Cabinet of Curiosities Characters

Where does our Saint Nicholas come from
Saint Nicholas is the protector of children, pupils and students as well as being the patron saint of sailors, guards and thieves. He was the bishop of Myra in the 4th. century, a city now called Demre in Turkey. Nicholas was known as a very generous person and is said to have given a dowry to three poor, young girls thus saving them from prostitution.
In the 11th. century, merchants from southern Italy stole Nicolas’ bones from Myra and brought them to Bari and his popularity spread from there to all over western Europe. In Burgdorf, the sick prayed at the altar of Saint Nicholas in the Lower Hospital in Metzgergasse.
After the Reformation, Berne closed all monasteries within its territory and had all images of saints removed from churches in 1528. This statue of Saint Nicholas, from the Emmental/Entlebuch region, survived in the cellar of the Hirschen restaurant in Langnau. Today, Saint Nicholas, with his red clothes, his bishop’s crosier and his three red apples, is still as popular as ever.

Mask of King Mahasammata
The Kolam Mask Play is a theatrical tradition from the southwest of the island of Sri Lanka. In the first part of the drama, people from different trades and castes come together to prepare for the visit of the mythological king Mahasammata and his wife, but laziness, alcoholism, corruption and the arbitrariness of the powerful delay the preparations. Finally, the glamorous appearance of the royal couple takes place … a reference to the possibility of a better world.
In the second part, the dancers play out scenes from real life. They show the taste of the pleasures of men, the oppression of women, greed, vanity, adultery and the exploitation of the poor.
The show ends with a story taken from the life of Buddha to guide the audience towards a just life according to Buddhist doctrine. In this way, Kolam theatre combines entertainment with social criticism, religious education and political satire.