My first interaction with the British Council was in 1992. The intensive workshops on Shakespeare with Willie Richards culminated in the performance of 'We're All Mixed Up About Shakespeare' which was performed at the Colombo and Kandy British Council Halls. The British Council was a hub of training for young actors, through the regular workshops with foreign directors. The library was a great resource for scripts and research in those days before the Internet.
I first joined as a workshop participant and actor doing regular performances for Shakespeare's birthday (1992 - 1994). The British Council then sponsored my scholarships to Bangalore, India in 2000 and 2001 to attend Residential Workshops in Writing and Directing, conducted by Royal Court Theatre of London, organised the South Asian British Council and ART Bangalore. The British Council also supported the first original script I wrote, 'The Ritual' (which was subsequently shortlisted for the year 2008 Gratiaen Prize). The show was performed at the British Council garden in 2002 and later performed in Kandy and India with British Council support.
During our early years, my theatre troupe 'CentreStage Productions' felt we had been 'adopted' by the British Council.
