009.

To mark the end of this training and to showcase the information they have inbibed and the scripts they have developed during this process, these 13 trainers will be performing excerpts from their scripts to an audience on the evening of the 21st of June.

 The evening titled “Readings” will take place at 6.00pm at the Punchi theatre.