YAUවණේ-A glimpse of ourselves

by Zuleika Buhar

Growing up is terrifying. Growing up in the middle of an economic crisis while watching your future dissolve away through no fault of your own is harder still. A once hopeful generation gazes onto the audience submitting to the current crisis, realizing they have lost all faith in their future.

YAUවණේ is an original play written by Rithmaka Karunadhara and Rivindu Samadhit Perera and produced by first-time producers Pankaja Kulatunge and Vinuja Silva. It also was the debut of AnandaDrama’s set & costume director Sanduni De Fonseka and the troupe’s music directors Ama Jayasinghe and Sarisha Senanayake who composed original music for the play.
Directed by the playwrights themselves, YAUවණේ was staged at the Namel Malini Punchi Theatre in Borella having a full house on both their performing days. A product of AnandaDrama production company YAUවණේ begins by introducing a scene of childhood innocence, oblivious to the events to come. The play goes on to showcase the wave of emotions and events that occurred during the economic crisis of Sri Lanka, resulting in a very relevant, moving, and incredible work of theatre.

As a teenager who sat through her A/L amidst the power cuts and fuel crisis YAUවණේ had a certain level of relatability hitting very close to home. YAUවණේ’s attempt to answer the fundamental question; What is the unique quality of the struggle faced by Sri Lankan youth today? was done with great justice. Each scene provided a different insight into what the youth of Sri Lanka went through because, despite a crumbling government and a revolution going on, we still had to sit our papers, work our jobs, and thrive in our relationships.

I’d like to commend the seamless ensemble and backstage work that was held throughout the play as well as Rumashi Dissanayake’s performance of Aadithya in YAUවණේ. An accurate representation of pent-up frustrations whilst juggling work; Rumashi’s performance of Aadithya left a mark and was a definite highlight in the play.
Apart from just the relatability and actual content, YAUවණේ stood out due to its artistic aspects. The music provided a balanced ambiance. The well-placed humour was a softening blow to the harsh content displayed. The play left the audience laughing at themselves without even realizing it. The once 92-page, two hour long play was revised to its current standing of one hour and 15 mins just 13 days before its staging. YAUවණේ was not lying when they claimed they had a talented cast and crew.

The only critique I had was that I wish the play displayed the striking class-related problems raised by the crisis instead of limiting itself to just the upper middle class. It lacked some of the harsher realities felt by the youth of the country. I also wish the play included Tamil instead of simply Sinhala and English languages.

That being said the play stood well and the cast worked hard even while practicing during the crisis. The entire cast and crew consisted of people 23 years and younger. Productions are no easy feat. Let alone finding the funding and time and these are all working young adults. I’m excited to see what more these talented youths have to offer in the years to come and I hope AnandaDrama rolls out more relevant productions like YAUවණේ.

AnandaDrama is a non-profit theatre company based in Colombo, Sri Lanka. It was established in 2013 and incorporated as a company limited by guarantee in 2014. It focuses on staging public performances of plays for the general public. It also supports drama and language development activities at Ananda College, Colombo.