'The serious side of fun'
South Wales Evening Post

'Clown Prince'
Swansea Herald

'Entertainer cheers up kids in Tsunami-hit village'
Eastern Eye

'Clown Lifts Tsunami Children'
Wales on Sunday

The Only Clown in the Village
Britains only Asian clown goes to Sri Lanka aiming to help children recover from the Tsunami and decades of civil war.
Kingsley Perera, whose clown name is Theeeko, goes on a physical, emotional and spiritual journey across the tropical island.
But can a Welsh clown with a conscience really make a difference?

Undercurrents follows him as he goes back to his roots in Sri Lanka to help relieve the traumas of the Tsunami.
His family in the UK are proud, but also scared for what might become of him entering the battlegrounds of the bitter civil war. Little do they know just how much the trip will change him.

Kingsley sees and hears how one village lost one sixth of its population, including children killed whilst they made their way home from school. The remnants of 150 years of British occupation on the island are still visible through the rubble but despite the trauma, Kingsley can’t suppress his natural desire to entertain, his infectious joy crossing the borders of culture and language.

Life goes on and Kingsley meets other volunteers from outside the country who simply don’t want to go home. Others, less fortunate, who have lost more than just their livelihoods, have nowhere to go and no way to escape. Rice warehouses act as impromptu accommodation and art projects take the place of counselling facilities as children draw page after page of blue waves.

'The serious side of fun'
Evening Post

Rehousing and compensation plans by the Sri Lankan officials are seen as too little, too late. Even those who still have jobs and homes are losing hope as their businesses fail and homes deteriorate. At another school, exactly one hundred days after they lost sixteen classmates, children gather in a packed hall to be entertained by Kingsley. To some, his gift of happiness, if only for one day, is more valuable than anything else.
Ringing in the Sri Lankan new year after weeks on the road, this big-hearted clown meets distant relatives and begins to become deeply connected with suffering that has passed, but also encounters the glowing hope for the future. Before leaving to return to the valleys of Wales, Kingsley’s final show brings together children, families and even soldiers under one universal action – laughter.

Read a report in Postive News

Notes
'The Only Clown in the Village' was first shown at Glastonbury festival to mark exactly 6 months since the Tsunami
In Cardiff the film was shown at the Welsh Black Film Festival on July 25th 2005 4.30pm in Chapter Cinema
The film has been one of only 6 films shortlisted in the The Satyajit Ray Foundation Short Film 2006 Competition
Winner Best Welsh Independent Film 2006 Swansea Bay Film Festival

Media queries
For interviews with Kingsley the clown contact Kingsley on 0798 2197723
A high quality clown photograph can be downloaded here

 
Watch art2art- an inspiring project from Sri Lanka

undercurrents
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