PREKSHA

Preksha Drama Festival – 2021 resuscitates an industry that withered under pandemic

by Tissa Gunatillaka 

The Preksha Drama Festival 2021 organized by the Tower Hall Foundation for the second time came to a successful end on Dec 21 with applause from thespians and viewers because that success was achieved amidst restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

This year too, the Upali Newspapers Ltd was the official print sponsor of the event which attracted over 15,000 viewers from all walks of life. Director General of the Tower Hall Foundation D.M.S. Dissanayake called the festival a welcome rain on parched land because theatres could not function for a long time owing to the pandemic.

“The festival brought artistes back to the stage once again. It was not an easy time. There had been more than 500,000 COVID-19 infected and more than 13,000 deaths because of the pandemic. Many artistes had been passing through difficult times because the industry was at a standstill. They were out of the stage for more than two years. They did not even have a place to rehearse. The Tower Hall Foundation too was facing pecuniary problems. It had overdue bills amounting to three million rupees. So, it was a huge challenge. Yet with the support of many including the government we could achieve this success and we could distribute around 5.5 million rupees among artistes out of the income from the festival,” he said.

Dissanayake said the idea to revive the industry came during a discussion between State Minister of National heritage, Performing Arts and Rural Arts promotion Vidura Wickramanayake and top ministry officials including the Secretary to the ministry K.A.D.R. Nishanthi Jayasinghe. Assistance extended by the National Arts Council, Cultural Department and the State Drama Advisory Board. The Department of Cultural Affairs and the National Arts Council covered a portion of the cost. They provided us with Rs 1.4 million. We allocated ten days for the festival from the Tower Hall and the Elphinstone Theater Hall at a cost of over Rs 1.5 million. Banks and other institutions helped us to cover the cost of publicity and printing tickets and posters. Soon after the Upali Newspapers came forward to give us the print media sponsorship, while the Rupavahini Corporation and other media institutes extended whatever support they could give to promote this event.

“We could help revive the economy of drama artistes. In the meantime, the festival could attract the drama viewing general public back to the theater. It also helped organizers to come back to the industry. We achieved all these objectives. We showed 20 dramas in ten days. The festival attracted a higher number of viewers than we had anticipated. Watching the actors on stage, the audience was transported to the good old days before the pandemic,” Dissnaayake said.