Sri Lankan Hiran Abeysekera wins best actor award at Olivier Awards
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Apr 12, 2022 09:58
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Making history, London-based Sri Lankan actor Hiran Abeysekera won the Best Actor Award at British theatre’s Olivier Awards, for the lead role of Pi Patel in Life of Pi.
Life of Pi, Lolita Chakrabarti’s stage adaptation of the Booker prize-winning novel by Yann Martel received five-star reviews when it opened at the Sheffield Crucible, and Abeysekera’s performance as Piscine “Pi” Patel – shipwrecked with various zoo animals, including a ravenous tiger – was hailed as star-making.
The play’s lead, Hiran Abeysekera, won the best actor, while the seven actors who play the tiger shared the best supporting actor prize.
In a touching speech, Abeysekera said he was “overwhelmed” to win Best Actor. He paid tribute to his home country, Sri Lanka, which he said was going through a “tough time now... I think of you and wish I was there with you”.
“මචංලා මම උඹලට ආදරෙයි, ජයවේවා!” he said on an International stage
An oldboy of Nalanda College 36 old hiran is only the second Sri Lankan to graduate from the internationally renowned drama school, Royal Acadamey of Dramatic Arts (RADA) in London
