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By Kumudu Amarasingham 

It is perhaps a coincidence that a friend lent me two varieties of the famous Chicken Soup For The Soul series a week before I went to watch Swinging Times at the Bishop's College auditorium last week. No one who has even briefly glanced through any of the Chicken Soup series can help but be moved by the humanity, the courage, the determination, the kindness, the compassion and most of all the essence of life portrayed in the stories.

And then, last Friday, Chicken Soup came alive. In all its colour and glory, I saw something in each of those stories re-enacted on that hard wooden stage. For one and a half hours I sat rooted in my chair, utterly enthralled.

When asked why she was so fond of the performing arts Sunethra Bandaranaike once said, "because it reaches out to the audience more than any other art form." If anything, Swinging Times proved that. 

It is not that the performance by the Butterfly Theatre Group was perfect. Far from it. It is not that everything was on cue. It is not even that there was one particular brilliant or exceptional star born - except perhaps for Maduri - whose performance was captivating and whose talent is obvious. What captured me was the gripping, heartbreaking, brutal reality in the fairy tale for adults.

Swinging Times is a story of arms and arms dealers and the death and destruction they bring to a society already half dead from its own want and greed. It glorifies no one, simplifies nothing, eases no pain.

All props were used to good effect and not overdone. The music however was a trifle too loud, so to speak and not very skillfully handled. There was also little balance in the use of languages when choosing songs. With regard to costumes, the masks were a brilliant idea. However, despite understandable financial constraints, one could not help feel that more care and attention should have been given to the clothes.

Despite the drawbacks however The Sunera Foundation once again managed to stage a moving, entertaining work that got the audience thinking. For once one felt challenged by the 'challenged.'

There can be no doubt that the old team Rohana Deva, Wolfgang Stein and Ramani Perera, with their able cast, will come up with more and better in the future. And there's still less doubt that The Sunera Foundation will continue to back them.

The suicide of Cleopatra

I used to hate Elizabeth Taylor. Of course I blamed Hollywood, but I still condemned her white skin while playing the part of Cleopatra. That milky white skin and those violet eyes (always looked blue to me anyway) just didn't belong on the Queen of Egypt. I imagined Cleopatra with dark Nubian skin and a long lean figure. I blamed Hollywood's infatuation with Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton for a white Cleopatra. Of course, that was all before.

With a civilisation this old, there were many rulers, some of indigenous origin, and others were invading kings. There were the Nubian pharaohs, the Persian princes, and the Greek pharaohs. Cleopatra was a Greek pharaoh, the first to actually become fully Egyptian. She spoke the language as her own, she worshipped their gods as her own and she ruled as only an Egyptian could. Her blood may have been Greek, her skin may have been milky white (probably not considering the sun, but anyway), but her heart was entirely Egyptian.

Considering her power, one would think that many quotations would be recorded. At least her dying words as she lay the asp on her neck. Maybe the words she uttered into Antony's ear, convincing him to betray the Roman Empire would have been saved. Yet, once again, history has been written by the victors and the words of this woman are unrecorded.

Looking at the film now, Cleopatra could have looked like Elizabeth Taylor (unlikely, but it's a little more palatable now). Looking at Egypt now, I wonder if history 2000 years from now will look at our era as a time when Egypt was under Muslim rule, after which, the old priests revived the original religion of the gods and returned to the practice of embalming the dead. The pharaohs of Egypt may once again rule all of the known world, and our time was merely a 2000 year footnote listed on the Egyptian tablets.

- Laura S. Moncur

Reflections of a happier day

By Risidra Mendis

His paintings are a reflection of happy mo-ments and colourful pictures depicting a wide range of subjects. As the brush between his fingers moves up and down, the painting slowly but gradually takes on a meaning of life, fun and laughter.

For Seneka Senanayake there is no need for an introduction, as he is one of the most sought after painters in the country. But despite his many years of success, Senanayake is a man with a down to earth personality. He is a man who always looks at the positive side of life.

Which is why Senanayake's paintings are different to those of other painters. Senanayake paints with a happy mood and in turn brings out the happiness in others.

For Senanayake his recent one-man exhibition in Korea seems to have brought a tremendous response from interested parties.

Speaking to The Sunday Leader Senanayake said when he first decided on a one-man exhibition in Korea, he wasn't sure if the exhibition would be a success. "I wasn't sure if I would get the same response as I did for my previous exhibitions, as Korean contemporary art is very unusual" Senanayake said.

However Senanayake did take up the challenge of introducing his paintings to a Korean audience. According to Senanayake he exhibited 60 paintings in two galleries that were 100 yards away from each other. "I was the only Sri Lankan to exhibit paintings" says Senanayake who was successful in selling every one of them. This is also the first time that Senanayake has had such a large collection of paintings at an exhibition.   

"Korea is a Buddhist country and this is one of the reasons why I decided to hold an exhibition there. I have used Buddhist art in my work" says Senanayake.

While Senanayake has planned many more exhibitions the next big event will be in Bombay followed by another exhibition in Korea. According to Senanayake the exhibition he had in Delhi in December 2002 was very successful. "There has always been a positive response from the Asians with regard to my paintings" says Senanayake.

While there is a demand in countries such as Japan, Korea, Singapore and India, the US still has the largest clientele where paintings are concerned.

"The kind of work I do appeals to a lot of people. These days people are sick of seeing and living through misery. All they want is something better to look forward to in life" says Senanayake.

Senanayake went on to say the government is also in the process of bringing relief to the people through the ongoing ceasefire agreement. 

But despite the prevailing peace in the country the younger generation in Sri Lanka is yet to take an interest in this art. "In India people get interested in painting from a young age. But in Sri Lanka it is only the older generation or the expats who show an interest in this type of work" says Senanayake.

According to him one of the reasons for a lack of interest in this field, is that as children they are not exposed to the art of painting from a young age. "Art has to be cultivated and this is not something you can do overnight" says Senanayake.

Senanayake doesn't conduct art classes as he prefers to have more free time to paint. However he says he is available at any time to advice young artists on issues with regard to painting.

"I have a gallery at the Colombo Hilton where my work and those of around 20 artists are on display. This is an opening for young artists to sell their work and earn a living at the same time" Senanayake said.

According to Senanayake there is a lot of talent out there, but due to the inadequate facilities many people still remain ignorant of the beauty of a painting. For Senanayake his painting goes on. But at the same time he hopes that facilities in the country will improve in order to promote those talented young artists who have no way of getting good exposure for their paintings.