Sandika Madushan

SIGN OF THE TIMES?

ON quite a different plane, but also by the feminine element, is a Sinhalese production, "Kuveni". which the Ladies' College Sinhalese Dramatic Society are staging on February 5 and 6. I understand that this is an adaptation from a play by Dr. A. P. de Zoysa, and the story deals with Kuveni the woman, rather than Kuveni the "Yakkini". There is to be a big cast, and songs have been written specially for this production by Sunil Shanti.

It is still uncommon to find the big Colombo schools producing Sinhalese and Tamil plays, and it is a healthy sign that they are getting interested in them. Miss R. Breckenridge, on her return from the school of art at Adyar, was reported as having said that she was astonished to find Oriental culture and customs given their due place in the Indian schools as at Ladies College, where she had taught, "everything Western is highly rated and anything Eastern underrated."

Perhaps this was the case in our schools some years ago, but times have changed. One instance of this is the fact that whereas when we were in school most of the Colombo schools entered only for the English sections of the Colombo Radio Reading and Recitation Competitions, they now take part in the Sinhalese and Tamil sections as well. An effort such as the one being made by these girls in their production of "Kuveni" surely deserves every encouragement.

24.1.48  D.N.