English debating at Trinity has seen much growth over the years since it took up the Asian Parliamentary style or more famously known, World School Debating Championship style early last year. We had satisfactory results since early January where we had our A team breaking into the knockout rounds every tournament. Recently though, the 2 teams have seen a massive boost in performance, where both A & B teams were breaking in at all 4 tournaments and moving all the way to at least the quarter-finals and at times to the semi-finals which until recently has been dominated by Colombo Schools. Shanthi Peiris Memorial Debating Championship 2021 The A team won 4 of the 5 preliminary rounds and broke into the Octo Finals ranking 2nd in the tournament. They won the octo-finals against Gateway Dehiwala A and moved on to the quarter-finals against S. Thomas’ College B, then semi-finals where they were defeated by Hillwood College A. The B Team won 3 of the 5 preliminary rounds and broke into the Octo Finals ranking 11th. They went against St. Bridget’s Convent A but lost by the closest margin possible in the Octo Finals. This was the first time both teams broke into Octo-finals after preliminaries, and Trinity A advanced past octo-finals after having lost four knockout rounds in earlier tournaments. Moreover, Trinity featured four speakers in the top 15, Parinda and Thithira of team A tying for 6th best speakers and Janidu of team A and Ammar of team B tying for 13th best speakers in the tournament. S.W.R.D Bandaranaike Memorial Debating Championship 2021 Both A and B teams won 5 of the 6 preliminary rounds and broke 4th and 5th respectively. In the Octo-Finals Team A went against St. Bridget’s Convent A, while Team B went against Wesley College A and lost. A team won their debate and moved into the quarter-finals where they went against Wesley College A and won by a unanimous decision. In the semi-finals, they were defeated by Colombo International School A. This tournament was the first time that both of Trinity’s teams ranked in the top 5, further Thithira Jayakody of Team A ranked 5th best speaker in the tournament. D.B.Jayatilaka Memorial Debating Championship Team B won 4 out of the preliminary rounds while Team A won 3 of the 5, The 5th and last preliminary round was in the matter of fact Team A Vs Team B, a matchup that hasn’t happened at a tournament in quite some time. The teams took the opportunity to have fun in the round and make it a memorable one. With fun friendly banter exchanges between the two and phrases such as “We believe team Trinity wins this debate” brought up as well. The debate was commended by the adjudicators for being one of the most entertaining rounds they have judged which had both content and humour, a style Trinity is known for. Team B was victorious but both teams qualified for the breaks. Team A and B were placed 8th and 7th respectively. A and B moved into the octo finals and went against Colombo International School B and Holy family Convent B respectively and emerged victorious. But later team A was defeated in the quarter-finals by Ladies College A and team B was defeated by Bishop’s college A. Henley Debating Championship The most recent tournament for the teams, but not the last, both teams qualified for the breaks winning 4 of the 5 rounds. Unfortunately, both teams were defeated in the octo finals by Ananda College B and Gateway College Colombo. An achievement for Trinity was when Thithira Jayakody of team A ranked 3rd best speaker in the tournament. Additionally, Thithira Jayakody and Parinda Rathnayake and Ammar Zaffaullah were selected to try out for the national pool, a first for Trinity once again. The tryouts were hosted on the 18th of September, and for the 1st time in history, Trinity College added 2 new debaters, Thithira Jayakody and Ammar Zaffaullah to the national pool, through which the team that will represent Sri Lanka in the World School Debating Championship will be chosen. It’s still midseason for the debaters and with more tournaments scheduled including our very own tournament The Lakshman Kadirgamar Memorial Debating Championship scheduled for later this year, we believe this is opening a new chapter for Trinity Debating. Review by Pavara Rambukwella(Vice Captain, Debating Team)
From a TCLA member’s perspective – Written by Kavindu Athukorala “Write Up!” was the Trinity College Literary Association’s (TCLA) latest project: a series of 3 online workshops, on the subject of professional writing, for the students of the Middle and Upper School. The main objectives of this series of workshops were to first and foremost find the students who are interested in writing as a career and assist them in improving their skills, and to show more students the uses and the extent to this career will help you.Even students who weren’t interested in pursuing a career centered on writing would have found these workshops invaluable. In addition to these primary objectives, the series had a secondary objective and that was to find writing talent capable of writing for the school website. This started as just a vague idea of a project and finally turned out to be a successful endeavor that I wasn’t certain we could’ve pulled off, amidst many hardships and setbacks. A project of this caliber, which would require a considerable amount of logistical support, was managed just by a team of seven members, and the immense support from the Web Content Team and the College IT Department. Journalism 101 The first session was about the basics of Journalism, or “Journalism 101” (6.00 p.m. on Saturday, 17th of July) with Mr. Malinda Senevirathne, a veteran journalist and a freelance writer. Mr. Senevirathne gave a very illuminating and fact-filled session on the basics of journalism, which included a very underappreciated aspect of writing: keeping articles short and simple, while doing your best to give the essential details and dropping out unnecessary ones. This helps a writer immensely, especially when you have to relay important information very quickly. Digital Journalism The second session was about Digital Journalism with Ms. Tharindi Thalahity, the current Deputy Editor at Pulse, Sri Lanka (6.00 p.m. on Saturday, 31st of July). She gave an interactive and very informative, as well as intuitive, session about digital journalism, covering the key elements we should take into consideration when writing a digital article: a short and sweet article, and a flashy eye-grabbing topic. This session, while abiding on the groundwork laid down by Mr. Senevirathne, built up around the vast area of the digital world and a tiny bit of basic psychology. Creative writing The third and final session of the “Write Up!” series was quite a memorable one on Creative writing with Mr. Vihanga Perera (Sunday, 8th of August.) He made our final session fun and interactive, bringing up his personal history with Trinity College as a Kingswoodian, and the deep-rooted history of both Colleges, as well as the lesser looked at but amazing and interesting aspects of Sri Lankan literature. He talked about poets and songwriters like Richard De Soysa, Louis Edmund Blaze (pronounced Blah-zae) who was a past master at Trinity and the founder of Kingswood College, and Joan Ramsbottom. Using references from poems, maps, and very unexpected sources he guided the students towards an understanding of creativity and how we can go about harnessing it, while conducting his session from Canberra, Australia!
2020 was a year where Covid-19 restrictions had greatly affected the theatre scene. Performing arts in general have taken a drastic hit. Social distancing guidelines made any sort of large performance or competition near impossible. The Trinity College Drama Society planned on hosting a competition during the first few months of 2020 but the pandemic cut short any possibility of that happening. This made the boys think outside the box as they looked towards an online platform to organise and conduct a Drama Festival. After many nights of planning, they finally decided to have their festival “Star Wars to Shakespeare” on the 17th and 18th of December on Zoom. The competition was held under 5 main categories: Shakespeare Monologues Original Skits Modern Drama Extracts Musical Theatre Extract Extracts from Movies and TV shows Around 110 participants from 13 schools took part in the festival, making it an enjoyable two days of entertainment for all theatre enthusiasts. The competition was streamed live on the College Facebook page as well, making available for everyone to watch the performances. The schools which took part at the festival were: Ananda College, ColomboRoyal College, ColomboGateway College, Kandy Gateway College, RajagiriyaGateway College, DehiwalaGateway College, NegomboLyceum International School, NugegodaMusaeus College, ColomboHoly Family Convent, BambalapitiyaKandy Girls’ High SchoolMahamaya College, KandyGood Shepherd Convent, KandyElizabeth Moir School The first day of the festival had the Shakespeare Monologue, Modern Drama Extract, and Original Skit competitions, while the second day of the festival had the Musical Theatre Extract and Extracts from Movies and TV Shows competitions. The best three performances from each category were chosen. Awards were given to the Best Overall Solo performance and Best Overall Group performance as well. The Best Overall Solo Performance had a three-way tie with all three participants hailing from Elizabeth Moir School: Leeth Singhage – Shakespeare Monologue Serika Siriwardhana – Musical Theatre Extract Rishika Sanaya Senevirathne – Musical Theatre Extract The Best Overall Duet or Group Performance was awarded to Kandy Girls’ High School for their Musical Theatre Extract. This performance won the highest points at the Festival as well. Vihara Marasinghe Omethra Abeykoon Kiruthika Karathikeyen Fahmidha Feroze Thisarani Nyanaratna Shenaya Zain Mandini Kudagammana Thenuja Jayasinghe Savini Ratwatte Asini Ratwatte After the two days of entertainment the following schools emerged overall winners: 1st Place – Gateway College, Rajagiriya 2nd Place – Elizabeth Moir School 3rd Place – Kandy Girls’ High School We spoke to Mr. Jerome de Silva, a prominent figure in the Sri Lankan theatre scene. Mr de Silva, who watched the live stream on Facebook had this to say about the festival: “It was a very good initiative by you guys. We have had all these classes and examinations happening online but it was not an inter-school thing. With the current situation I feel this is the way forward and you guys did a tremendous job. I’m sure all the boys and girls would have loved to put their costumes on and get back to theatre.” The MIC, Mr Aslam Marikar, was thoroughly impressed with the work work put in by the boys: “It was very well organized. The students were very conscious of being professional which is a quality I can happily applaud . The participating schools did a marvellous job with their performances. Everyone I spoke to including some of the judges were very impressed with the efforts that the students had put into their acts: that sort of commitment too assisted with making this competition what it became. Well done guys for keeping the spirit of theatre alive in 2020. A special mention must go out to Rahul, Adithya, Pavara and Gesith I hope I did not miss anyone out, the seniors that took this project upon themselves and saw it through.” The members of the Drama Society of Trinity College would like to extend their gratitude to the judges who took time of their schedules to be with them at the competition. Nishantha de Silva – Shakespeare Monologues Thushara Hettihamu – Modern Drama Extract Rajitha Hettiarachchi – Original Skits Dimitri Goonathilake – Musical Theatre Extracts Ray Martenstyn – Extracts from Movies and TV Shows The boys would also like to thank the participants for all their performances that made the Festival a colourful one for all the viewers. They also to thank their MIC Mr. Aslam Marikar for all his support given to make this event a successful and an enjoyable one.
The inaugural Lakshman Kadirgamar Debating Championship Kingswood College, Kandy was recently crowned champions at the Lakshman Kadirgamar Memorial Debating Championship 2020. The 5th and 6th of November saw a new beginning for debating in the Kandyan region. Trinity College, Kandy commenced their inaugural Debating Championship in tremendous fashion, and it was only fitting to name it after one of the most renowned public speakers of our time. Hence, the Lakshman Kadirgamar Memorial Debating Championship delivered in that same light. The preparation for the event started late August. The Debaters’ Council was contacted, and necessary arrangements were made to obtain qualified judges, adjudicating criteria and overall advice on how to conduct the tournament. With that guidance, the Organizing Committee, along with the teachers in charge, got to work into making their plan a reality. The first order of business was to contact the relevant schools into taking part in this tournament, and after a few weeks, the Organizing Committee was thrilled to know that they had 16 teams participating, from the following schools: Dharmaraja College, Kandy Gateway College Kandy Greenhill International School, Kandy Hillwood College Kandy Kandy Girls’ High School Kingswood College Kandy Mahamaya Girl’s College, Kandy Pushpadana Girls’ College, Kandy St. Sylvester’s College, Kandy Although, the Covid-19 pandemic was a major roadblock in the proceedings of the tournament, the team couldn’t lose hope that easily. It was decided to conduct the tournament online, on the Zoom platform. The new developments had its own set of challenges in store, yet the Organizing Committee was able to manage them successfully, with the day of the tournament drawing ever so nearer. This tournament served as a way for the hill country to learn the art of Asian Parliamentary debating. In order to familiarise the teams with the style, the Organizing Committee took the initiative to conduct a workshop for them, with the assistance of the Debating Coach of Trinity College Kandy, an immensely qualified, former World Schools’ debater. The workshop took place on the 16th of October, and the efforts of the club proved fruitful, seeing new children rise up to the occasion to grasp this new art of debating. And finally, game day. On that fateful morning on the 5th of November, spirits were flying high. The Organizing Committee waited in anticipation to kick off their championship, as students from various schools flocked into the meeting. After the opening ceremony, children were allocated into their specific rooms, and the preliminary rounds took place without much trouble. The motions for those rounds were: ROUND 1: This house regrets the widespread use of TikTok. ROUND 2: This house would ban the use of plastic in Sri Lanka. ROUND 3: This house believes that people who don’t wear face masks in public should be criminalized. The preliminaries ended on a strong note, with the following schools breaking into the quarter finals and keeping their dreams of taking home the gold alive for another demanding day of preparation and debate: Hillwood College B Kingswood College B Mahamaya Girls’ College A Pushpadana Girls’ College A St. Sylvester’s College A Dharmaraja College B Kandy Girls’ High school A Kingswood College A Picking up where they left off on the second day, the 6th of November, the debaters showed no signs of slowing down. After a lucky draw in by Dharmaraja C, who were selected for the quarters instead of St.Sylvester’s College A, due to the prior’s forfeit, the quarters were all set to take place, along with the Semi Finals and of course the main event, the Finals. The motions were as follows: Quarter finals: This house would stop the search for alternative energy sources and would invest entirely on making nuclear energy safer. Semi-finals: This house would replace life imprisonment with capital punishment. Finals: This house would forget third world debt. Enduring hours of speech and nuanced thinking, two teams were left standing in their pursuit for the ultimate prize: Kingswood College Kandy A, familiar faces in the Kandyan Debating Circuit, taking on the the surprise entrants, the underdogs, Dharmaraja College C. The Grand Final saw many guests eagerly waiting to witness the very first Asian Parliamentary style debate in the hill country organised by a school, and the public enthusiasm drove the teams to perform at their best. The debate swayed back and forth, with both teams showing heavy intent to win it all. But in a decisive 7-0 split, Kingswood College Kandy, defeated their opponents. The conclusion of the final signaled immense relief for the teachers in charge Mrs Premeela Vijeykumar and Mrs Fathima Majeed, the coach Mr Lithmal Jayawardhana and of course the student organizing committee, Tharin Rajapakshe, Sadesh Rajapakse, Janidu Jayasekera and Pavara Rambukwella . The late nights, the nerve wrecking turn of events, the endless toil in preparing motions, had all paid off. The Lakshman Kadirgamar Debating Championship had made its mark in the hill country, and the first ever tournament, was nothing short of greatness. Review by Pavara Rambukwella & Janidu Jayasekara (Debating Society)
Pressure built up on the young team of debaters as they walked into the ACC Kularathna Hall. The forum was buzzing with zealous young minds conversing and arguing on fresh topics. The transition from debating in Kandy to Colombo was overwhelming. Concepts such as debating coaches and special training academies sounded unrealistic to the team returning from their maiden K. M. De Lanerolle Championship. However, the undaunted team with the support of Mrs Pramila Vijeykumar and Mrs Fathima Majeed went on to reach a milestone in the literary history of Trinity College by securing their first Novice championship title. The N.M. Perera Memorial Trophy Debate Tournament is a prominent debating competition in Sri Lanka organized by Ananda College. The tournament took place from the 14th to 16th of February 2020 at the College premises with 34 teams from all over the island competing for the much coveted title. Six preliminary rounds were held to decide the sixteen teams for the octo-finals. The results were as follows: Round 1: Opposes the motion that, “This house believes that (THBT) people are justified in entering contracts specifying conditions on their relationship” (Lost to Stafford International School – B) Round 2: Proposes the motion that, “THBT the feminist movement should oppose the rise of commercial products and services aimed at helping women protect themselves from sexual assault and harassment.” (Won against Isipathana College Colombo – B) Round 3: Proposes the motion that, “This house regrets (THR) the grade 5 scholarship exam.” (Won against Sujatha Vidyalaya Nugegoda – B ) Round 4: Opposes the motion that, “THR the widespread use of RTI as a grievance redressal mechanism by citizens on issues they face in the delivery of public services.” (Lost to Gateway College Colombo – B) Round 5: Opposes the motion that, “In countries with high levels of corruption THBT journalists should use any means necessary to expose government corruption.” (Lost to Wesley College Colombo – B) Round 6: Proposes the motion that, “This house would (THW) rewrite history to celebrate Queen Anula” (Won against Vishaka College Colombo – A) Bagging three wins the Trinity team was selected to the octo-finals as the 16th seed and to the novice semi-finals as the 1st seed. Opting to give a shot at a title the team chose to participate in the Novice Championship and the decision paid off. Novice Semi-finals: Proposes the motion that, “Assuming it was possible to convince the world TH as an independent environmental advocacy group would blame the recent corona virus outbreak on global warming.” (Won against Isipathana College Colombo – A) Novice Finals: Opposes the motion that, “When responding to civilian casualties THBT the military action should not meet the principle of proportionality.” (Won against Colombo International School – B) The winning team; Tharin Rajapakshe (Captain) Parinda Ratnayake (2nd speaker) Jayageeth Basnayake (3rd speaker) Lolonyo Rahulan (reserve) Yuki Ranatillake While the debaters made history, the recent victories are not to be enjoyed and forgotten. They remain as pillars of a revival story in the writing. This experience showed the extent to which improvement is required. The contacts made in Colombo would be invaluable for the boys to adapt to the new setting. Though Trinity received attention of small fry initially, they left behind the impression they should not to be underrated again. The Debating Society is focused on establishing itself as a powerhouse in debating in the years to come. The Debating Society is sincerely thankful to the Principal, Dr Nalin Wikramanayake for his interest and dedication towards the revival of English debating at Trinity. They would also extend their gratitude to Mr Sharuka Wikramanayake who supported the team with basic training.
The English Debating team of Trinity College recently won the K.M. De Lanerolle Debating Championship 2020, organized by the Literary Association of Kingswood College, Kandy. This is Trinity’s first championship win in the competition’s 15 year history. The debates were held on the 19th and 26th of January 2020 at the Kingswood College premises. The Trinity debaters were given a walkover in the quarter finals against Mahamaya Girls’ School and moved directly to the semi-finals against St. Sylvester’s College and won the round. At the finals, Trinity debaters found themselves against Kandy Girls’ High School, the winners of the last year’s debate championship (in which Trinity became third), and won the championship! The Trinity team is as followers: Tharin Rajapaksha (Captain) Sadesh Rajapaksha Janidu Jayasekara Pavara Rambukwella Parinda Rathnayaka The final results The winners (K.M. De Lanerolle Trophy and Spencer shield): Trinity College, Kandy Second place (P.H. Nonis Trophy): Kandy Girls’ High School Third place: Hillwood College, Kandy
Following their spectacular win at the Inter school Shakespeare Championship earlier this month, the Trinity College Literary Association (TCLA) returned to Kandy to perform for their home crowd alongside several other College societies and clubs by organizing a completely new event: ‘A Cultural Evening at Trinity College.’ The event, held on the 20th of October at the College Main Hall, comprised performances by the Sinhala Drama Troupe, the Oriental Music Society, the Drum and Dance Troupe, the Trinity College Choir and of course, the TCLA’s very own Drama Troupe. Opening the event the Sinhala Drama Troupe performed a street drama revolving around Sri Lanka’s most famous theatrical character, ‘Mahadenamuththa’. This drama was notable by its integration into the rest of the evening, livening up the proceedings. The Oriental Music Society performed an orchestral piece followed by a traditional Sinhala song, entertaining the crowd with the sounds of Sri Lanka. The Drum and Dance troupe performed their own drama, presented through dance and music rather than words and conventional dramatic effects. The Choir of Trinity College was in excellent form, treating the audience to several songs, including Billy Joels’ ‘For the Longest Time’, and ‘Edelweiss’. The Trinity College Literary Association closed the evening by presenting their championship winning performance of ‘Romeo and Juliet’, notable for its minimalist approach, being presented without any costumes and precisely one prop. The TCLA would like to extend its heartfelt gratitude to everyone who made this event a reality. Notably, the Principal, Mr. Andrew Fowler-Watt, the Head of Administration, Mr. Ravi Amarasekara and the senior management; the teachers and masters in charge of each society and the directors of each production for their hard work in shaping fabulous performances; Mrs Umanga Bandara and the College Media Unit, and Mr Chethaka Athukorala for their professional work controlling lighting and sounds; Mr Sheshan Abeysekara for his excellent work in promoting the event and managing its social media coverage; Mr Nissanka, Mr Jayamanna and the College maintenance team for ensuring that the facilities were in prime form for the event; and of course, each and every participant of the event, without whose dedication and sacrifice none of this would have been possible. All things considered, we believe that this event achieved its goal; to provide an arena for the students of College to show their skills, talents, and their pride in their cultural heritage. We hope that it sets the stage for future events of the same nature and inspires more people to focus their attention on Arts and Culture, both within Trinity and out of it, and wish them the best of luck for the future!
Trinity College participated in the 46th Annual Inter-School Shakespeare Drama Competition organized by Colombo YMCA and Rotary Club of Colombo North. The actors got through to the finals after they surprised the entire crowd on the 18th of September at the semi-finals of the competition. They showed the entire auditorium that Shakespeare’s work could be interpreted very creatively. Trinity faced off against Ananda College, St Joseph’s College and Wesley College in the Boys’ Schools Finals on the 29th of September at the Bishop’s College Auditorium. Trinity was the only school outside of Colombo in the finals, which was quite an achievement in itself. The finals commenced at around 6:30pm with St Joseph’s performing an excerpt from ‘Anthony and Cleopatra’. The next performance was from Ananda College with ‘Richard III’. Next, Wesley College’s choice of the romantic comedy ‘Twelfth Night’ entertained the crowd. The final performance of the night was the eagerly awaited performance of the tragedy ‘Romeo and Juliet’ from Trinity. Many wanted to witness this performance as they did not use costumes or props (apart from an umbrella!) on stage. The young actors from Kandy kept the crowd entertained with their creativity as well as the acting , which was full of intensity. Witty jokes kept the audience laughing through a few scenes, and a couple of tense scenes balanced the emotions of the crowd well. The team was absolutely happy with their performance as they knew they had not left anything on stage and given it their all. Few moments later the casts and crews of all four schools took their places in the auditorium as everyone eagerly awaited the results. Trinity bagged the first award of the night for the ‘Best Stage Craft’. The Trinitians had won the same award at the semi-finals as well. Then the most prestigious individual award, Best Actor: Niven Nanayakkara for his role as ‘Cleopatra’ (St Joseph’s College) Then came the results that everyone was waiting for. A few weeks of strenuous but fun-filled preparation from Trinity College came down to this moment. The winners of the next set of awards were as follows, Winners: Trinity College, Kandy Runners-up: Ananda College, Colombo 3rd place – St Joseph’s College, Colombo 4th Place – Wesley College, Colombo The Trinitians were in absolute shock as they had pulled off what seemed impossible when they started practising for this competition. They only started practices during the second week of September, and they had to make do without proper costumes. But they took advantage of it and came up with a very creative solution. The team managed to complete the drama with arguably the lowest budget ever used for a school Shakespeare production, performing in school uniform and used only one prop! This shows how talented this current group of boys are, managing to win the competition after 15 long years. When they last won in 2004, the director of the current production, Mr Aslam Marikar was awarded Best Actor for his role as ‘Hamlet’. Looking back at recent history, Trinity drama re-emerged in to the spotlight in 2017 when the Trinitians performed a very good production of Shakespeare’s ‘A Midsummer Nights Dream’ which won awards in Kandy. Then, in 2018, a full length production, ‘The Secret Case of Sherlock Holmes’ caught the eye of many theatre loving Sri Lankans. These performances and productions paved the way to this memorable victory. Cast and crew The cast and crew of this production of ‘Romeo and Juliet’ were as follows, (in order of appearance): Kavan Ranaraja – Romeo Harshith Karunarathne – Juliet Jeremy Kottage – Servant Abidh Jameel – Sampson Lolonyo Soosaipillai – Gregory Kevin Tennakoon – Abraham Nikila Amarasena – Benvolio Chathwara Weerasinghe – Tybalt Sachika Boyagoda – Capulet Thithira Jayakody – Lady Capulet Ashok Mohan – Montague Yadesh Mohandas – Lady Monatague Isuru Ranathunge – Prince Sherwain Wavita – Paris Rahul Jayasinghe – Nurse Dan Bartholomeuz Muhammed Zaffarullah Dillon de Silva Jason Navarathne Mr Aslam Marikar – Director Mr Bandhuka Premawardena – Director Mrs. Sumedha Weerawardena – Teacher in Charge What everyone had to say Kavan Ranaraja, a member of the cast: What I think is this shows is the dedication of the team and the raw talent that we have at Trinity. We have a crew of all ages and levels of experience, but every one of them put in hard work and gave it their all, and it paid off this year. A student from from the audience: The victory of this drama reveals pure talent of all those involved as it strips away the usual glamour of props and showcases the talent on stage. A message from a parent: A solemn bow of admiration to a challenge undertaken, and executed with success. Chief Guest, Mr Jerome de Silva said to the victorious boys: I am so proud guys. You’ll definitely proved a point that Shakespeare doesn’t really need big props and costumes and that GOOD acting and understanding the lines is the key. I absolutely enjoyed your performance. The Trinity College Dramatists would like to thank everyone who made this achievement possible. They hope to continue their high standards and go from strength to strength in the future.
William Shakespeare’s plays are timeless, performed the world over. In Sri Lanka, the Inter-School Shakespeare Drama Competition organized by the YMCA is the premier platform for Sri Lankan youth to show their renditions of the Bard’s creations. The semi-finals were held on the 18th of September at the Lionel Wendt Theatre. This year, with their performance of ‘Romeo and Juliet’, the Trinity College Literary Association was selected to compete in the final round of the competition, alongside three other schools. This in itself is a testament to the talent and dedication of the boys, as it has been 7 years since Trinity has reached this stage, the last such occasion being the performance of ‘Julius Caesar’, in 2012. The finals will be held on the 29th of September at the Bishops’ College Auditorium. The Boys’ Shakespeare Drama Competition Finalists are: Ananda College – Colombo Trinity College – Kandy Wesley College – Colombo St. Joseph’s College – Colombo
It was once again time for the annual Trinity-Thomian weekend, held this year on 16th and 17th February at S. Thomas’ College Mt. Lavinia. The meeting of the two schools renewed the relationship and brotherhood between them as they stand as two sibling schools in the Anglican community. The cricket team, debaters and the choir took leave from the ‘best school of all’ to meet their brothers at the ‘School by the sea’. The Trinitians were welcomed with a kind gesture by the Thomians and their generous hospitality was assured once again. The Cricket match (1st XI) The match between the two teams was a spectacular occasion to those who were present. After two competitive match sessions, the teams scored as follows: Trinity College, Kandy- 182 all out (53) Chanuka Kumarasinghe – 74 Kavishka Senadeera – 48 Dineth Siriwardena – 23 S. Thomas College, Mount Lavinia- 183 Abhishek Anandakumar – 2/22 Avishka Senadeera – 2/23 Kavishka Senadeera – 2/57 Trinity College, Kandy – 153 for 8 declared (45.1) Umair Raizan – 50 Kavishka Senadeera – 40 Chanuka Kumarasinghe – 21 The match concluded to a draw. The Debate The debate between the two schools followed up afterwards. The both sides teams made sure that they stuck to the point and kept in mind that this was a friendly debate after all. But the friendly rivalry between the two teams did keep the spectators entertained. The topic for the evening was, “This house believes that we should recognize a right to be free from intentionally offensive speech“. Trinity proposed to the topic, with the Thomians opposing. Trinitians joined with the Thomians in a welcome dinner specially arranged for this occasion. Speeches were delivered by the Warden of S. Thomas’, Rev. Marc Billimoria and the Principal of Trinity College, Mr Andrew Fowler-Watt. The Combined Communion Service To officially conclude proceedings, the traditional Holy Communion service was held in the Chapel of the Transfiguration on a new fresh day, joined by the voices of both Trinity and Thomian choirs. A special anthem by the name “A prayer for Saint Patrick” was sung by the choirs to commemorate this event. It was yet again a blissful experience for the Trinitians to be a part of a sung service as S. Thomas’ College follow the High Church tradition in their services. With the conclusion of the Holy Communion service, Trinitians had to bid farewell to the Thomians to head back to their alma mater, and it is guaranteed that the bond between Trinity and St. Thomas will remain as it is was forever more. Written by Dinil Jayasuriya.
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