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Monday 23rd May, 2011 ontinuing in its grand tradition of excellence in theatre and the Cdramatic art, the Royal College English Drama Society presents, ‘Jack and the SOY Beanstalk’, a modern take on the age-old classic, which replaces the old demons with current culprits, who exploit people and resources for short term gain - leaving nothing for future generations. Adapted to suit a Sri Lankan set- ting, this energetic and vibrant musical is interlaced with a valuable message of overnight, to save the sustainability, apt for today’s society. It profits of giant compa- aims to fascinate audiences of all ages nies. with giant puppets, shadow puppets They must sell and larger-than-life visual elements, their only asset – the inspired by daily sights and sounds family vehicle – as from our own lives. they can no longer The uniqueness of this particular afford the fuel to production lies in the fact that it is nar- drive. Jack thinks up rated by a cast of over 100 young a nifty solution to Royalists and is the first ever produc- move the vehicle tion performed by an entirely junior without fuel and is cast. blown to ‘Big Aggie This novel production has been ini- Reaping Farms’(an tiated by Royal College Deputy industrial farm), Principal (Primary School) and Head of where the security the English DramSoc Mrs. Lakshmi guard scoffs at his Attygalle. invention and The musical is directed by shows him that a Sulochana Dissanayake (Bates College farm of that magni- ’09/Watson Fellow ‘09/10), assisted by tude has no space for Themal Ellawala. Vocal direction is by such cute creations in Nicole Liyanage and choreography by their impressive fleet of Wendy Perera (La Salle ’08/ATCL company vehicles. Musical Theatre). Jack, however, doesn’t “Drama develops aesthetic intelli- lose hope and is blown to Magic gence, emotional intelligence as well as Acre Farms, where he does the helps students to gain inter and intra- unthinkable – exchange his most personal skills. It incorporates different valuable asset for 17 magic beans. And aspects of learning and demonstrates the rest is a crazy adventure up a how such standards can guide and beanstalk, to a surreal land that craftily energise the students,” said Lakshmi pin-points how self-centered and un- Attygalle, Deputy Principal, Royal sustainable our social, political and cul- College and Head of the English tural priorities have become, over time. DramSoc. ‘Jack and the SOY Beanstalk’ comes ‘Jack and the SOY Beanstalk’ is a alive at the Navarangahala on 26 and 27 classic, a children’s tale, known to all May, from 07.30 pm onwards. about a little adventurous boy who Your magic beans (tickets) are trades his family cow for a pocket full priced at Rs. 500, Rs. 750, and Rs. 1000 of magic beans and enters a giant’s and are available at the RCU Office world by climbing the beanstalk. Today, (Navarangahala entrance). we are in the 21st century and Jack is a Come buy your own and join Jack struggling kid in a capitalist world - oil and his friends on this magical journey prices have sky rocketed, it’s impossi- and assist us to establish practices that ble to match wages against living costs will sustain our planet for a greener and Jack must use his wits to find ways future! to live sustainably. Giant multi-nation- als are controlling the world’s economy and they are only concerned about one thing – the bottom line. What happens when the proverbial giant is replaced by the CEO of the most powerful com- pany in the whole world? In ‘Jack and the SOY Beanstalk’ (by Jerrod Bogard, produced by special arrangement with Baker’s Plays), Jack and his family are at the receiving end of this individualistic world and are struggling to make ends meet in an eco- nomic recession where people lose jobs Facebook has previously faced criticism over its attitude to child protection NEWS DESK “I don’t know what my people will say KUENSEL/ ANN about her, but I find her complete with hutan’s King Jigme Khesar all the qualities a Namgyel Wangchuck announced Facebook to trawl woman needs to BFriday (May 20) that he will have.” marry his fiancee, Jetsun Pema, in Jestsun Pema, October in a simple traditional ceremo- 21, has just com- ny. photos for child abuse pleted her studies The 31-year old monarch, an Oxford- from Oxford educated bachelor crowned in the acebook will introduce technology Facebook was heavily criticised in University and remote Himalayan country in 2008, to automatically trawl photos posted Britain last year over its child protection was not present presided over the summer session of Fby users for child abuse in an efforts by CEOP, the police agency respon- when the the parliament where he made the attempt to drive paedophiles away from sible for tracking down paedophiles announced was announcement. its service. online. It followed the murder of 17-year- made. “I have thought over it for a long PhotoDNA, a system built by old Ashleigh Hall, who was lured to her Members of time and decided to marry,” the King Microsoft, will mean Facebook will not death by a 33-year-old man who posed as a the parliament said in his statement, which was broad- have to rely on complaints to police the teenager on the dominant social network. offered their cast live on the national TV.“People billions of images uploaded by its more PhotoDNA is just the latest of several congratula- might think that my queen should be than 500 million users. safety initiatives launched since by tions and highly educated, beautiful and best of The system is run by the National Facebook. thanked the the best,” he said smiling, as thousands Center for Missing and Exploited Microsoft has already implemented king for decid- of people remained glued to the TV in Children (NCMEC), based in Virginia. the system on its Bing search engine and ing to marry. the tiny Himalayan kingdom, which The organisation has collected 10,000 SkyDrive online storage service, and says Bhutan’s became a democracy in 2008. “Jetsun images of child abuse from law enforce- it detected more than 1,500 illegal images prime minis- Pema is a kind-hearted girl who is very ment authorities to serve as the basis of on the former and more than 1,000 on the ter summed supportive and whom I can trust,” said PhotoDNA, and has millions more on file. latter. up the feel- the king. Computers divide the images into “Even though NCMEC is a US-based ing of the The parliament packed with mem- smaller sections and calculate a hash, or organization, we found image matches on Bhutanese bers of the royal family, dignitaries, digital fingerprint, for each. The hashes our services stemming from abuse that when he members of the international organiza- are shared with web services such as has occurred across many countries, said that the King had tions, commoners and students Facebook, which can then automatically including the US, UK and Brazil among fulfilled the wishes of the people. “The remained silent in obedience and no compare them to images uploaded by others,” said Mr Harmon only wish of the people was to see our applause was made, as is the Bhutanese caption - Bhutan’s King users. “We hope that Facebook’s adoption of King married and to have an heir to the tradition. Jigme Khesar Namgyel According to Bill Harmon, a lawyer in PhotoDNA serves as a springboard for Wangchuck dynasty,” he said. King “When I informed my father (Fourth Microsoft’s digital crimes unit, PhotoDNA other online service providers to take Khesar is the fifth hereditary king of Wangchuck with his fiancee King Jigme Singye Wangchuck) and my detects child pornography with “zero advantage of the opportunity available the Wangchuck dynasty. His great great Jetsun Pema. (Photo cour- Queen mothers, they were very happy,” false positives”. through NCMEC’s PhotoDNA program grandfather, Sir Ugyen Wangchuck uni- tesy of Royal Office for continued the King. The King, who “Some images become ‘popular’ and and, in fact, we know that others are fied the country was unanimously elect- Media, His Majesty's spoke honestly about is feeling for the are used time and time again – making exploring the possibility right now”. ed as the first king of Bhutan on Dec 17, future queen, said that since he met her, Secretariat, Kingdom of good targets for the PhotoDNA program,” 1907. Bhutan) he said in a post on the Microsoft blog. © The Telegraph Group London he had committed to be her life partner..

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