‘Oi terrorist, stop trying to make our school sharia!’ The play Jumu’ah (Friday Prayers) begins as it intends to go on – it doesn’t flinch from the reality of Muslim families living in Australia today. But it tells the story like you may not have heard it before, from the perspective of three young people – Layla, … Continue reading
I could not remember the last time I sat in darkness so absolute. With every door and window barricaded in the room at the University of Visual and Performing Arts in Colombo, I would not have been able to see my hand if I held it in front of my nose. It was so utterly … Continue reading
In his most recent reincarnation, Arnold Schwarzenegger is a green hero. The former governor of California was in India last week to attend the 15th Delhi Sustainable Development Summit (DSDS), where he praised the Indian government for embracing the “solar revolution” and putting India on the path to increasing its solar energy capacity to 100 … Continue reading
The library at the British Council has been left open after hours for a photo shoot. Actors cluster around tables near the entrance, debating their choice of costume and using a dark window as a makeshift mirror while they apply make-up. All the lights are on – illuminating the rows of bookshelves and the listening … Continue reading
There are strangers in Slave Island tonight and they are, well, acting strange. As we walk toward Rio Cinema, we see a woman running the opposite way. She appears to be talking furiously to herself until you see a camera, perched on a contraption supported by a band around her waist. She is past us … Continue reading
It’s close to 6 p.m. and the three wheeler driver throws me a dubious look when I tell him to take me to Rio cinema in Slave Island. Once there, I’m happy to leave the cinema’s two solitary patrons to their film to follow Subha Wijesiriwardena and Tracy Holsinger on their way to a rehearsal. … Continue reading
Each episode of the television show ‘America’s Got Talent’ draws anywhere between 10 and 12 million viewers in the United States alone. This is the largest audience Sean Panikkar, 31, has ever performed for and it makes for an unusual twist in an already very successful career. Having been voted through to the semi-final round … Continue reading
Kaveri Lalchand’s official bio notes that she is an ‘actor-dancer-cook’ but a more comprehensive description might read ‘actor-dancer-cook-designer-publisher-entrepreneur’ and if you were looking for more nouns to describe her they wouldn’t be hard to find. Traveller is one – she was in Mumbai when she did this email interview with the Sunday Times but is … Continue reading
In 2007, the confluence of the Writers’ Guild of America strike and new fatherhood made Sanjit De Silva consider giving up acting. In a piece printed in the Actors Centre Journal in 2009, Sanjit agonised about what he owed his young son and whether he would be able to provide for him. “It seemed like … Continue reading
Shanaka Amarasinghe arches a single eyebrow. When the occasion calls for it, Ashini Fernando and Tehani Welgama exchange pointed looks and grin wickedly. Unfortunately, Chamath Arambewala isn’t here to join the rest of the cast but director Thushara Hettihamu volunteers to put words in his mouth. This week, I’m one on four with the actors … Continue reading
