2009 වර්ෂයේදී ආරම්භ කල ශ්‍රී ලාංකීය වේදිකාව නම් මෙම වෙබ් අඩවිය, ලාංකීය කලා කෙත පෝෂණය කිරීමට ගත් කුඩා වෑයමකි. විශේෂයෙන්ම අන්තර්ජාලය තුල වේදිකා නාට්‍ය ගැන පලවූ ලිපි එකම වෙබ් අඩවියකට යොමුකොට, වේදිකා නාට්‍ය හදාරන සහ ඒ පිලිබදව උනන්දුවක් දක්වන සැමට පිටුවහලක් වන ලෙසට එය පවත්වාගෙන යනු ලැබීය.

2012 වර්ෂයේ සැප්තම්බර් මාසයේ www.srilankantheatre.net
නමින් අලුත් වෙබ් අඩවියක් ලෙස ස්ථාපනය කල මෙම වෙබ් අඩවිය, ලාංකීය කලා කෙත නව ආකාරයකින් හෙට දවසෙත් පෝෂණයේ කිරීමට සැදී පැහැදී සිටී. මෙම නව වෙබ් අඩවිය තුලින් වේදිකා නාට්‍ය පමණක් නොව, චිත්‍රපට, සංගීතය, ඡායරෑපකරණය, සාහිත්‍ය සහ තවත් නොයෙක් ලාංකීය කලා මාධ්‍යන් ගැන විශ්ලේෂනාත්මක ලිපි ඉදිරිපත්කිරීමට බලාපොරොත්තු වෙමු. ඒ සදහා ඔබගේ නොමසුරු සහයෝගය සහ දායකත්වය අප බලාපොරොත්තු වෙමු.

Monday 11 January 2010

Dr Henry Jayasena: a humble tribute


Author:

I met him three years ago, in the make up room of a recording studio. Of course I had seen him on TV, on the screen, on stage; he was a legend. But here I was, slightly sleep deprived and nervous, trying to pin together the fall of my purple silk saree and trying to convince the make up guy that he was putting on too much lipstick on me. A familiar voice and his reflection in the mirror, a humble “hello, I am Henry”. Yeah, right. Like I didn’t know. I stuttered something to the effect of ‘of course I know who you are, I cant believe I am meeting you for real’. A gentle smile. A switch to mother tongue. “Ithin daruwa, mokadda magen ahanna yanney” I had a set of questions prepared. Written in English, translated into Sinhalese, mulled over. I had spent a sleepless night over them, wondering how you begin to ask someone about how they faced cancer and the death of a beloved spouse all in one go. I said "I have a few questions prepared, it’s mostly about how you coped with your illness, sir." The video we were recording was for an organization called Mithuruwela, a non-profit organisation set up to counsel cancer patients and their families, to create awareness about cancer, and to dispel myths about the illness. Dr Jayasena was a popular and well loved public figure, his words would matter, would make a difference. So here we were.

During the interview, before, and after, I learnt about strength and courage from this man who was famous for his dramatic and literary skills. When the video was aired I realised that tears filled his eyes once during the interview, and filled mine many times. Listening to him, I forgot that there were bright lights and cameras around us, so drawn was I to his experience and the eloquence of his telling it. He shared every incident, from the shock and denial to the long painful hours of chemotherapy to the arguments with his wife about eating, from the conversations with his doctor to how he coped with his treatment, and gradual recovery. In his words there was an incredible sincerity, and he spoke not only to all out there who have the illness already but to those who might yet fall victim to it. His voice broke for a moment when he related how his wife saw him through the illness but passed away suddenly, but he recovered quickly, no self-pity thwarted his fine sense of humour and his desire to reach out to fellow cancer patients. When he felt I was stumbling a bit, uncomfortable with the nuances of formal spoken Sinhala, ever sensitive, he switched to English. There was only one recording, and that was it.

I didn’t realise that exactly three years later he would be gone. I didn’t spend much time with him, it was only two hours perhaps. I walked with him to his vehicle and for some reason felt all choked up. He joked about incontinence. In some way he reminded me of my own father, long gone. It was good to meet you, he told me. Meeting you was a life-changing moment, sir, I said. I know, it sounds tacky, but I meant it. If / when I get cancer I will remember that sunny day in November when I met Dr Henry Jayasena. I watched the DVD of our interview again yesterday, and realised that he will keep inspiring people long after his death. “We may meet again, child", he said, in Sinhalese. I wish we had. May your Journey in Sansara be peaceful, and thank you for the courage we may all need in the future.

Appreciation - Remembering Henry Jayasena

Author: Sunil Thenabadu

Source:Times Online
2009-12-15 11:46:26

Henry Jayasena

The sudden demise on November 11 of legendary dramatist, renowned actor and author Henry Jayasena who stood tall on the modest Lumbini Theatre from the early 1960’s was devastating news not only to those in his field but to all lovers of the arts.

He had confessed many times as a much adored artiste that “my heart lies in theatre”.Henry Jayasena was definitely amongst in the list of eminent dramatic figures of the calibre of Profess
or Sarachchandra, Sugathapala De Silva, Dayananda Gunawardena and Premasiri Khemadasa.

His enormous contribution to the theatre and films spanned almost four decades. He e
nded his celebrated acting career in 1999 after he recovered from cancer. The entire treatment process took over around one and a half years and he detailed it in his book titled “Balha Gilano-A story of a cancer patient” purely to educate the masses.

Henry lived a further 10 years leading a normal life during which time he revived his famous drama Hunuw
ataye Kathawa.

Henry Jayasena was born on July 6, 1931 in a village called Bandiyamulla in Gampaha. He was initially educated at the Gampaha branch of Lorensz College and subsequently at Nalanda College, Colombo. It was the late Dr Gunapala Malalasekera, an eminent civil servant who first predicted a great future for him in the field of acting after the famous educationist saw little Henry Jayasena acting in a school concert at Nalanda College.

After leaving school he became an Assistant Teacher of English at the Dehipe Government Primary School in Padiyapellela in the Nuwara Eliya District in 1950
when he was just 19 years. He initially ventured into stage acting by producing the drama ‘Janaki’ in the same year. As he was determined to pursue a career in the Government service, he sat for the General Clerical Service Examination and secured a job at the Public Works Department (PWD).

While working in the PWD he created new plays, the first of which was Manamalayo in the year 1953. Then came Vedagathkama in1954 and Paukarayo in1959, followed by Janelaya and the famous Kuweni in 1962.

Subsequently he produced Thavath Udesanak, Manaranjana Wedawarjana, Ahas Maliga, Hunuwataye Kathawa,Apata Puthe Magak Nethe, Diriya Mava Saha Ege Daruwo,Makara, Savana Siyath Se Puthuni Habha Yana in the years 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1972, 1973 ,1975 respectively

With these creations Henry Jayasena became a household name in Sri Lanka. For his contribution towards literature, theatre and song, Henry Jayasena was honoured with the “Nalanda Keerthi Shri’ title in 2003, presented to him by the OBA of his alma mater.

Henr
y married talented actress Manel Ilangakoon in 1962. She played the lead in Kuweni for which she won the best actress award for her acting as well as for her singing and went on to earn acclaim for her very valuable contribution in Hunuwataye Kathawa (Chalk Circle) portraying the main female role of ‘Grushe’ for 32 years, opposite the main male character of Judge Azdak portrayed by her husband. Manel predeceased Henry after 42 years of married life in 2004.

Henry w
as also a popular film actor. His first role was in Sri 296 in 1959.During the 1960’s he appeared in many films, most memorable being the role of Piyal opposite Punya Heendeniya in Gamperaliya, which became an award winning film in 1964.Then he portrayed the role of Lalith in Dahasak Sithuwili in 1968.

He also played vivid roles in Hansavilak, GehenuGeta, Kaliyugaya, Raththaran Neth, Wena Swargayak Kumatada, Suhadea Sohoyurayo, Heta Pramada Vedie, Beddegana, Soldadu Unnehe,Kaliugaya, Ammai Duwai and Sandakada Pahana.

Most of his characters whether on stage, film or teledrama are imprinted indelibly in the minds of people as it was in the early 1990’s when he took the role of ‘Sudu Seeya’ in the famous teledrama ‘ Doo Daruwo’.

Henry retired from Government service in 1975. Before retiring he held the position of Deputy Director
of the National Youth Services Centre ( Arts and Sports Division) and at the Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation (Programmes Division).

His funeral, like his wife’s was conducted in a very simple manner, according to his wishes. His close friends, relations and the ‘Kalapura Nivesi Padanama’ made all funeral arrangements at his ‘‘Kalapura’ residence and thousands of people from all walks of life paid their last respects.

His loss is
most irreparable to his only son Sudaraka, daughter -in-law Anoma (both employed at the Hatton National Bank), his two grandsons and those in the drama field especially those who were close to him from his early humble beginnings.

May he attain the supreme bliss of Nirvana.

Chitrasena




Author: Upeka, Colombo
Source: Narthaki


What Wickramasinghe was to literature, Ediriweera Sarathchandra to drama, George Key to painting, Lester James Peiris to film, Amaradeva to music, Chitrasena is to dance.

Amaratunga Arachige Maurice Dias alias Chitrasena was born on January 26,1921 at Waragoda, Kelaniya in Sri Lanka. His father was late Seebert Dias, well known actor/producer of the 20s and 30s, founder and instructor for the Colombo Dramatic Club, producer of John de Silva plays and a luminary in the theatrical circles of the day. He was a pioneer actor/director of Shakespearean dramas in Sinhala and English. Chitrasena was encouraged by his father from a young age to learn dance and theatre.

In India, Tagore had established his Santiniketan. His lectures on his visit to Sri Lanka, in 1934 had inspired a revolutionary change in the outlook of many educated men and women. Tagore had stressed the need for a people to discover its own culture to be able to assimilate fruitfully the best of other cultures. Chitrasena was a schoolboy then. His father Seebert Dias’ house had become a veritable cultural centre, frequented by the literary and artistic intelligentsia of the time.

In 1936, Chitrasena made his debut at the Regal Theatre at the age of 15 in the role of Siri Sangabo, the first Sinhala ballet produced and directed by his father. Presented in Kandyan technique, Chitrasena played the lead role, and this made people take notice of the boy’s talents. D.B. Jayalilake, who was Vice Chairman of the Board of Ministers under British council administration, Buddhist scholar, founder and first President of the Colombo Y.M.B.A, freedom fighter, Leader of the State Council and Minister of Home Affairs, was a great source of encouragement to the young dancer.

Chitrasena learnt Kandyan dance from Algama Kiriganithaya Gurunnanse, Muddanawe Appuwa Gurunnanse, Bevilgamuwe Lnpaya Gurunnanse. Having mastered the traditional Kandyan dance, his 'Ves Bandeema' ceremony of graduation by placing the 'Ves Thattuwa’ on the initiate's head followed by the 'Kala-eliya’ mangallaya, took place in 1940. In the same year, he proceeded to Travancore to study Kathakali dance at Sri Chitrodaya Natyakalalayam under Sri Gopinath, Court dancer in Travancore. He gave a command performance with Chandralekha (wife of portrait painter J.D.A. Perera) before the Maharaja and Maharani of Travancore at the Kowdiar Palace. He later studied Kathakali at the Kerala Kalamandalam.

In 1941, Chitrasena performed at the Regal Theatre - one of the first dance recitals of its kind - before the Governor Sir Andrew Caldecott and Lady Caldecott with Chandralekha and her troupe. Chandralekha was one of the first women to break into the field of the Kandyan dance.

Chitrasena founded the Chitrasena Dance Company in 1943. He toured extensively in the provinces. Chitrasena's brother Sarathsena, a versatile drummer, and sister Munirani were associated in the early dance period. Munirani was a soloist in 'Vidura' ballet.

Chitrasena established the first school of National dance, the Chitrasena Kalayathanaya, in Colombo at Kollupitiya in 1944. The sprawling building was handed to him by Sir E.P.A. Fernando, a great patron of the arts - to pursue and further his artistic work. Starting as a small nucleus, the dance centre where Chitrasena lived and worked for 40 years was to become a landmark and a renowned cultural centre for dance enthusiasts and connoisseurs of the arts.

In 1945, Chitrasena studied at Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore's Shantiniketan in Bengal and had the distinction of dancing the lead role as Ananda in Tagore's dance drama 'Chandalika’ opposite Nandita Kriplani, Tagore's granddaughter. Chitrasena is a contemporary of Uday Shankar. He represented Shantiniketan at the All India Dance Festival in Delhi. He visited numerous dance centres in Lucknow, Lahore, and Uday Shankar's dance centre in Almora, Assam. He performed in a Shantiniketan show in aid of Tagore's Memorial fund at the New Empire theatre in Calcutta.

Rabindranath Tagore and the indigenous revival among India’s Bengali elite inspired several Sri Lankan artistes to drop their Portuguese influenced names and adopt oriental names. Amaradeva, Sarachandra and Chitrasena are some of those who did.

Early Period - Obstacles

The early period was fraught with severe hardship, insecurity and frustration. The urban intelligentsia, nurtured as they were on pseudo- colonial values, frowned on things indigenous, or at best with native curiosity. They were unprepared to accept the idea of the traditional dance in relationship to the theatre. There were indignities and insults. No patronage, a reluctant and disoriented public, little if any media coverage- Leaflets were distributed that the traditional dance was being destroyed, anonymous postcards. Chitrasena was breaking new ground and there were instances of him being actually hooted off the stage. Not belonging to the traditional
dancing 'parampara’ it took him years of hard work to be recognized as an artiste in his own right.

Even the traditional dancers who were the proud custodians of an ancient heritage going back over 3,000 years, looked on Chitrasena with derision.

There were no proper theatre facilities. In the outstations, stages were poorly constructed, the local town hall or central school hall serving as theatre. Primitive lighting fixtures, often having to improvise a switch board and make do with cardboard and coloured cellophane, dimmers operated with fan switches, improvised bamboo frames to hang curtains and no green rooms were some of the drawbacks one had to contend with.

Pioneering Years

Started in 1944 in Colombo, The Chitrasena Kalayathanaya was the centre of new forms of arts and culture from the 1940s to the 70s. Begun in a rented house gifted by philanthropist Sir E. P. A. Fernando, The Kalayatanaya building situated a few yards away from Kollupitiya junction, was the oasis of contemporary innovators who searched for new vistas in the aesthetic field.
Chitrasena and Vajira introduced a new creative dance form based on indigenous dance to these young artistes. The school started with only a handful of students who lived and worked in the Studio. The school became a cultural haven to the leading artistes of that period whose talents and contributions were to become highly recognised.

There has hardly been a name in the world of arts and letters, which has not at one time or
another been associated with the Chitrasena Dance School. Some artistes were launched in their respective careers. Ananda Samarakoon lived and worked with Chitrasena and created the National Anthem whilst living in the School. He composed the music for some of the early ballets - with J. Sadiris Silva for 'Vidura' and with Amaradeva for 'Chandali'. Sunil Shantha after his return from Lucknow, Bathkande College of music, held his music classes at the Studio. One of the country’s leading authorities on music, Amaradeva’s early days are closely linked with the Chitrasena School.

Other artistes of the pioneering years included Somabandu, Edwin Samaradivakara, W B Makuloluwa, Lionel Algaina and Somadasa ElvitigaIa. Ganganalh, Prema Kumar, Sesha Palihakkara were some of the earliest pupils.

The dawn of a new era brought with it the challenges of the unknown. In spite of the frustrations, due to lack of patronage, they were years of fruitful exchange of ideas, and experimentation activity. 'Ravana', 'Vidura’, 'Chandali', 'Nala Damayanthi’ were creative outpourings of that time and there was a tremendous Indian influence on the local art scene.

In 1951, Chitrasena married his star pupil Vajira. He saw in her the makings of an outstanding dancer. She made her debut as soloist in the role of Prakriti in the ballet 'Chandali' in 1952. Her rise to stardom was coupled with unswerving discipline and dedication both as teacher, performer and choreographer, even as she illumined her husband's career.

In 1951, an open-air theatre was inaugurated at the Chitrasena Kalayathanaya under the patronage of Sir E P A Fernando. Sir A E de Silva was the Chief Guest.

Contributions

After 50 decades of colonial rule, the traditional dance was left impoverished and it was left to Chitrasena to infuse it with a new dynamism. He is associated with the revival of the traditional dance.

He was the first professional artiste in Sri Lanka. He challenged the mood of the 30s and 40s and influenced the mind of a generation, establishing himself as an artiste unparalleled in the dance annals of this country.

He was the pioneer of the modern dance theatre, which proved a viable alternative to the changing social milieu that sustained the traditional dance rituals.Chitrasena steered the course of dance along unchartered paths infusing it with a dynamism that flowed from his visionary seal and dedication, creating a distinct yet meaningful medium of expression.

He revolutionized and extended the scope of dance, forging a link between the traditional and contemporary with the vision of one who seeks to preserve whilst yet extending the horizons of his medium, always going back for inspiration to the roots of our rich heritage.

He was the pioneer of the national ballet.

Chitrasena established the first school of dance in 1944.

The Chitrasena Dance Company has won repute and fame that is international and received rave reviews for their productions both here and abroad. In the realm of creative
work, the Dance Company has played a vital role in the evolution of contemporary dance theatre of Sri Lanka.

Dramas

Rakthakshi in 'Siri Sangabo' directed by Henry Jayasena on the occasion of the revival of the Tower Hall Theatre. Besides spearheading the revival of indigenous dance forms, Chitrasena also made his stage debut as Othello in the Ernest MacIntyre production of Shakespeare's ‘0thello' and Emperor Jones in the late Karan Breckenridge's production of Eugene O'Neill's 'Emperor Jones'.

Cultural Awards received by Chitrasena

Yuganthaya – 31st December 1999, awarded for his outstanding contribution to the dance of Sri Lanka.

Desamanya - 6th April 1998, the highest award given to a citizen of Sri Lanka.
Presented by H E President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunge.

Vishva Prasadinee - 20th April 1996, in honour of the national pride and international prestige brought to Sri Lanka by Chitrasena. Presented by Hon. Prime Minster Sirimavo Bandaranaike.

Kala Bhushana - 22nd May 1994, honouring the extraordinary contribution made by Chitrasena to posterity and to the development of the arts and culture of Sri Lanka by Hon. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe.

Kala Keerthi – Presidential award presented by H E President Dingiri Banda Wijetunga.

Honorary degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Fine Arts) – 21st March 1991, Institute of Aesthetic Studies, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka. Presented by H. E. President Junius Richard Jayewardene.

Kala Suri First Class – 22nd May 1986, Presidential award presented H. E. President Junius Richard Jayewardene.

Productions

Chitrasena insists on the importance of expression in the arts and the artist’s right to freedom from technique. The limitations of pure dance, was apparently the reason for Chitrasena’s attempt to create a genuine Sinhala ballet. According to Chitrasena, tradition was a kaleidoscope within which a vast variety of forms could be created. But the possible forms were not endless. Throughout the journey from Vidura and Ravana dance - dramas to the ballets Nala Damayanti and Karadiya, his singleness of aim was to develop and extend Sinhala dance forms, and to look for possibilities of emotional expression within the existent idioms. And when they failed, to expand the national vocabulary through nature’s instinctive gestures and movements.

The absence of conventional mudras, Chitrasena once said, is not essentially a weakness in our traditional forms, inhibiting their use in ballet. It is often their strength, allowing flexibility and the use of natural gesture, which is the language of instinctive understanding.

Some of his famous dance productions are:

Rama & Seeta –1943, Vidura – 1944, Pageant of Lanka (Ramayana & Landing of Vijaya) – 1948, Ravana – 1949,Nala Damayanthi - 1950, Chandali – 1952, Kumudini – 1952, Himakumariya – 1953, Sepalika – 1955,Kindurangana - 1956, Sama Vijaya - 1957, Vanaja –1958, Karadiya – 1961, Nala Damayanthi (2nd production) –1963, Rankikili – 1965, Nirthanjali –1965, Gini Hora –1968, Nirasha –1972, Shadi –1972, Navanjali –1972,Anaberaya –1976, Kinkini Kolama –1978, Hapana –1979, Bera Pooja – 1980, Navoda Ranga – 1981, Shishya Pooja –1982, Dance of Shiva -1985, Nritha Pooja –1986,Chandalika (2nd production)

Temple of Dance to rise again

To the dancer in Sri Lanka, a trial of unrelenting perseverance in the face of poverty and social scorn, a great triumph over the severest odds, is a test of exceptional loyalty and dedication to his art. For Chitrasena, the course of his long, illustrious career has been one of personal achievement through struggle and triumph, of quest and conquest, of bitter and happy days, of lean and prosperous years.

In the mid 1980s, like a bolt from the blues, the Chitrasena family and the country at large were deprived of Kalayatanaya in a cruel and inhuman manner. The Chitrasena Kalayathanaya, which has earned national and international recognition, an institution incorporating the finest traditions of the country, that nourished cultural activity for 40 years and was aptly described as 'Temple of the Dance,’ was acquired by the Urban Development Authority in 1984. The school was razed to the ground and the prime land in Kollupitiya still lies idle. Nearly 20 years have lapsed since this cruel experience, indeed a sad apology for the artistes Chitrasena and Vajira, who have dedicated their lives to dance.

The loss of the Chitrasena Kalayatanaya is a national tragedy. Fortunately, five years ago President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga who had learnt ballet dancing at the Chitrasena Kalayatanaya during her youth, donated a plot of land situated at Park Road, Colombo, to them. Now an effort is being made to build a new Kalayatanaya on this plot of land.

Yakdessa Budduwatte Punchi Gura, the revered doyen of Kandyan dancers, participated in the ritual Khomba Kamkariya performed at the Chitrasena Dance Academy on Galle Road to celebrate his birthday in 1973. Guru Chitrasena, turned 81 on January 26, 2003 and a felicitation ceremony was held at Colombo. It was celebrated with great fanfare, a photo exhibition, dance performances and felicitations by speakers who paid handsome tributes to him for placing Sri Lankan dances on the world map.

Distinguished audiences

Maharajah of Travancore Palace - 1940
H. E. Governor Andrew Caldecott - Regal Theatre (with Chandralekha) - 1941
In aid of Tagore Memorial Fund - (with Tagore's grand-daughter Nanditha.Kriplani) -1945
Claudio Arrau - Chitrasena Dance Studio - 1946
H.R.H Duke and Duchess of Gloucester - Pageant of Lanka – Colombo - 1948
H.E. Governor General Lord Soulbury (Premier of Ballet Nala Damayanlhi - 1949
Sir Ernest de Silva and Sir E.P.A.Fernando (Patron) - Opening of the first Open Air Theatre in Sri Lanka at the Chitrasena School - 1952
H.R.H. Queen Elizabeth II at Regal Theatre - 1954
Martha Graham – Colombo - 1956
Hon. Prime Minister S.W-R.D. Bandaranaiake - Colombo (Ballet Chandali) - 1956
Moscow Youth Festival - 1957
Hon. Prime Minister Chou En Lai of China - Temple Trees, Colombo - 1957
Hon J.R.Jayawardene, N.M.Perera, William Gopallawa (Governor -General) Colombo - 1962
Hon. Prime Minister Nikita Krushev of USSR and Hon. Sirimavo Bandaranayake, Prime Minister of Sri Lanka -Old Kremlin Theatre Moscow - 1963
Hon Prime Minister Dudley Senanayake and Mayor of Montreal - Expo ‘67 – Montreal - 1967
H.E. President V.V.Giri of India Temple Trees – Colombo - 1967
H.E.The President William Gopallawa - Chitrasena’s 50th Birthday celebration – Colombo - 1971
Leaders of the Non-Aligned Nations – Colombo - 1976
H.R.H Crown Prince Akihitho of Japan - President's House Colombo - 1979
H.R.H. King Birendra of Nepal - President's House, Colombo - 1980
H.R.H.Queen Elizabeth II and H R H .Prince Philip Duke of Edinbourgh, President's House Colombo – 1981

Tours

1957: USSR.- Russian Youth Festival Sponsored by World Peace Council.
1959: India - First Cultural Group sent by Government of Sri Lanka.
1963: Australia - Perth, Sydney, Melbourne-Sponsored by Elizabethan Theatre Trust,
Tasmania - Hobart, Launcheston, USSR-Tashkent, Leningrad, Al-mata, Moscow, Kalinin, Poland-Warsaw, East Germany-East Berlin, Eisenhotenstat, Czechoslovakia-Prague, India - Bombay, Delhi, Lucknow, Madras.
1967: Canada - Montreal
1970: West Germany - Hamburg, Heidelberg, Frankfurt, Freiburg, Baden, Hannover, Dusseldorf, Munich, Stuttgart, Essen, Wuppertal, Switzerland - St.Morritz, St.Gallen,
Holland - Amsterdam, Arnhem, Tilberg, Heerlen. France - Colmar.
1971: England - London, Sadlers Wells Theatre, Malaysia - Kuala Lumpur, Singapore,
Brunei.
1972:Australia - Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney, Canberra, New Zealand - Auckland, Wellington, West Germany – Frankfurt, Denmark - Copenhagen.
1974: Denmark - Copenhagen.
1991: India
1993: Bangladesh - Dhaka
1995: London - Sadlers Wells, Birmingham
1997: Singapore - Asian performing Arts Festival. Japan - Tokyo, Takasaki, Gifu, Tokushima
1998: India - Chennai, Calcutta, Shanthiniketan, Delhi, Mumbai

Sunday 10 January 2010

Sarachchandra the diplomat - a few recollections Prof. Ediriweera Sarachchandra

by P. B. Galahitiyawe
CDN / 18Aug2005


A great deal has already been written about Prof. Ediriweera Sarachchandra, yet to my knowledge hardly anything has been written about the three years he spent in Paris (France) as the Ambassador of Sri Lanka. This note is meant to fill this gap.

It's well known that Prof. Sarachchandra played a key role in the election campaign against the UNP Government in 1970. Though generally apolitical, Prof. Sarachchandra was drawn into it by his staunch opposition to the draconian measures against university autonomy proposed by the regime.

As an independent thinker Prof. Sarachchandra was also opposed to certain measures taken by the coalition government, particularly after the 1971 insurgency. Sarachchandra had been unanimously nominated as the chairman of the Civil Rights Movement established on 18th Nov. 1971. This I guess would have been yet another reason why Prof. Sarachchandra was considered for a diplomatic appointment by the Sirimavo Bandaranaike government.

In an interview in 1996, this is how the late professor described the dilemma he had to face: "I supported the coalition because I thought the politics of the left together with the left of centre politics of the SLFP will offer a good balance. But later on I was beginning to get critical of the government.

I headed the Civl Rights Movement which was formed to monitor violations of civil rights, specially after the 71 insurrection. When I was critical of the government, they probably wanted me out of the way - so they offered me this job, which was very difficult for me to refuse anyway as I was badly in need of the money."

By this time Prof. Sarchchandra was on the verge of retirement. He had devoted his entire life to creative and academic work within the university. Yet, it seemed that the truth of the age old Indian diction (Sarasaviya ha sirikatha eka thena nowasathi) Goddess Saraswathi and the Goddess of prosperity do not go together was beginning to dawn on him.

He never owned a house that he could call his own even at retirement. He never pocketed a cent of the charges that came from the performances of the plays he produced for the 'Sinhala natya sangamaya' of the university of Peradeniya.

When it came to the second production of 'Sinhabahu' in 1971, he had to turn to his friends for the required sum of rupees 7500. Part of that money was provided by me. (I must record here that this money was duly returned to me within one year - see Sinhabahu brochure 1972).

I went to Paris on an invitation by Prof. Sarachchandra in December 1976. It was the thick of winter in Europe. As I stepped into the official residence he welcomed me with a familiar smile and wittily quipped, 'Gala! What a great distance have you come to see for yourself a modicum of suffering and pain'.

The official residence of the Sri Lankan Ambassador was located at Neuilly Sur Saine, a picturesque suburb of Paris, surrounded by multi-storeyed apartments and dotted here and there by luxurious residences of multi million. It was really an ideal residential area.

I well remember hearing that one of the world's richest men Aristotal Onasis owned a mansion in that area. In this picturesque setting, I must say, the building of the Sri Lankan Ambassador's residence was probably the ugliest, gloomiest and dirtiest of the whole of Rue Perronet.

There was a dilapidated stable in that small compound of four to five perches. This box-shaped three storeyed building was surrounded by a high wall which seemed not to have seen any paint for an uncountable number of years. Hence it was dark in patches and covered with moss here and there. The carpets inside were not much better.

They were both old and worn out. The wall papers around had well forgotten their original colours. The electricity circuit within the house was dangerously fragile. When we think of Paris as a global trend-settler of fashions and elegant living the world over the Sri Lankan Ambassadors' residence would not have brought a respect for Sri Lanka, though it may well have degraded our image abroad.

Prof. Sarachchandra recorded his embarrassment thus "The residence of the Ambassador is in the fashionable Neuilly-Sur-Seine area, but it is one of the most disreputable looking buildings in that area.

Its roof is on the point of crumbling down, its outer walls are dirty and haven't been cleaned in the past 10 years since we began to rent out the house, its floors need carpeting and its inner walls and wood work need painting and redoing. I have felt ashamed to invite Ambassadors to my house because of its state of neglect. If felt ashamed of course, on behalf of the country I was representing. Actually, we have not had the means to maintain the house decently."

Further on the same subject he says; "It's not a question of poverty. Countries do not establish diplomatic missions in order to advertise their poverty. Vulgar ostentation is, of course, not appropriate, but certain standards have to be maintained. Poorer countries like Bangladesh keep up a more decent level and entertain better, and I'm sure that they find it more profitable in the long run.

My point is that it would be more in keeping with our national self-respect to close down missions that can't be maintained at decent levels and to put such resources to improve the missions that are left and which we feel are useful to maintain". (The Sunday Observer, November 13-1977).

Once I remember how a member of our diplomatic mission was hotly contradicted when he introduced a brass lamp with an engraved figure on top, as an authentic Sri Lankan creation. The knowledgeable foreigner traced its Indian origin. This simple incident exposes the ignorance of our officials who are attached to our missions abroad.

I would now like to illustrate how Sarachchandra the artist live inside Sarachchandra the diplomat in Paris. Sarachchandra did not forget to take his sitar when he went to Paris. Whenever he had some free time he would play the sitar in trance-like meditation.

He even hired a music teacher to improve his Kills. This person happened to be a Nepalese and was totally blind. He lived in Paris giving brief recitals on TV and visited us each Wednesday.

It was quite touching to see how Prof. Sarachchandra welcomed his teacher at the door-step and then offer him a warm cup of tea by his own hands. He would practise what he has learned until late into the night.

Sarachchandra used to get down publications of creative literature from home and read them very carefully, keeping abreast of every development in Sri Lanka. It was during the same period that he edited a translation of 'Pematho Jayathi Soko' rendered in to English by Derik de Silva who happened to be attached to Oxford University at that time.

This text was included in series of play scripts representing contemporary world theatre published by Salsburg University, Austria. His English novel titled "With the begging bowl" was based on his experience as the ambassador, and was later published in India. Inthe same period I could also see how happy he was to train a group of Sri Lankans in Paris to sing Bhakthi Gee at Vesak. He probably felt the need to create a Sri Lankan cultural environment around himself.

I feel it would be inappropriate to end this note without reference to the memories of our long walks on the bank of the river Seine. Most often, we set out from Rue perronat where the Ambassador's residence was located, along narrow paths leading to Sein, crossing Boulevard de Chateau.

We walked up to the Boulevard de General lecturer. Here one could see a few small islands (Il Dela Gon Jeane) in the middle of the river Seine, and the water of the river divide into two steams. As the evening deepened we would see holiday makers pass by in their boats studded with lights, playing sweet melodies as they melted into the distant mist.

The highrise buildings on the Courbevie area on the other side of the bank would light up plunging the reflected light deep into the water of the calm river giving it another worldly charm. This is said to be an industrial area, well described in Gue de Maupassants' stories.

As we walk along we would meet retired French couples arm in arm walk along with their extravagantly attired pet dogs. Our conversation would drift from talk about old age life-family bonds-cultural values, East and West ..... and so on. In one of these walks, professor told me how he got the title for his novel based on the 1971 insurgency (Heta Ehchara Kaluwara Ne) from a Parisian advertisement which read 'Il ne par is noir demain".

With the defeat of the Sirimavo Bandaranaike Government in 1977, Prof. Sarachchandra promptly returned to Sri Lanka and once again left the island on an appointment as a research professor at the East-West Centre, Hawaii.

There was hardly anything Prof. Sarachchandra earn from his post as Ambassador in Paris. Part of his personnel salary too was sometimes channelled to safeguard the image of our country. Unlike many diplomats who return home with a plethora of foreign gadgets, foreign furniture, cars, washing machines and what not and anxiously wait for the next posting abroad, Sarachchandra returned to his old residence at Epitamulle, Pitakotte. Since he had no vehicle of his own to get about I had to lend my old 4 Sri Volkswagen until the day he left for Hawaii (USA).


(The writer is former Deputy Principal of St. Anthony's College, Kandy and author of several publications both Sinhala and English).

An Honest Application to Culture

Matured artist advices the nation on

Author: Ranga Chandrarathne
Source: Sunday Observer


Multi-faceted personality Somalatha Subasinghe

She is one of the best stage actresses ever produced who took part both in stylised and realistic plays. I still remember her character old woman in Prof. Sarachchandra's semi-stylised play "Raththaran", as a member of the original cast, as her best portrayal.

Her acting was highly impressive even as an undergraduate, in her long history an actress especially in Sarachchandra's and Gunasena Gallapaththi's days remarked Prof. Ariya Rajakaruna. One of the most exciting actresses I have encountered in my life, Dr. Lakshmi de Silva, former Head of the Department of English, University of Kelaniya.

****

An artist should be committed to social justice and to his/her own conscience, otherwise he/she is a mere entertainer states veteran actress and theatre personality Somalatha Subasinghe citing an example of a farmer who considers his soldier son as an object to acquire basic human needs.

The protracted war has completely changed the basic norms of humanity, even eroding the parental love towards children.



Highly impressive Cherry Uyana


The serious actress in Diriya Mawa (Sinhalese adaptation of Mother courage and her children)


New production of Mudu Puththu: Acting incomparable

She questions how long an artist with a conscience can be deaf and blind to the situation. Artist should commit to conscience and social justice.

Her forte in art and theatre is children's play which is an almost neglected but an important area in contemporary Sri Lankan theatre. Her dramas for children are always tied up with a moral lesson beyond the storyline that teaches children to think rationally, recognizing social justice in order to make children good human beings with leadership and rational thinking.

Through the Lanka Children's and Youth Theatre Organization (LCTYO), a voluntary organization she founded in 1981, Mrs. Somalatha Subasinghe attempts to reach the children of grass root level with a view to enhance their creativity.

She believes that every child should be happy and next to the food and shelter, the play can teach children many lessons; theatre has a healing and therapeutic effect on Tsunami affected children, especially those who lost their parents.

Referring to the application of art and culture in Sri Lanka, she is of the view that it should be honest without any prejudices. The pieces of art which intend to promote and foster certain cultural vales should go on with a label for a certain age group and that those who wish to watch should be allowed to do so.

However, the authorities can not decide whether a piece of art or film should be viewed or not. Who has decided Sulaga Enupinisa (The Forsaken Land) a bad film The film is not suitable for children as they could not grasp the symbolic statement in the film.

The film shows what would happen to human beings when war has taken away what they had. There is a possibility of human beings assuming the characteristics of animal behaviour in such an arid environment.

It is ironic while the newspapers carry in full stories where father rapes daughter, the serious works of art is prohibited to exhibit in the name of culture and allegedly degrading the moral of the armed forces.

As far as Sulaga Enupinisa (The Forsaken Land) is concerned, she believes that nothing degrading or humiliating of the armed forces whose prime duty is to protect the nation, has been done in portraying a scene where a home-guard is thrown into a river for sheer fun by the patrolling group of soldiers.

The situation has turned the human being into animal nature and the animal instincts work. She attributes the uproar over Sulaga Enupinisa to a mean understanding of symbolism. This is the result of people not being exposed to classical art and also not learning to appreciate fine works of art.

Commenting on Aksharaya , she opined the incident in the nature of what happened in Aksharaya could happen and there is no precedent that common occurrence should always be incorporated into a work of art. Duty of the artist is to warn the society of possible scenarios that could have happened.

Among the characters she played on the silver screen, Somalatha Subasinghe likes the role she played in Viragaya which she described as one that she immersed herself in.

The most inspiring iconic figure, for Somalatha Subasinghe, in Sri Lankan theatre was Professor Ediriweera Sarachchandra. He brought up a whole nation together and his commitment to theatre was awe-inspiring. In the early days of his career at Peradeniya, Professor Sarachchandra was always out on an assignment even skipping meals.

He led a very frugal life. Most of his time, he spent in researching and creating works of art. Prof. Sarachchandra encouraged her and left a lasting influence on her career in theatre.

As she was fortunate to cross paths with almost all the veterans in the field of theatre including Gunasena Gallapaththi and Dhamma Jagoda, She played lead roles in their classical productions such as Sarah in Gunasena Gallapaththi's Muhuduputtu and Jessica , Liya Thambara by Ranjith Dharmakeerthi, Henry Jayasena's Diriya Mawa Sinhalese translation of Mother Courage, Ranavishkaya in Cherry Orchard and Kumari in Dhamma Jagoda's Vesmunu. Those roles were like Universities and the directors were bi-lingual and experimented with the theatre.

According to Somalatha Subasinghe, she is influenced by Prof. Sarachchandra, veteran dramatist Gunasena Gallapaththi and German Playwright Bertolt Brecht and Buddhist Philosophy. Brecht said when you talk about your mother, look at her as your father's wife. Buddha said that take the veil off your eyes when you look at a problem.

The objectiveness in Brecht's theatre is being applied by Somalatha Subasinghe in her productions. Being objective while engrossed in a character is one of the daunting tasks that an actor is entrusted with. On one occasion, she advised her daughter Kaushalya Fernando not to get emotionally involved in the character. Brecht's theatre application of alienation is now applied worldwide.

This is perceived even in Hollywood. Speaking on her children, she said though her second daughter Shyamalika played the lead role in Vikurthi , she had to disassociate with theatre after marriage and bore children.

Shamalika is a sharp critic and her point of view is always taken into consideration. Her brother analyses the roles she played from a realistic perspective and a Marxist point of view. It is Marx who has said that your creativity will be used as an instrument by the powers be. With the emergence of computer, manual creativity is no longer needed. She is of the view that creation of art was originally made manually.

That is the genuine. Commenting on the artists in Sri Lanka, she said only a few of artists analyze the social and political situation,though thay have no performing space, in the country through their creations while a section of the artists are either brainwashed by the system or subservient to the establishment. This section of artists prevents serious artists from analyzing the society through their works of art.

One friend expressed dismay at allowing Kaushalya to play a role in Sulanga Enupinisa and questioned her whether she repent the decision. Somalatha's reply was that nudity can also be used in art to portray something demanded by the character and convey some message. Such portrayals become uncivilized if the nudity is exposed for her gratification.

Sri Lanka has become a hypocritical nation which denied the existence of sincere human nature. It is ironical that adults force the children to hold placards against child abuse.

Although Kaushalya, Shyamalika and her husband Priyanka extend their helping hand to Somalatha, it is her son-in-law, Senior Lecturer in Economics, at the University of Colombo; Dr. Chandana Aluthge has been a live-wear behind major house-hold operations and stands tall as a pillar of strength behind Somalatha.

As she grew up in a family of teachers; father, a principal and mother, a teacher, naturally, Somalatha followed the parents footsteps in becoming a teacher herself. It was an atmosphere dominated by indigenous forms of art ranging from traditional dance to music which flourished under the state patronage of the British. The British of the day had also encouraged agriculture.

Her father sent her to Museus College while her brother D.W. Subasinghe was sent to Ananda College to learn English. He grew up to be a committed communist.

Socialist political ideology has greatly influenced her work and radical application in art. Though she could not campaign alone, she firmly believes that the artists should rise against any form of oppression and especially to protect the young talented artists who create great work of art and the freedom to express them.

Profile of an outstanding artist

1982 Vikurthi (Distortion) an original play focusing on the problems of the education system of Sri Lanka.

1985 Para Haraha (Across the Road) an original play based on the conflict between traffic and pedestrians.

1986 Sanda Kinduru (Buddhist theme) written by Gunasena Galappatthi, staged in collaboration with Sujatha Vidyalaya, subsequently for television - drama.

1990 Mudu Putthu (Yerma by Garcia Lorca) adaptation by Gunasena Galappatty

1990 Pawara Nuwarak (city of Fame) Adaptation of a Sinhala classical poem as a contemporary social comment

1991 Opera Wanyosi of Wole Soyinka (Adaptation as a trilingual Play-English/Sinhala/Tamil in collaboration with Dept. ofEnglish, University of Colombo.

1992 The Trial of Dedan Kimathi by Nugugi Wa Thionogo and Micere Gitahe Mugo Production in English in collaboration with the British Council, Colombo.

1992 Yadam (Chains) Sinhala Translation of The Trial of Dedan Kimathi by Nugugi Wa Thionogo.

1993 Antigone by Sophoclese Sinhala Production Translated from English translation by E. F. Watling

1998 Mavakage Sangramaya Sinhala Translation of Mother Courage and Her Children by Bertolt Brecht, in collaboration with German Cultural Institute to commemorate 100th birth anniversary of Bertolt Brecht.

Children' Theatre

1979 Punchi Apata Then Therei (We Know It Now)

1979 Thoppi Welenda (Hat Seller)

1981 Gamarala Divya Loketa (Gamarala Going to Heaven)

1981 Rathmalee (adaptation of Red Riding Hood)

1988 Ottooi (Challenge)

1995 Hima Kumariya (adaptation of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs)

2003 Walas Pawula (adaptation of Goldilocks and Three Bears)

****

Lanka Children's and Youth Theatre Foundation (LCYTF)

Lanka Children's and Youth Theatre Organization (LCYTO) is a voluntary organization founded in 1981 by Mrs. Somalatha Subasinghe, the veteran playwright and theatre director, under the laws of Sri Lanka with a view to further the cause of children's theatre in Sri Lanka.

It was also meant to fill the vacuum of the necessity of a drama institution in the country. LCYTO recruits young men and women with high school qualifications solely on the strength of their commitment to theatre. Some of them are basic degree holders too.

They are sent through a systematic course of training in drama and theatre arts along with training in the traditional drama and dance forms of Sri Lanka. The normal theatre style in Sri Lanka being that of total theatre, the average Sri Lankan actor/actress has to acquire training in Sri Lankan dance drama too.

LCYTO has become the only one of its kind in Sri Lanka, which produces mainly musical plays for children and youth, with professional actors, and it has also emerged as one of the leading sources of training centres for performing artistes particularly in children's theatre.

The high standards set and maintained by LCYTO in their productions has opened avenues for the professional theatre group to perform and participate in many international children's and youth theatre Festivals and conferences in many different parts of the world.

The professional theatre group of LCYTO also performs mainstream theatre with the objective of improving their skills. It has produced a number of award winning and highly acclaimed mainstream theatre productions.

LCYTO was conferred the Bunka Award presented by the Embassy of Japan for the Best achievement in Performing Arts in 1997. Actors/actresses and other creative artistes who were trained at LCYTO, work on their own and for other directors and that LCYTO members have won many awards for their performances at the State Festivals in stage drama, television as well as cinema.

The year 2001 State Drama Festival was one such special occasion where six of LCYTO actors and actresses and other creative personnel carried away awards for direction, acting, script writing, costume designing, staged,cor and music as well.

In 2004 Kaushalya Fernando, one of the directors of Play House-Kotte, bagged the prestigious Bunka Award for special achievement in Theatre and Acting.

LCYTO became an incorporated foundation called Lankan Children's and Youth Theatre Foundation (LCYTF) by an Act of Parliament (Act no. 3 of 2007) on 29th January 2007.

Jayalath Manoratne muses on larger-than-life theatre experience

Breaking through the fourth wall


Jayalath Manoratne Picture by Tennyson Edirisinghe

He looks at the pieces of furniture, ranged against the fourth wall, with an inventive enthusiasm. He is now a soft giant – his theatrical splendour whizzing around the stage, above and beyond. He had the opportunity to dine good and proper with giants on the stage: Ediriweera Sarachchandra, Dayananda Gunawardena, Sugathapala de Silva, Gunasena Galappatti and Henry Jayasena.

Mano, as he is fondly known in the performance scene, entered the theatre at his school Poramadulla Central College, when Sunil Sriyananda chose the lad for his Aspa Gudung. The play was among the shortlisted eight at the annual inter-school drama competition and the performance earned Mano a merit award.

He stepped into the University of Peradeniya and had the blessed company of Professor Ediriweera Sarachchandra, the legend behind Maname and Sinhabahu fame. Those were the days filled with eloquent surprises. The professor was impressed with his voice when he sang Amaradeva’s Vasanthaye Mal. He was offered a major role in Pemato Jayati Soko; he could play diverse roles in Maname and Sinhabahu. They were slowly approaching the 1970s then.

Even with the feet firmly set on other media – the small and the silver screens – Manoratne was covetously in demand throughout the 60s and 70s on the stage. Manoratne is not just a theatre performer, but he is one of the few who have studied theatre and performance – from folk to stylized mode - academically.

And now, he looks back in that fourth wall.


Scenes from Tala Mala Pipila and Andarela

The fourth wall is an imaginary wall at the front of the stage in theatre, with three walls around, through which the audience sees the performance of the play. The stage plays Mano has been producing for quarter of a century now come as ‘the Fourth Wall series’ from September 15 to 19 at the John de Silva Memorial Hall. The series follows a free-of-charge course for theatre fans in the mornings of these days. Fifty candidates will be selected for the course, which will issue a certificate upon the completion. Tickets are available at Rs. 100 to encourage a large audience. The Hall will be decorated with book fairs, street plays, rare photos and scenes from yesteryear’s drama scene.

The Manoratne
memory lane:

An incomplete glance

Theatre

Sunil Sriyananda’s Asva Gudung
Ediriweera Sarachchandra’s
Sinhabahu, Maname, Mahasara
and Pemato Jayati Soko
Sugathapala de Silva’s
Dunna Dunu Gamuve
Henry Jayasena’s Makara,
Tavat Udesanak and Ahas Maliga
Lucien Bulathsinhala’s
Tharavo Igilethi and Ratu Hattakari
Sunanda Mahendra’s Socrates
Prasanna Vithanage’s Dvitva
Jayantha Chandrasiri’s Oththukaraya
His own Puthra Samagama and other plays featured in ‘Fourth Wall’

FILM

Tilaka saha Tilaka
Handaya
Mangala Tegga
Sisila Gini Ganee
Umayangana
Saptha Kanya
Punchi Suranganavee
Sooriya Arana
Siri Raja Siri

TELEDRAMA

Doo Daruwo
Hiruta Muvaven
Gamperaliya
Bumu Thurunu
Sanda Amawakai
Sekku Gedara

LITERATURE

Dolos Mahe Pahana
(with Buddhadasa Galappatty and Sunil Ariyaratne)
Gal Vadurala
Davasa Tama Tarunai
Andarela
Guru Tharuwa
Talama Pipila
Sudu Redi Horu

RADIO

Sandella
Ranga Madala

“I should be thankful to the Cultural Department to have given the John de Silva Memorial Hall free of charge. That’s why we could reduce the ticket prices too.”

Of all the plays in the festival, Talamala Pipila is the oldest, which was first produced in 1988. Its script has now been prescribed for O/Ls. His books Andarela and Guru Tharuwa have won the State Literary Awards.

All these plays, Mano muses, have one theme: love the mankind without difference.

Your September

15 Tala Mala Pipila "
16 Guru Tharuwa
17 Sudu Redi Horu
18 Lokaya Tani Yayak
19 Andarela

At John de Silva Memorial
Hall at 6.30 pm.

Tickets are available only
at the John de Silva
Memorial Hall.

Tala Mala Pipila brings out the generation gap. The traditional musician’s son gets caught in the waves of modern trend, and becomes a victim. Guru Tharuwa is about our fate when literature is wiped out of the schools. Sudu Redi Horu is an attempt to introduce the age old Sandesha poetry mode into the stage play. Lokaya Tani Yayak introduces Mahagamasekara and his poetry into the stage. Andarela is set on the 19th Century Sri Lanka.

The cast of about 80 performers has Suminda Sirisena, Ratna Lalani Jayakody, Sarath Chandrasiri, Rodney Warnakula, Ajith Lokuge, Sampath Tennakoon, Chandrasoma Binduhewa and Madani Malwatta. Manoratna is now seen on teledrama more than the stage.

“We had a goodwill attitude when we started off the teledrama industry. But now it has become a vanishing trail. All teledrama directors have to oblige with the sponsor-decided budgets and the time-span.” Always going through the script before anything else, Manoratne does not hesitate to turn down the drama if it is not up to his satisfaction.

The stage response keeps on fluctuating from time to time. For the past two years, however, the stage enjoyed a good audience. “They are now hassle-free. They are not scared to step out of the threshold. More audience for the stage means the bankruptcy of the tele industry. The people are disappointed at teledramas. That’s why they flock together with the stage.”

Bringing out a stage production – though people are ready to be in the audience halls – is nevertheless a tough job. Manoratne lays down the difficulties one by one.

Finding a good script is so much harder than gathering a good cast. He doesn’t see anything bad in translated scripts – for it brings us to the world-renowned works - but, says he, we should have our identity too, at the same time.

“If you go to France, you can see they have their own theatre. If you go to Germany, you can see their own theatre. All these countries are relatively younger than ours. We have our own traditions. Sarachchandra and others had been attempting to rediscover it.” Compared with the tele industry, the stage has a zero percent assistance of a producer. It is the next hurdle. Then comes the difficulty of getting a well-practised senior cast.

“We keep on practising for two or three months without any financial gains. Most of the seniors have sacrificed their time for the sake of the stage play.”

Mano has been travelling throughout the country, since ours is a mobile stage culture. The theatre fan in Thambuttegama obviously cannot make a journey whole way to Colombo merely to see a stage play. The Sinhala stage has a good audience even in rural areas. Many artistes think their job is done, once a work of art is completed. It is not so for the stage artiste in the calibre of Manoratne. He keeps on improving their theatre work.

Manoratne has clinched many awards ranging from OCIC, Presidential, Sarasavi and the State Literary and Drama awards. He was the best actor back to back in 1991 and 1992 for his performance in Socrates and Dvitva.

Friday 8 January 2010

Meditation on Gamini Haththotuwegama





Source : The Island
Friday, 06 November 2009

Gamini Haththotuwegama is no more. The man, known to some as GK, to others as ‘Gamini’, ‘Hatha’, ‘Haththa’ or simply as ‘Sir’, hailed as the Father of Street Theatre in Sri Lanka, will take his final curtain call this evening. As befitting such a colossus, the Ministry of Cultural Affairs has come forward to give him such honour as is his due, with deference of course to the wishes of the family. In a meeting to discuss funeral arrangements, a Ministry official said that the route that the funeral procession will take from the ‘Kala Bhavana’ to the ‘Kanatte’ will be lined with white flags. Rajith, the son, remarked with the wit, smile and acute consciousness of things human so reminiscent of his father, ‘eya aasa rathu paatata (he preferred red)!’ Like the father, again, Rajith and his sister Chamindu displayed a healthy disregard for ceremony and like their father once again showed a deference to the will of an innocent public want (in this instance the need to demonstrate grief). They did not protest.

Red. Yes, that was his colour and ‘redness’ was the theme song that meandered as an unmistakable thread tying together all the things this remarkable man took on. He is called the Father of Street Theatre and rightfully too, but theatre was but one of the many mediums he used to articulate his insightful reading of the social, political and cultural. He was dramatist, actor, critic and human being. And he was a teacher through and through.

He will be remembered fondly. Remembrance and grief are largely personal things and one should leave it to the individuals whose lives were touched by the man to remember and lament as per their personal preference. He was a deeply sensitive man but not one given to tearing in public except on extremely rare occasions. That’s a cue I suppose for all of us.

Who was Gamini Haththotuwegama though? What was the ‘red’ in his life and work? As I browsed the web for a picture of the man, I came across a lengthy comment by Ajith Samaranayake, perhaps the only other person who was as articulate as Haththa (that’s how my contemporaries at Peradeniya referred to him) in both English and Sinhala on the vast range of subjects that come under ‘literature and arts’. Ajith, alas, predeceased Haththa by a few years (and what a loss!).

Ajith was referring to a lecture delivered by Haththa titled ‘Unreasonable postulates and treasonable practices correlative to English’. It was, as Ajith points out, a rather portentous title and come to think of it, quite un-Haththa like. What caught my eyes was a quote. Haththa had approvingly read out something that Ernest Macintyre had written:

"…when one grows into another culture through the intensive root-cutting education in English, the creative urge to truthfully turn it back on the soil you were pulled away from, the sentient world of the indigenous culture, is a magnificent compensation, the quality of which is not sometimes available even to those with unmoved roots, in a world of much movement."

It was natural that Haththa saluted this observation because Macintyre could very well have been talking about him for he, more than anyone else, embodied the creature described; he cut back through the layers of mis-education, sought his native soil and danced on it with all the grace and confidence that the process ingrained in him, in terms of ideological prerogative, nuance to cultural difference and the ability to pick and choose his waters from the many wells he had encountered and make thereafter a heady cocktail that could jolt his audience with audacity, tasteful humour and creative genius.

Haththa knew his English. He was acutely aware of its power, its coercive and violent potential and its other ‘kaduwa’ quality of marking distinction, leaving out and cultural political manipulation. He used it against itself, so to speak, disrupting thereby the entire hegemonic discourse. I remember him telling me in the terrible days following the UNP-JVP bheeshanaya that the JVP could have told the people that English is a necessary part of the revolution. His point was that English, one of the many weapons at the disposal of the enemy, should be picked up and turned against the oppressor. The beauty of his disposition was that when he used the kaduwa he dealt with ‘kaduwaness’ with both unforgiving and subtle strokes, equally effective as per occasion.

He was respected, yes; tolerated even, but Gamini Haththotuwegama was never embraced by English Departments in our universities. Why not? The answer can be obtained in the following observation: "What’s the point of giving English at university levels, feeding the students with the highest academic equipment available - the most radical, nay revolutionary cultural theory, by presumably some of the best literary-linguistic brains in the business, yes feeding students whose acquaintance with our culture begins and ends presumably with ‘Thannane naa - thana-naa’ sung by Ba and Sa (and a herd of tune-repeating umbaas) who have been successful as no others have in setting a price to our folk rhythms, as a street drama actor put it so succinctly?"

There is then a marked distaste for doing ‘The Macintyre Number’ among those who study, teach, write, do business, brag and in other ways and for a variety of reasons think that their ‘fluency’ in the language gives them automatic membership in that dubious club called ‘The Elite’. As such these creatures are clearly part of the problem and are sadly compromised in the neo-colonialist project even as they speak on behalf of and champion the subaltern (how presumptuous!) and rile against hegemonic discourse.

The fact of the matter is that Haththa, even as he called them out for intellectual sloth and ideological confusion was far better at what they believed they were good at: teaching and writing. A few weeks ago someone told me that no one at Peradeniya writes as well as Gamini Haththotuwegama. I don’t know because not many at Peradeniya actually write, but it would be hard to find someone of whose writing it could be said ‘Streets ahead of GK’.

This is true not only of academic writing and also creative work. Haththa was not given to spending too much time on producing academic treatise, but when he did, it was always cogent, illuminating and wonderful to read. His essay on Lakdasa Wikkramasinha is a case in point. And outside the lecture theatre, as a creative artist, he was peerless. No one at Peradeniya can claim to have done as much to the development and understanding of theatre, except perhaps Ashley Halpe, probably the only person in that Department who respected and admired Haththa and moreover was able to have a mutually beneficial conversation on a wide range of topic related to literature and arts.

Ajith puts it best when he remarks on that lecture thus: It is also a lecture which only GK could have delivered because if there has ever been a teacher of English who has effortlessly related himself to the wider Sinhala socio-cultural milieu without pandering to populist whims or compromising his intellectual integrity it has been Gamini K. Haththotuwegama.

His ‘redness’ was of course not limited to a battle with ‘kaduwaness’, he touched all aspects of social injustice in his work, stood with and for the oppressed, and taught them not to hate but to effectively challenge the structures that kept them down. He gave us all a sense of dignity and thereby empowered us in the most important element in that oft-caricatured thing called ‘agitation’.

Every man’s life is an epic. Haththa will be remembered for that endearing line that has become a veritable tag-line to the street theatre scene in the country: yadam bindala gejji maala thanaganin (break your chains and make anklets and necklaces out of them). It is imperative that his students (and their numbers are legion) understand that the chains referred to are multifaceted and not limited to class-related politics (as per the quote in the Communist Manifesto, ‘the proletarians have nothing to lose but their chains; they have a world to win’). He was larger than that. And this is why Gamini Haththotuwegama will live long and we will hear and be empowered by the drama that was his life long after his ashes go cold. Some curtains refuse to fall, or do so slowly and only after the drama is really, really, done. It is not yet. Gamini Haththotuwegama plays on and we hear his voice; and his words reverberate with wit, insight and a rare kind of love.

by. Malinda Seneviratne

Tuesday 5 January 2010

Ritualistic theatre in Sri Lanka




By E. M. G. Edirisinghe
The Island / 03Jan1999


Kohomba Kankariya is the most famous and the most stately of all Lankan ritual theatre. Next to it is the much simpler forms of ritual performed by Gam Maduwa and Devol Maduwa instilled by the goddess Pattini whose cult considers her to be a powerful deity of influence with respect to contagious diseases and personal distress.

Sri Lanka carries a history of theatre back to pre-Christian era, recounts only of these dance forms breathing theatrical life and frame into ritualistic performances of the people.

Ritualistic theatre that frames the core of our theatre tradition is performed in promotion of community welfare and to heal the sick afflicted, mostly with mysterious illnesses which are non-diagnosable by the professionally ill-equipped native physicians. Therefore, to trace the history of ritualistic and folk theatre in Sri Lanka is a journey to study her traditional theatre. On the other hand, in that regard, the Sri Lanka theatre can be modestly be proud of retaining, and persistently preserving a tradition capable of theatre environment for the growth and expansion of sustaining an adequate what could be called national or modern theatre in the years that followed.

Looking back, what comes first to mind is Kohomba Kankariya, that most famous and the most stately of all Lankan ritual theatre. A student of folk drama who begins with "thei" the first step in traditional dance form matures into a complete traditional theatre with the performance of Kohomba Kankariya the pinnacle of ritualistic and folk theatre in Sri Lanka. It gives precedence to dance element over all other components of folktheatre. Performed in honour of God Kohomba an animistic deity, Kohomba literately means margosa a herbal medicinal plant for all times with strong potential to kill germs and clean the physical environment.

Next to it is the much simpler forms of ritual performed by Gam Maduwa and Devol Maduwa instilled by the goddess Pattini whose cult considers her to be a powerful deity of influence with respect to contagious diseases and personal distress.

Another class of ritual theatre is known as bali and thovil. The communal nature evident in the ritual connected to the Pattini cult has given way, in this category, for individual illnesses. Bali denotes a ritual sanctified in the nine planetary deities while thovil is performed to charm and appease the demons who are supposed to bring evil and disaster upon the individual. In these forms of ritual theatre dance and mime recede to insignificance with incantation receiving heavier accentuation. There are different kinds of thovil like Sunni Yakuma, Rata Yakuma and Sanni Yakuma each of which are believed to bring in one or more demons to demonstrate.

All this ritual theatre, always performed in the night are never acted on elevated platforms, but on flat land with the spectators seated and standing in a circle round the performance area attaining a very intimate and participatory relationship.