PAC Opens

Sri Lanka’s first national performing arts theater is slated to open Dec. 15.

Construction on the Nelum Pokuna Mahinda Rajapaksa Theater in Colombo began in May 2008 with a grant of 3 billion rupees ($26 million) from the Chinese government.

At a Dec. 3 press conference, government functionary Dr. Rohana Weerasinghe declared that the country’s “first international concert hall … symbolizes Sri Lanka-China relations.”

The inaugural performance will be an original ballet directed by Sri Lankan movie director Jayantha Chandrasiri and an opera by a Chinese theatre troupe.