About us
Our story
Sri Lanka Ranga Kala Kavaya — the Sri Lanka Dramatic Art Circle — keeps our culture alive for Sri Lankans in Washington DC, Maryland and Virginia.
How it began
In the early 1980s, Mr. Rohana Senaratne of Falls Church, Virginia, dreamed of a cultural group for Sri Lankans living far from home. A student of Prof. Ediriweera Sarathchandra — the great Sinhala playwright of Maname and Sinhabahu — he gathered a few art-loving friends around him.
Musicians joined: tabla, harmonium and two sitarists. Within months the group staged its first play, Manusha, based on the Thakka Jathakaya, in late 1983 or early 1984. Plays such as Dhikthala, Kalagola and Ditta Mangalika followed.
That small group grew into Sri Lanka Ranga Kala Kavaya — today the oldest and largest Sri Lankan cultural organization on the US east coast.
What we do
Three things, done with love
Bring Sri Lanka's artists here
Concerts and shows with Sri Lanka's best-loved singers, bands and actors — for the whole family.
Give our community a stage
Talent nights such as Prathibha, dramas and poetry, so our own people and our children can perform.
Help at home
The money we raise sends medical equipment, books and training to communities in Sri Lanka.