Events

March 22
Intelligence, Love, and Compassion, organised by the Krishnamurti Centre, Sri Lanka, at the Anula Nursery School, 310, High Level Road, Colombo 6, at 9:45 a.m.

March 22
La Prophetie Des Grenouilles, directed by Jacques-Rémy Girard (France/2003/colour/ 90 minutes) in French with English subtitles, at the BMICH Cinema Hall at 2:30 p.m.
De Ma Fenetre, Sans Maison (Canada) in French with English subtitles, at the BMICH Cinema Hall, at 4:30 p.m.
Toto Le Heros (Belgium) in French with English subtitles, at the BMICH Cinema Hall, at 7 p.m.

March 23
Globi, directed by Robi Engler (Suisse/2003/colour/72 minutes) in French with English subtitles, at the BMICH Cinema Hall at 2:30 p.m.
Les Temoins (France/adults only) in French with English subtitles, at the BMICH Cinema Hall, at 4:30 p.m.
Dupa Ea, (Roumanie/adults only) in French with English subtitles, at the BMICH Cinema Hall, at 7 p.m.

March 24
U, directed by Serge Cocante (France/2006/colour/75 minutes) in French with English subtitles, at the BMICH Cinema Hall at 2:30 p.m.
Hop (Belgique) in French with English subtitles, at the BMICH Cinema Hall, at 4:30 p.m.
La Brunante (Canada) in French with English subtitles, at the BMICH Cinema Hall, at 7 p.m.

March 25
Pom, Le Poulain, directed by Olivier Ringer (Belgium/France/2006, colour/85 minutes) in French with English subtitles, at the BMICH Cinema Hall: 2:30 p.m.
Logodnicll Din America (Romanie/adults only) in French with English subtitles, at the BMICH Cinema Hall, at 4:30 p.m.
La Vraie Vie Est Ailleurs (Suisse) in French with English subtitles, at the BMICH Cinema Hall, at 7 p.m.

March 28
A Driver For Vera, in Russian with English subtitles, at the Russian Centre, No.10, Independence Avenue, Colombo 7. Please call on 2685429/2685440 for further details.

March 27
An evening of classical music – Japanese classical and folk music in Shakuhachi and Raga and other performance on Koto by Tim Hoffman, at the Indian Cultural Centre, 133, Bauddhaloka Mawatha, Colombo 4, at 6 p.m.

Until March 25
Sanctity of Life, by the women artists of the Vibhavi Academy commemorating International Women’s Day, at the Vibhavi Academy, 39, New Jayaweera Mawatha, Athul Kotte.

Until March 27
A New Beginning, by David Pretre, at the Alliance Francais de Colombo, 11, Barnes Place, Colombo 7.

March 28 to April 5
Art and Craft Sales Exhibition, at the Theertha Red Dot Gallery, from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. Participants: Anoli Perera, Anura Krishantha, Bandu Manamperi, Gemunu Withanage, Jagath Weerasinghe, Jananda Laksiri, Janani Cooray, Koralegedara Pushpakumara, Lakisha Niwanthi, Lalith Manage, Neranjala Gunasinghe, Nishantha Rukmal, Pala Pothupitiye, Pradeep Chandrasiri, Pradeep Thalawatta, Prasanna Ranabahu, Sanath Kalubadana, Sarath Kumarasiri, Sarath Premasinghe, T.H. Pushpakumara, Thisath Toradeniya, Vijitha Bandara. For further information contact: Lalith on 0773 862205.

What’s Kevin Spacey doing in a puppet show? The question arises within the first few minutes of Low Life, a production of Blind Summit Theatre.
‘If puppetry is ever going to be the next rock ’n roll, these animators may well be its front men’ – Time Out
It’s actually not the A-list star who appears in Blind Summit’s production, but a less-than-life-sized likeness identified only as Kevin.

Another puppet resembles Marlene Dietrich. Her name, however, is Mildred. Low Life has a radical twist that has nothing to do with celebrity: the puppets in its loosely linked sketches interact with their four, fully visible human manipulators. Blind Summit subverts the medium of puppetry to make cutting-edge, puppet-led theatre.

Very loosely based on Charles Bukowski’s alcohol-fuelled short stories, Low Life is a series of evocative vignettes involving a selection of puppets ranging from the almost life-sized to the table-top tiny.

A man dances a love duet with a beer glass, the cleaner gets lost in a romantic novel, a diva drinks to forget. Bud the action-hero-plumber drowns under a bar and Jack Belane, tiny private detective, totally screws up a case. With impressive skill, the four- member Blind Summit gang quickly takes you to the heart of each story, flipping the mood from gentle nostalgia to frantic farce with manipulative grace.

Low Life is a blend of story, music and puppetry: a beautiful, funny, poetic, moving gin-soaked cabaret of deadbeats and losers in a world where puppetry meets Tom Waits. Your world will never be the same again.

When: Thursday, March 26 and
Friday, March 27 (Colombo)
Sunday, March 29 (Kandy)
Where: British School Auditorium (Colombo)
Engineering Faculty audito rium – University of
Peradeniya (Kandy)
Time: From 7:30 p.m. (in Colombo)
From 7 p.m. (in Kandy)
Admission: Tickets are available at the British Council offices in Colombo and Kandy.
WORKSHOPS
Blind Summit will conduct a three-hour workshop on their methods of performing Bunraku Puppetry. Participants will learn to channel their acting skills into an object or puppet to bring it alive and to work closely with two other puppeteers using Blind Summit’s unique improvisational performance technique. The workshop is ideal for actors wanting to extend their skills. All levels of experience and ability welcome. Limited to 18 people per workshop, aged 16+. Prior registration is essential. Please contact Lakmaal on 011 4521542 or arts.cmb@britishcouncil.org.
Colombo
When: Friday, March 27
Where: British Council Hall
Time: 10:30 a.m.
Kandy
When: Sunday, March 29
Where: venue to be announced
Time: 10:30

Tuesday, April 7: 7 p.m.
Goethe Institute Sri Lanka, in collaboration with Barefoot Gallery presents German Electronic Music Band Mouse on Mars at Barefoot Gallery, 704, Galle Road, Colombo 4, at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, April 7. Mouse on Mars creates densely layered tracks with the intended results being grounded between radical experimentation and timeless pop appeal. Designed to yield more with repeated listening, songs are minutely detailed. Drum tracks, for example, other contain over twenty different layers: live drums, programmed, digitally processed and various combination and/or mutations of the abovementioned.

Fills and breaks are set, arranged, and placed individually as opposed to being looped. The results are rich, deep, wonderfully varied. The sound of Mouse On Mars links them to the club music scene, as do their many remixes and collaborations with members of the dance-music world. Yet their association with the formalised and utilitarian world of dance music is ironic.

Mouse on Mars band members Ando Toma, Jan St. Werner and Dodo Nkishi produce independently for the Sonig label. St. Werner acted as the artistic director of the Amsterdam Institute for Electronic Music, STEIM and has also worked on two new solo records under the Lithops Moniker.

Ambassador of the European Commission to Sri Lanka and the Maldives, Bernard Savage with SUNFO Director General Dr. Deshapriya S. Wijethunga and Millennium Development Ambassador Deshamanya Dr. A. S. P Liyanage at JAIC Hilton