Power of Play launches

Power of Play (Pvt) Ltd. is a vibrant company that capitalises on performing arts for purposes of communication and development.

Established in November 2011, Power of Play is the result of an year long exploration of using theatre, puppets and performance for education, communication and development in Sri Lanka.

Drawing inspiration from developed and developing countries who utilise art as a medium of connecting people, Power of Play promotes the idea of ‘playing’ as the key mode of reaching an audience. The term ‘play’ is used in its broadest context, where it refers to anything and everything that fascinates audiences and capitalizes on the happiness that is created through that fascination to instil the desired messages.

Power of Play constantly reaches beyond the traditional means of communication. In a world where your average consumer is tired out by constantly present bill boards, posters, emails and print media, finding novel and engaging mediums of communication is a challenge faced by everyone. Reaching your staff in a culture where emails from HR are trashed upon arrival in inboxes is a frustration faced by all HR managers alike.

Grabbing the attention of consumer whose attention is divided amongst a hundred other distractions is a commonality faced by any advertiser.

Communicating a message of public health to a government office full of harried staff or a school of youth can be a daunting task – as attracting and retaining their attention during a busy day is a Herculean feat by any standard.

Power of Play believes in the power of laughter and aims to delight audiences, reaching out through techniques of live performance – proven successful all throughout the world over centuries as an ageless mode of communication.

A well-executed live performance beats any other mode of communication due to its immediacy, flexibility and freshness – no two performances are the same and no two people will experience it the same way. Power of Play employs puppets – a magic tool that attracts diverse audiences from any location. Puppets are used around the world to convey messages effectively, within a short time to large audiences.

Puppets have an incredible power to connect with people – people react more positively to puppets than they react to other people. Therefore, conveying a message through a puppet is a communication form that is unbeatable by any other. Power of Play customises a variety of performances and workshops designed to fit any purpose/audience.

Most recently, Power of Play (in collaboration with AIDS Foundation of Lanka, ZONTA Club II of Colombo and ILO) toured a 30 minute long puppet show (Mahadanamuththa and his modern golayas) to convey accurate information of transmission, non-transmission and prevention of HIV/AIDS to 10 different locations (including government offices, harbour, banks, universities, UN compound and FTZ factories) from 29 November to 2 December.

This unique, hilarious performance is available for hire and designed to fit in to lunch/tea breaks of organisations. Please contact email below for more information.

This Christmas, Power of Play offers a whole host of novel customised performances (with puppets and other fascinating visuals) and workshops, ideal for any private or corporate setting. Performances can be designed to fit audiences of any size/age/location and is always interactive – involving the viewers to collectively discover the endings of a story.

An ideal method to teach techniques of presentation, public speaking and personal skills development, Power of Play designs highly physical and practical workshops by adapting a series of improvisation games and creations (traditionally used to train actors) to fit any corporate goals.

Focusing mainly on the idea of ‘learning through doing’, such workshops are a welcome change to established forms of corporate training sessions, where participants leave feeling physically and mentally rejuvenated.

Power of Play looks forward to introducing many more novel forms of communication to the Sri Lankan public in year 2012 and beyond. For more information on current workshops/performances on offer, please contact [email protected]