Kolamba Hatha is a devised performance where eight musicians, singers, and actors invite the audience to imagine a pandal – not built with lights and fabric, but created through their own voices and bodies. The performance unfolds through three boxes – The Love Box, The Marriage Box, and The Struggle Box – where characters shift roles, stories repeat in new forms, and each perspective reshapes the truth.In the Love Box, a school assembly is disrupted by a rejected student demanding justice, leading to a confrontation between despair and love. The Marriage Box reimagines the same characters in a tale of forced unions, fractured relationships, and loneliness. The Struggle Box situates these tensions within a larger political backdrop, where personal conflicts mirror social unrest and spiral into violence, betrayal, and multiple tragic endings.The performance culminates in an “evidence box” where sixteen voices – friends, neighbors, witnesses – offer fragmented testimonies, each pointing to different causes behind the deaths. By the end, the audience, too, is invited to act as witnesses, moving from character to character, carrying empathy for all.
Director
Dr. Chamika Hathlahawatta, the director of Apurwa Theatre Group, has been producing dramas since 1997, with aportfolio of short dramas, full-length dramas,children’s dramas, and school dramas. Many of his productions have won awards at international stage drama festivals and have been presented globally. He is a recipient of the prestigious Bunka Award (2019) for his outstanding contribution to theatre. Currently, he serves as a Senior Lecturer at the Faculty of Education, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Director’s Note
Kolamba Hatha explores the fragility of human relationships through shifting roles, multiple perspectives, and layered narratives. The three “boxes” – Love, Marriage, and Struggle – mirror the complexities of life, where love, betrayal, power, and social pressures collide. By using the actors’ bodies and voices to construct the “pandal,” we invite the audience to witness how personal stories intertwine with broader societal struggles. The multiple endings remind us that truth is never singular, and every witness carries their own burden of memory and responsibility. This work is an invitation to empathize, reflect, and question the structures that shape our lives.
Group
Apurwa Theatre Group has been producing stage dramas for over 25 years, contributing to the enrichment of theatre arts. The group also runs a drama school under the guidance of its founder and director, Dr. Chamika Hathlahawatta. With a strong reputation in the industry, Apurwa Theatre Group has won recognition at the National Stage Drama Festival and has represented Sri Lanka at international stage drama festivals.