“I like to play tragic characters”

Author: Dilini Algama
Source: The Nation

It took a young actress being told to stay home by her parents for having an affair with one of the violinists for Kaushalya Fernando to star in her first role. An unceremonious, if a trifle amusing entrance has come a long way. It earned her the Best Actress award a record five times. The daughter of Somalatha Subasinghe, Kaushalya easily slips into Sinhala and English as she recounts her naughty childhood, of looking for ‘adventure’ and nearly drowning, her strong mother and her exciting career in acting

By Dilini Algama
Q: What was your childhood like?
A: I had a very nice childhood. I have one sister. I was very close to my grandparents who were from Veyangoda. They were teachers and I loved this village atmosphere and my relatives who came from the village, teachers again. And where my mother lives now, my father bought the land in the 1969 and my father built the house in 1972 or so and this was a real marshy land, a swamp really. It flooded when it rained and there were only a few houses. When it flooded all us children stayed at home and had a real carnival time with paru. We would read those Enid Blyton stories and run around looking for things like islands [laughs]. Once we all jumped on this bed of grass that was on water. We sank and our mothers really spanked us that day. I was always on trees. Our amma had a time with me. I had a nice childhood where I did all assorts of things. Even my parents thought that studying is not about being buried in books.

My father was in transferable service. He was a civil servant. As soon as I was born I was taken to Galle they say and then we were in Mathugama, Nittambuwa, a place called Gurudala, but by the time it was time for me to school we had settled in Colombo. Initially I went to three schools. I was at Anula College, Gothami Balika Vidyalaya and Sujatha College. Sujatha College was in Queen’s Road, Bambalapitiya and it was formed by one Ms. Motwani who was at Visaka Vidyala as well as Musaeus College. My mother was in Museaus College and she’s the person who brought out my mother’s talents. She’s the one who discovered my mother at a time when teachers were rough at her sometimes. My mother had been very naughty, punished outside the class all the time (laughs). Ms. Motwani saw something unique in my mother. That is why my mother was keen to put us to that school. From grade 4 or 5 I was at Museaus College. Really the system and environment of the school was child oriented. Education was not confined to books. They really did concentrate on building up the child. It was all about discovering a child’s talents and developing them. During this time, when I was in grade 4 I realised I could write and direct. Even then I used to write and direct my own plays. It was due to that support and the encouragement I mentioned. When I went to grade 6 that was the time they had subjects like leatherwork, pottery and subjects like that. In that school they had only one or two of these, sewing and home science and my mother thought I could learn them anywhere. The other thing was that it was mainly attended by students of a particular class and my mother thought that I should have the opportunity of associating with people from all walks of life. That’s the outlook my parents had towards society.
Then I went to St. Paul’s Convent, a government school. You had children from all religions and various walks of life.

Q: Were you as naughty as your mother?
A: Yes, I was really really naughty. I was in the craziest crowd and the teachers thought we were a lot of ruffians and they neglected us to a certain extent. When I went to St. Paul’s Convent the knack that I had towards aesthetics came to a standstill because they were always talking of studies and getting grades. I was put into this class for children who had got through the scholarship exam. There were special classes for them. There was a real competition between the students. Then actually all my writing came to a standstill and I was really disappointed because the environment was so different. Earlier I was in a class of only twenty students. Here there were more than fifty. Gradually I got used to it and I was a person who could get adjusted to any situation. I became more of a sportswoman.My father liked it. He had been quite into sports and he used to train me and I used to get marks for my house and go for district meets. Then I did studies as well because I was determined to go to university. My friends were very intelligent, but they were a bunch of naughty kids. My mother was a teacher and she was teaching at various places and she got herself transferred to my school which I didn’t like at all. The teachers used to complain to her and say, if you don’t do something about Kaushalya she’s going to ruin her life. But amma never said don’t. She just said, “I was worse, let her enjoy her life.” She supported me and when I did my O/Ls I got practically eight distinctions and then my principal was Barbara Gunasekara. She was a very nice lady. She wasn’t that kind where she comes with a cane or anything you know. It was the teachers who were more strict. It was better to be taken to the principal. She was a sweet lady. She said I must do science. My mother had to specially go and say “No Gunasekara I don’t think Kaushalya could sit and study like that because she’s not that way inclined.” Then amma asked me if I could sit and study. She said that if I were to do science I would have to become a doctor and to study I would have to stop seeing theatre and asked if I was ready for it. Then I said no, I can’t stop seeing films and all that. Then amma said okay, you had better do humanities. The principal and teachers were very angry with my mother and they thought that she was crazy, even my relatives thought so. That is why she did this play Vikurthi. It’s through all the experiences she got when I went through education and when she met other friends of mine. She put all this together.

Q: What are the plays and films have you acted in so far? How did you start acting?
A: How I started acting was after O/Ls and till we got our results I was at home. Our mother had this theatre group she to produced theatre for children. She interviewed and auditioned young children and she formed productions with them. There I was like the tea girl, carrying tea for everyone, washing and ironing costumes, I was not into acting or anything. I also did prompting, stage management. One day they were rehearsing and one girl who was a very good singer was stopped by her parents because she was having an affair with a violinist from the orchestra. Then I stepped in and said okay I’ll try. It was a solo narration and like that I first started with the chorus. Little by little when somebody was missing I would do supporting roles. Then amma produced this play called Vikurthi. In that I had a minor role. The gradually when people saw me, like Sugathadasa de Silva this famous, veteran theatre director and he wanted me for his new production called Mara Saal. He cast me in that and that’s how I got into the mainstream. I have worked with people like Dharmasiri Wickramanayake, I acted in two of my mother’s productions, K. B. Herath and Pemasiri Kemadasa and that’s how I got in to theatre.

Asoka Handgama was doing stage productions those days and he also did teledramas. I acted in Dunhinda Addara. Gradually I came in to the teledrama scene, but I haven’t acted in many of them. I concentrated more on stage and I was more interested in studies. I wanted to pursue my studies in drama and theatre, but in Sri Lanka there wasn’t the scope for that. While I was at the University of Colombo we had this real unfortunate situation where it was closed for about three years when I was in my final year.

My parents thought they would never reopen and they sent me to India which I didn’t like. I didn’t like the university and I came back. I was really depressed. In 1990 the university reopened and they had the final exam. On the final day Prof. Siromi Fernando called me to her office and asked if I would like to join the department as a trainee English instructor. I said I’d love to.
What she thought was because I had this theatre background I would be able to move well with the students and be a good teacher. Then I gradually started pursuing how to become a good English instructor and I did a postgraduate diploma in English language teaching. Apart from that I was pursuing my acting, drama and I used to travel abroad a lot to see plays.

Then my mother had this institution and to train actors I had to support her and I was involved in her productions for children. Then Asoka Handagama was looking for someone to play a role in his film Sanda Dadayama and a person called Somapala Hewakapuge had suggested me. That’s how I came into films. Then I acted in Satyajit Maitipe’s Boradiya Pokuna. Then I acted in Vimukthi Jayasundara’s Sulanga Enu Pinisa and I’m also there in his latest film. Then there was Prasanna Vithanage’s Akasa Kusum. Then Bennet Ratnayaka did a new film called Ira Handa Yata.

Q: The role you play in Akasa Kusum was originally meant for Damayanthi Fonseka and the director of the film is Prasanna Vithanage, her husband. When Damayanthi Fonseka refused to play you were cast for it?
A: I didn’t know it was given to her. This happened last year and I had my kids after 11 years of marriage. I was just getting busy with Vimukthi’s film and Prasanna Vithanage called and asked what I feel about acting in a film and I said I’d love to do a film with him. I asked when he was going to start shooting and he said he was shooting the same film he had been doing for some time. I thought he had already finished shooting it. Then he said it was being shot in three parts and I was to act in the third shooting. He said the character was to be played by Damayanthi and that she didn’t want to play it now. I said that if things were okay with him and Damayanthi, I mean it’s his wife no, if it was okay by both of them that I wouldn’t mind.

Q: What do you look for in a role to accept it?
A: I don’t know… I generally like to play tragic characters going through trauma. I think I can play them also more than being very flowery or happy. I think I may not do very well with them, but I haven’t tried them either because I’m normally a happy-go-lucky kind of person. I like to indulge in pain. I also feel a lot. I feel for people in pain and it becomes my problem. From my school days my parents were having a time with me because whenever a friend was ill or something I used to be on the phone calling and helping her and my parents were really angry about it. From school days up to now still I’m the ombudsman of my friends. I always have to listen to their stories and I support them and you know… I don’t know if that’s why I prefer to do this kind of role. And people who come to me do come with roles that they know I’d like to play.
Prasanna Vithanage is a wonderful person to work with. He knows exactly what he wants and how to tell it to his actors. I also liked working opposite Malini Fonseka.

Q: What do you feel about the impeding ban on adults only films?
A: It has been resolved because all the directors went to meet thePresident and they had a discussion and it’s not for Sri Lankan art films. They say it’s a misinterpretation. The ban is for imports.

Q: Tell me something about your family?
A: My husband Dr. Chandana Aluthge is working at the University of Colombo at the Department of Economics. He is the Student Coordinator. He is also a theatre person. He has been working with my mother since he left school and he has a very good sense of art, specially music, theatre, dance. He’s a good choreographer, lighting person, he has a knack for all those things. But then he studied economics as well. He did his PhD in the Netherlands. We have two kids, Haimi and Hans. They are two years and three months old, a girl and boy.

Q: What work are you involved in right now?
A: I did a theatre workshop for young people for about six months and one of the components was writing scripts. We have our own theatre group in our organisation. We have this young scriptwriter called Namal Jayasinghe. He acted in Machang and Ira Mediyama. He has developed three short plays and now we’re going to produce it. Again I’m working with child soldiers at Ambepussa. My mother was requested by the Kadirgamar Foundation, but she isn’t here and I undertook the project.

Q: You also teach drama?
A: Yes, actually at the university I was on the permanent staff at the English Language Teaching Unit and I left in 1999. Then I was doing visiting work for the University of Jayawardanapura. Now at the moment I don’t lecture drama and theatre at institutions, but I work on my own. Also, we do classes for drama activity for children. My husband and I are both involved in that. I do casting for people, unofficially, various things like training. Then friends do plays and want you to come and look at them. Also I teach English by force to my young theatre colleagues [laughs].

Q: What about your years at university?
A: I was at the University of Colombo. It was very nice and I had a bunch of friends. Even yesterday a few of us met at a friend’s house because some had come from abroad. It was nice to meet and talk about our university days. There were also problems at university. At that time my father was the Security Commissioner or someone like that. Some boys suspected that I give news to him. And one day they blocked us inside the canteen, closed up all the doors and gave this speech on knowing whose parents work where and of knowing who tells what to whom. Then we were going to have our final exam and they said we shouldn’t sit for it. But a bunch of my friends did go and sit for it. Two guys carrying two hand grenades down towards Dehiwala died when they blasted in their hands. Later they found a list of names on them and my friends’ names were there. There were many fights at university. Suddenly you’d see a big eruption and you’d see people stabbing each other with broken bottles, nothing like this normal hitting with hands. It was like that so, but even with all this I was in the DRAMSOC.

Q: You don’t mind acting in adults only films?
A: Actually the name adults only is so ridiculous. It’s about life you know. In life there are certain things that you don’t tell anybody that you do. They are very personal things. That doesn’t mean that it’s for adults and such. I think it’s for human beings to reenact and redo. It’s okay to say ‘adults only’ so that the people would know not to take their children because our society is very family-oriented. But that doesn’t mean that a film is going to be something nasty. An actor playing life going to that extent, some people have issues with that. Some look down upon actors. Even within the industry it’s like that. I mean, an actor is an actor, a doctor is a doctor. If a girl becomes a doctor she would have to study the male body, she would have to handle male bodies. But nobody looks down upon them. It’s a profession. Because of actors, people are entertained in one way and on the other hand they can see life through other people.

Q: What you’re involved in is what other people resort to as a leisure activity, so what are your hobbies?
A: I love reading. I really like fiction. At the moment I’m reading Haruki Murakami. I read Orhan Pamuk, a Turkish writer. I like Garcia Marquez and I’ve been reading some good Indian stuff the last few days. Recently I got hold of a book of Kafka’s poems that had lots of poems and I love to read novels. I like to read fiction than even fiction. Then whenever I get to know of films that are out of books, I tend to read them also. I like watching films as well, but I haven’t done much of it since the kids came along.

‘Musical Theatre for Children’

Play House - Kotte, the leading Children’s theatre, presents a two day Theatre Festival for the young Audiences on December 5 and 6, 2008, at the Lionel Wendt at 3.30 p.m. and 6.30 p.m respectively. The theatre’s latest creation ‘Walas Pawula’ (The Bears and Goldilocks) as well as the well received Punchi Apata Den Therei (We Know It Now) and “Toppi Welenda” (The Hat Seller) will be showcased on these days.. The festival is sponsored by the HNB Assurance PLC (for the third consecutive year) to promote Children’s Theatre in Sri Lanka and thereby contribute to the well being of the country’s future generation.

In a socio-cultural situation where there is little patronage for good theatre for children and youth, the support extended by HNB Assurance PLC to hold a two-day theatre festival for children is commendable. Tickets for the festival have been priced at affordable rates with a view to reaching a wider audience.

The Play House - Kotte has been organising festivals of theatre for children and youth annually for the last twenty-five years. The institution was established in 1981 by Somalatha Subasinghe to further the cause of Children’s and Youth Theatre in Sri Lanka. The institution was incorporated (as Lanka Children’s and Youth Theatre Foundation-LCYTF) in January 2007 under the Act no. 3 of 2007 enabling it to expand its mandate. In its journey over the past 27 years the Play House Kotte has been able to produce a repertoire of plays for children and youth of a high artistic quality. Some of these productions have been internationally acclaimed. The festival of theatre in December can considered a joint effort by two acclaimed institutions which are working towards to promote social welfare and reconciliation through their chosen fields of activities.

‘Walas Pawula’ is an adaptation of a popular fairy tale ( Goldilocks and the Three Bears’) while ‘Punchi Apata den Therei’ and ‘Toppi Welenda’ are based on well-known international folk stories. All plays are produced as musicals and in the adaptations, new characters and situations have been incorporated particularly to communicate with the Sri Lankan child. The production style of the plays has been developed so as to give the young audiences as well as the whole family an aesthetic journey of entertainment.

Choreography, lighting, costumes, stage props, and music of the plays have been carefully crafted to convey to the young audience a sense of basic art forms and meaningful entertainment. The music enhances the sense of beauty of the visuals generated on stage by the professional theatre group of the Play House Kotte. The composition of music of these dramas has been based on our traditional melodies which are modified and adapted to the present context. The language of these theatre pieces is both musical and performance based. They have been developed in a manner to inculcate in children a sense of pride in their own culture as well as to promote the importance of the institution of family and its values. The lessons of love, humanity and care for nature refreshingly presented in the plays, are thought provoking, and facilitate an intellectual and entertaining discourse with children.

Both plays are written by Somalatha Subasinghe. ‘Walas Pawula’ is directed and choreographed by Dr. Chandana Aluthge and Punchi Apata Den Therei and Toppi Welenda are directed by Somalatha Subasinghe. Music for Walas Pawula is by Tharupathi Munasinghe and M. R. Chulasinghe has composed music for the other two plays.

The cast of the musicals comprises: Wickrama Seneviratne, Rohitha Karunaratne, Wishvajith Gunasekera, Sanjaya Hettiarachchi, Shamaine Gunarathne, Suresh Fernando, Pujitha de Mel, Dilum Buddhika, Dinuki de Silva, Pramudi Karunarathne, Mayura Kanchana, Namal Jayasinghe, Geetha Alahakoon, Ishara Wickramasene, and a number of new comers trained at Play House-Kotte.

Source: The Nation

Familiarizing with the Bard

Author: Sachitra MAHENDRA

Source: Daily News

Date: 7 October 2009

Ceylon, still a dominion in the 1960s, witnesses a massive surge in the country's arts scene. It flows throughout every art medium, stage play, literature and painting to name a few. Many playwrights get into the writing business too.

This reaches a climax in the 1970s, with the youth insurgency. It becomes a political flop, though it influences the art in a positive wave. Most of today's veterans and seniors are the offshoot of the 1970s. Bandula Vithanage belongs to that crowd.

Even at Colombo University Bandula does not hesitate to join Professor Ediriweera Sarachchandra's university drama circle. His performance as Vidushaka in Rathnavali production won much praise from the intellectual crowd.

Bandula Vithanage Picture by Ruwan de Silva

Although he chose Sinhala for his A/Ls he had his primary education in English. He had a wide exposure to the English literature; Shakespeare attracted him the most. Little did he know Shakespeare would change his life and career, by then.

He initiates his journey on the stage by translating Harold Pinter's 'The Collection', and Jean Anouilh's Becket. Bandula takes a massive step in 1980 to translate 'Merchant of Venice' and 'Twelfth Night' (co-produced by Tony Ranasinghe, who did a brilliant performance as Shylock). He has translated 'Hamlet' and 'Comedy of Errors' to this day. Several productions followed on.

"Shakespeare is of course lovely read once you get used to his language style. Of all his works, I think it's 'Macbeth' which is the best."

Though it was 'Hamlet' sometime ago, Bandula has reasons to state so.

"Brevity and suspense brought out step by step makes 'Macbeth' number one in the Shakespeare collection. There are interpolations here and there. But a close scrutiny gives evidence it belongs to Shakespeare."

Unlike most of other Shakespearean works, Macbeth's protagonist himself is a villain, who drives through to the crown killing every obstacle that stands in his way. With all his characteristics Macbeth can be compared with Richard III.

"Inspiration of translating all these Shakespearean works came to me in 1998. I have already done a translation of 'Macbeth' even before, but this is a modified translation. I need to release both 'Hamlet' and 'Macbeth' as two separate translations," he noted.

Vithanage has provided a detailed introduction to his translation of 'Macbeth', which will be released shortly. "Whenever I go to America or any other country I make it a habit to buy whatever publication that has to do with Shakespeare."

Out of all his contemporaries like Christopher Marlowe, Shakespeare could steal the show, because he was a genius, Vithanage says. He could pen down 37 plays and he is considered the national poet in England. His period is considered the golden era of London.

"Shakespeare has magic in his language. Shakespeare himself coined a lot of terms apart from the standard ones. Even the English find it difficult to read these at times." Sometimes even Shakespeare has stolen phrases and sources. Nearly all his plays have a source, out of which he deconstructed and manipulated the plot. For instance Hamlet is taken from a Spanish tragedy. Even the name rings familiar Spanish lineage.

"I fervently believe Shakespeare can influence the Sinhala theatre. In fact, he has already influenced our theatre. Even during John de Silva's time most of the Shakespearean works, especially 'Merchant of Venice' had been staged."

Of all the plays, Bandula had a warm response for his translation of 'Merchant of Venice'. Both 'Merchant of Venice' and 'Romeo and Juliet' have equal attraction in local culture.

Sri Lankan awareness of Shakespeare is now becoming better.

"You should read Shakespeare if you need to learn thorough grammar but our people hardly read more translations than the originals." When it comes to local theatre artistes, Bandula Vithanage has slightly a different opinion.

"We have good theatre artistes like Buddhika Damayantha but they seem to target one specific goal. Once they get an award, they seem to pull out. We have no proper way of organizing the theatre. We have lots of difficulties and hardships organizing the plays. People will often go for low comedies."

Things have turned for the better following the war, he adds. People have a fear-free mind to evaluate one from another.

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Stage plays

1969 Megha Garjana

1971 Gangavak Sapattu Kabalak saha Maranayak

1974 Beckett

1980 Venisiye Velenda

1982 Dolosveni Rathriya (co-produced with Tony Ranasinghe)

1986 Senehebara Dolly

1990 Hiru Dahasa

1996 Romaya Gini Gani

1998 Sikuru Senakeli

2001 Macbeth

2002 Eliya

2003 A Sonduru Minisa

Teledramas

Atta Bindei

Bumu Thurunu

Asal Vesiyo

Yahaluwo

Malaya

Punchi Kumarihami

Puthu Senehasa

In print form

1989 Senehabara Dolly

1995 Hiru Dahasa

1995 Venisiye Velenda

1997 Romaya Gini Gani

1998 Hamlet

1999 Sikuru Senakeli

2000 Hamlet Sandeepani

Awards

1987 State Drama Festival Best Translation production Senehebara Dolly

1990 State Drama Festival Best Translation production Hiru Dahasa

1997 State Drama Festival Best Direction and Adaptation Romaya Gini Gani

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Bandula's stage: a bird's eye view

Megha Garjana

Vithanage starts his career on the stage by producing Harold Pinter's 'The Collection' into Sinhala Megha Garjana. This was in 1969. Pinter's way of expression, short dialogues and simple dialect, impresses Bandula. He was set to introduce it to the local audience. Its original cast included Wickrama Bogoda, Nirmani Kiriella, Piyasena Ahangama and Lal Liyanaarachchi.

Gangavak, Sapattu Kabalak saha Maranayak

"... Vithanage had a difficult task to maintain audience interest... that he succeeded is not only a tribute to actors but also to Vithanage's planning of the stage business, sparse décor and lighting." - Arts Magazine C. B. C.

Vithanage produced the visual poem composed by Simon Navagattegama in 1970. Saman Bokalawela and Prema Ganegoda gave a prominent contribution.

Beckett

In 1974 Vithanage translated Jean Anouilh's Becket. The cast included Lucian Bulathsinhala, Dharmasiri Bandaranaika, Somalatha Subasinghe and Indra Ramanayaka. "I have already watched and read the original play by then. Most of the scenes were inscribed in my mind. I saw an English production of Becket in England at a later date, and I didn't see a much difference." Bandula recalls.

Veniciye Velenda

"I made it a habit to read an important play-script whenever I get a chance. Tony Ranasinghe once saw me reading 'Merchant of Venice' and expressed his willingness to take part if I would translate it for the stage. This was quite an inspiration for me. Tony came to the stage once again after 13 years in this production."

Senehebara Dolly

Vithanage translates and produces Thornton Wilder's 'Match Maker' in 1986.

"Thornton Wilder doesn't try to portray the nature in an extraordinary way. He just creates that scene flow. He didn't believe much in being materialistic on the stage too. That appealed to me a lot," says Bandula.

Hiru Dahasa

Vithanage goes on to translate another Wilder work in 1990: 'Our Town', which won much accolades. The play is popular actress Yasodha Wimaladharma's maiden performance on the stage and she clinched the best actress award. Bandula won the award for the best translation and direction.

"Wilder follows a very simple style in writing this. He wrote about his own American culture in a very simple way. He was skilful enough to make it universal."

Romaya Gini Gani

The translation of 'Run For your Wife' by Ray Cooney in 1996. Late veteran dramatist Bandula Jayawardana penned down his ideas about the play to Daily News.

"The play is undiluted fun and merriment with no pretensions to profundity, wholesomely free from the bitterness of satire and on the other side, from buffoonery and clowning, all the same the goings on reminding us what fools we mortals be. In this process of innocent human frailties, the masculine ones in particular, are revealed without effort."

Source: Abhinaya, Volume IX. 70 Dashakaye Natyakaruvo

A dramatist with a new approach

Author: Sanjeevi Jayasuriya

Like that of many others, Jayantha Chandrasiri’s early entry into the word of drama was not noticeable. But within a decade he revolutionised theatre and cinema alike, becoming a household name.Chandrasiri has infused indigenous theatre into contemporary Western theatre creating an interesting theatrical experiment with success.

Jayantha Chandrasiri is one among the new breed of film directors who has attempted to present something new on the screen. His efforts have been exceptional in quality and content.
Jayantha is no ordinary person. He did not go by the face value of society to produce be it a stage drama, tele drama or a film, the message he wanted was based on rich cultural thoughts.
His born talents, hidden desire and the thirst for exploring cultural and traditional concepts stood out well ahead of times unlike of some others in the field of art.

Jayantha’s journey to the world of arts began when an actor trainer Dr. Norbart Mayarr visited Sri Lanka in 1974 to conduct a three month workshop on drama. There was an opportunity for the young to participate at this workshop and Jayantha was one among them. There were about 25 such professional dramatists who followed this workshop. "I learnt modern drama techniques at this workshop and the trainer stressed the need for reviving our traditional folk drama which were of high calibre. Jayantha’s first stage drama production was ‘Ane Abilick’ which was followed by ‘Saraswathie’. In his dramas he discussed the subject of art being commercialised.

Though his experimental play was not much of a success, he stamped his mark in the drama ‘Ath’ which was produced in 1985. It reached the heights of popularity very soon.
The production of ‘Mora’ was the most memorable as it earned Jayantha awards and laurels including three awards to his credit, in the State Drama Festival in that year.
Winning these state awards changed Jayantha’s life. He was offered a number of scholarships at different intervals. First it was to Sweden when Somalatha Subasinghe took him for new exposure. He went to East Berlin, on a scholarship given by the Cultural Ministry and this tour he considered as most important as he was able to study under the able leadership of Dr. Claus Shakespeare.

His American tour enriched him further with an indepth knowledge of drama and theatre and Jayantha had the opportunity of viewing over 40 American dramas. Jayantha continued with his productions by creating ‘Ottukaraya’ in 1991 and turned into teledrama production in 1993 with his maiden production ‘Weda Hamine’. It was followed by ‘Wes Muhunu,’ ‘Dandubasnamanaya’, ‘Akala Sandhya’ and ‘Rajina’. He has received awards for his outstanding work. Jayantha’s debut film ‘Agnidahaya’ (fire and water) is a film depicting a political destabilized Sri Lanka in the late seventeenth century. The film portrays relationships between people in a village and dissects emotions like love and hatred.

It touches on human relationships not only of that time (17th century) but even most relevant in today’s context. "Man has been separated not only from fellowmen but even from himself. This is the sad reality we are facing in this modern world where everthing is based on monetary values. These are hidden under the shadow of globalisation and nobody has the power to withstand this situation", says Jayantha. Agnidahaya is an eye opener on these human values which are deteriorating at an alarming speed. It also brings out natural human feelings such as anger, jealousy, love and hatred and focuses on the reality of life.

"I did not use the medium of stage drama as a ladder to enter into teledrama production. The entry into film production was based on the suitability of the story I was working on. All three mediums are different from one another and they have separate identities" says Jayantha. He stressed the point on originality in their productions.

He paid tribute to the artistes who offered their best in his maiden film. Jackson Anthony, Kamal, Yashodha, Sanath, Buddhdasa Withanachchi, Gamini Jayalath who played the main as well as support roles.Premasiri Khemadasa’s music creation was a pillar of success for the film and cameraman Ruwan Costa, art director Jagath Imbulpe were introduced to the world of art through ‘Agnidahaya’.Jayantha remembers with gratitude the assistance given by the National Film Corporation’s film development fund for the ‘Agnidahaya’.

If the film industry is to survive we need young, enthusiastic directors of Jayantha’s calibre. He has a long way to go. It may not be smooth sailing but he has all the potential to strike it big.

Ruwanthie de Chickera : For the love of theatre

Author: Farah Macan Markar Source: Sunday Observer Date : 12 June 2005

Ruwanthie

She is a Sri Lankan playwright and director. Her plays have been performed in Colombo, Bangalore, Mumbai, London, Manchester, New Delhi, Manila, Tokyo, Washington and Australia. Her name is Ruwanthie de Chickera.

Born in 1975, Ruwanthie studied in Methodist College, Colombo which was where she first took up to writing drama, working on scripts for inter-house school plays. She had written a couple of poems and short stories before, but it was while scripting drama that her writing became more serious and focused.

An avid reader as a child, and still very much so today, Ruwanthie more or less grew up on Enid Blyton, and moved on to "Just Williams" to Leon Uriss and Jeffrey Archer. Her present reading interest are translations and non-fiction. Among her favourite authors are Milan Kundera, Margaret Atwood and Arundathi Roy.

Together with the influence of her passionate love for books, it was her interest in theatre, which made her want to write. "I'm interested in the art of theatre, which I find in many aspects challenging. My writing stems from a desire to expand an art form and communicate it to the people", says Ruwanthie.

This can be clearly seen in her writing in which she experiments not only with the language, but form, character and subject matter. Each of her six plays has a substantially different style and tone.

Ruwanthie says, "I don't want to pigeon hole myself into a select form of writing, but be free to express my ideas the way I want".

Ruwanthie's writing changes, depending on what she wants to do with a particular project. She tries to stay as simple as possible, without making her writing overly academic or dictated. She tries to avoid writing on themes and instead focuses on a particular subject, which is generally a person. In her writing, she tries to bring something out of his life and character. She is interested in psychology, in individuals and individuals in relation with society. Her writing comes from a combination of observation, imagination and experiences.

As much as she loves the English Language and Literature Ruwanthie wants to broaden her horizons. Her interest is not only in the English Language. Her plays are bilingual and some even multilingual. Ruwanthie says, "My interest is beyond the English speaking audience. I want to engage with the reality of the situation, and try to show this in my writing".

Her first play Middle of Silence written when she was just 19 years reflects her deep insight into human behaviour and relationships. It is a dark play about the power struggle between a husband and wife.

The play won the British Council International New Playwriting Award for South Asia in 1997 and the Gratiaen Award for the best English creative writing in Sri Lanka in 2000.

It was the first Sri Lankan play to be performed at the West End (produced by the 'Royal Court Theatre' in 1998). Middle of Silence was subsequently performed in Colombo by the 'Workshop Players' and in Bangalore and Mumbai by the 'Artists' Repertory Theatre' in 1999. In 2004 it was translated into tagalog and produced in the Philippines by the 'Cultural Centre of the Philippines'.

In her second play Two times Two is Two Ruwanthi wanted to explore with art form. She realised it wouldn't hold unless the characters were three-dimensional, so she made them so. It was also a play based on observation. Two times Two is Two was short-listed for the World Student Drama Trust Award in 1998 and was critically acclaimed by Colombo audiences, being re-run on popular demand, five times in Colombo.

In 2004, it was selected for performance at the Bharat Rang Mahotsav (National Theatre Festival) organised by National School of Drama, New Delhi.

Her third play, The Brick Layer was produced at the Contact Theatre in Manchester in 2002. Her most recent work was two one-act plays- The Jony and Urvashi Show and The Blind Poet based on the work of Indian writer Mahasweta Devi and presented by the University of Colombo and Stages Theatre Group. The production, titled a poet, a puppet and papadam went on the boards in January 2004.

Ruwanthie's directorial debut was her own play Two times Two is Two. Of directing her own plays Ruwanthie says she tries to approach it, as an outside director would, not as a playwright. "Ideally though", she says " a good script is enhanced by the viewpoint of a different director, not the playwright".

Ruwanthie's production Checkpoint-three strangely normal plays introduced Colombo audiences to the concept of Forum theatre. Last bus eke kathawa translated and directed by her was performed in Colombo, India, Manchester and Tokyo.

In 2002 she directed Filling the Blanks, a play written by five new writers, which later became the first Sri Lankan play to be performed at a Commonwealth Games Cultural Festival (Manchester 2002). In 2003, she directed and co-wrote The Mirror Making Factory a play devised with the clients of the National Council for Mental Health.

Also in 2003, she directed Methodist College in Romeo and Juliet which won the Inter School Shakespeare Competition. In 2004, she was also selected to co-direct an international theatrical collaboration along with four more directors of four different countries. This five-director production, which brought together artists from the countries of India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal and Sri Lanka was premiered in Tokyo and later performed in Delhi.

Ruwanthie has participated in many international conferences and workshops in theatre and writing.

In 2001, she was awarded the Presidential Scholarship from the Government of Sri Lanka to pursue theatre studies overseas. In 2002, she was featured in the official Queen's Jubilee Celebrations Publication by the Government of the UK for her contribution to theatre.

She obtained her first degree in English Literature at the University of Colombo, and completed her Masters at the University of Manchester, graduating with a First Class with Distinction. In 2005, she was on the panel of judges for the Gratiaen award.

In 2000, Ruwanthie founded 'Stages Theatre Group' - a theatre group in Sri Lanka committed to producing new plays, encouraging new writing, translations and developing theatre through the workshop method.

Ruwanthie currently lives in Colombo where she works as a freelance writer and literature teacher at Methodist College.

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Haththa: Painting the drama of the street

Author: Malinda Seneviratne
Source: Sunday Observer
Date : 1 November 2009

Prof. Gamini Hattotuwegama

He is recognised as the father of modern street theatre in Sri Lanka. His students have moved from the street to the stage, from stage to television and some even to the silver screen. They owe much to Gamini Haththotuwegama, who, even after many decades of political theatre, does not seem to have moved at all. In his mid sixties now, the man remains in the street, metaphorically and literally.

He was maybe a couple of years senior to my parents at the Peradeniya University, and they called him “GK”. Some refer to him as “Hatha”, some as “Gamini” and others like myself, “Haththa”. My first recollection of this effervescent man goes back to at least thirty years. I had heard my grandmother complaining that “GK hadn’t returned some books he had borrowed”. They belonged to my late grandfather, who died before I was born.

So, a couple of years later, when he happened to visit us, I asked him, quite rudely actually, “where are seeya’s books?” He laughed quite heartily.

I can’t remember if I thought it was funny, even though I have known people to laugh with Haththa, not so much for the content of his jokes but his laugh itself.

It would have been about fifteen years later that I really got to know him.

I was in my second year at Peradeniya. This was just before the bheeshanaya was forced down our throats, although the signs of the impending tragedy were there for everyone to see. My friends, a group of around 25 people, had been “banned” from engaging in politics. It was quite fortuitous then that Haththa happened to be around, as a visiting lecturer in the English Department. He organised a street theatre workshop, which most of us joined not really realising at the point that it had great potential as a medium for political commentary. We ought to have known, however, because by the time Haththa would have logged almost twenty years of uninterrupted experimentation with the genre with great success.

The workshop snowballed into a production, “Sarasavi Kurutu Gee” (Campus Graffiti) which we played at the Sarachchandra Open Air Theatre, better known as the “wala”. If anything captured all the elements, the subtle nuances, the tragedies, the humour and hopes of what being a “student” at that time involved, it was this very deliberately rough collage of incidents, songs, skits put together by a group of around 30 students.

Haththa crafted this production with a series of exercises, seemingly unrelated but all touching on issues pertaining to the university student in a time of political turmoil. We all chipped in with ideas. We took popular songs and parodied them to suit the general temper of the “play”. We made fun of our teachers, the university administration, the government and of course ourselves.

Perhaps what was most educational in the entire process was that we realised that everyone could be an actor. Well, to be more honest, that we all act, all wear masks and therefore “acting” is not something that has to be learnt, but a human trait that is in all of us waiting to be recognised and exploited. Hopefully for beneficial purposes. I am sure that if not for Haththa, Chandraratne Bandara, Priyantha Wickramasinghe and Upul Kaluhetti, among others, would never have dreamed that they had the potential to become excellent actors. We wouldn’t have known either.

Haththa, to my knowledge, had a problem getting a master’s degree. His argument was that there was no one competent to supervise his thesis. That may have been true, but I believe the real reason was that he found it boring to write about what he did - theatre. Being a non-conformist in many ways, Haththa might have found the task of satisfying some departmental requirement too much to take. He had to pay for this intransigence, of course. For too long, he has had to depend on the good heart of department heads for visiting lecturer appointments.

He is a character. A legend, in fact. He had a carefully developed reputation as a man who paid scant attention to physical hygiene, although I am sure he would deny this. During those turbulent years, Haththa often stayed at Marcus Fernando Hall, as the guest of the then Subwarden, Navaratne Bandara. Navaratne once told me, “can’t you tell your sir to at least wash his clothes?” He was smiling when he said this. I am sure it was said in jest. But Haththa’s “haduness” was legendary. I distinctly remember him making quite a cogent argument for non-bathing. He said, “It’s not good to take a bath on the morning of the play, because it could have an impact on your voice. Actually a bath on the previous night might not be a good idea either. Come to think of it, bathing definitely involves the risk of ruining your voice, and the smallest impact might ruin the production.” His guffaws as he meditated thus, were reminiscent of his laugh when he adroitly brushed aside my complaint about the non-returning of borrowed books. In the year 1990, he had to cancel a performance of the Sinhala version of Hamlet at the Sri Jayewardenepura University because he lost his voice. Maybe he had taken a shower, I don’t know.

And yet, unlike most “legends”, Haththa remains one of the most easy going, easily accessed personalities around. I remember him as a man so generous with his time and his knowledge, that he would forget that although theatre was life to him, it was not exactly seen in those dimensions by all his students. His rehearsals would take up entire days. They were at times preceded by a couple of hours by Haththa’s yarns and he had hundreds to relate. Some he would repeat, forgetting that we had heard it all before.

All part of the personality, I believe. Easily forgiven, for he was not only respected but loved too. “Haththa pehedilivama kollek” (Haththa is most definitely a boy). He was and still is I believe, ageless. A wise old man, a teacher, a young man at times as fervent about “revolution” as an undergraduate, and a baby too.

I remember him as an adoring father. His two children, Rajiv and Chamindu, who were fully fledged members of the drama group at Peradeniya even though they were in their early teens, were loved by all of us. Haththa loved singing the immortal theme song, if one may call it, of Sinhabahu. He would launch into “gal lena bindala” at the slightest provocation. I have seen many versions of Sinhabahu over the years, but have never encountered such a powerful and passionate rendering of this song. It has to do with his children and particular circumstances which I do not intend to go into here.

Haththa knows, I am sure. So do we all.

I do know that there are people who see Haththa as just a “street theatre” person. He is much more than that. His knowledge of theatre goes beyond being familiar with one of its many forms. He is an expert on world theatre and someone who can creative fuse the many forms and themes that he encounters. There are others who would be more competent to write about these things. For me, Haththa is an effervescent character, a one of a kind, full of idiosyncrasies, full of vigour, full of hope for the future. I was never fully convinced of the logic of political positions he advocated. I do know however that he has not willingly harmed or wished harm on anyone.

“One day I fell asleep in a Horana bound bus. I got up somewhere close to Horana yelling, ‘budu thaaththe maava beraganna’ (Father, save me). The bus was almost empty and most of the people knew me. If I had been a ten year old, it wouldn’t have been strange. But here I was, a fifty plus man, yelling out to my father!” We all burst into laughter when he related this story.

A man who can laugh at himself is half way towards enlightenment, I believe.

I shall not comment on the other half. I don’t need to, for we live in a world where 99% of those who profess a love for humanity are just play-acting. In Haththa’s case, theatre is a heart that he embraces and acting is the way he pumps this heart so that its message of love and love for the collective effort is sent along all the arteries that feed hope in hungry people.

We need more of his tribe both on the street and out of it, if only because of all the histories, violence, oppression and resistance that are embedded and in fact make up what is so casually and un-politically referred to as “the street”. This street, we must not forget, is not found only in the teeming metropolis. It is in every village, every factory, every school, police station, army camp and even the jail. He has my salute, this man who has never been dazzled by the glitter of the lush avenues. He has my salute, for what it is worth.

Dr. Gamini Haththotuwegama, widely recognized as the father of street theatre in Sri Lanka, and versatile and indeed omnipresent personality in the arts, passed away in the early hours of Friday, October 30, after a long battle with cancer. He was 73 years old. Dr. Haththotuwegama taught both in the formal academic institutions (University of Peradeniya and Kelaniya University) as well in informal settings through innumerable drama workshops. The beneficiaries of his teaching largesse have gone on to become experts and stars in their own right, on stage and on screen. He is survived by his son Rajith and daughter Chamindu. His mortal remains will be moved to the Kala Bhavana for the public to pay their last respect from 10.00 am onwards on November 1. The funeral will take place at 4.30 pm the same day at the General Cemetery, Borella.

Courtesy:http://www.srilankaguardian.org/2008/04/haththa-painting-drama-of-street.html

(This was written in April 2008 by Malinda Seneviratne)

Creator of Quality Children's Entertainment

Author : Asha Senevirathne Source : Sunday Observer Date : 16 November 2008

Throughout history, an innumerable (uncountable) number of literary and artistic creations have been bestowed on us in the form of dramas, songs, films, books......

However, only a handful of these creations have been aimed at children who are considered as the future of the country, requiring proper nurturing and guidance through high quality artistic material.

When we consider the aesthetic sector in Sri Lanka, we come across a veteran dramatist who has produced quality material for children as well as adults. She has done a lot in the area of children’s theatre; perhaps some of the best dramas for children may have been presented by her.

She is none other than Somalatha Subasinghe, who gave local audiences such delightful creations as ‘Thoppi Velenda’, ‘Punchi Apata Then Therei’, and ‘Ranmalee’.

‘Muhudu pathula
yata indala
Muthu etayaka nidi
karala
Pena katiyaka pa karala
Mage dothata puthu
awa......’

Some of you little kids may not be familiar with this song, but it was quite a famous song in the drama ‘Mudu Putthu’ by Gunesena Galappaththi. This was a drama in which Subasinghe had taken part, early in her stage career.

She not only acted in the play, but sang her own songs. There, her acting, melodious voice and rhythm all combined towards an outstanding performance which delighted her audience.

Her stage career began while she was still a student of Musaeus College, Colombo. In the University, her abilities were polished by Dr. Ediriweera Sarachchandra. She proved her ability and talents to the world by acting the only female character in the drama ‘Raththaran’.

Her stage acting abilities were honed further with a lot of memorable characters like ‘Diriya Mava’, the Sinhala translation of ‘Mother Courage’ by Henry Jayasena, ‘Liyathambara’ by Ranjith Dharmakeerthi and ‘Vesmuhunu’ by Dhamma Jagoda among a host of others. She has taken part in Sinhala films as well; most will not forget the characters she played in ‘Viragaya’ and ‘Mahagedara’.

As a dramatist for children, she has made a vast contribution for their benefit. It is not easy to speak to children, but her dramas for children were focused on providing moral lessons through simple stories.

She has successfully attempted to reach and address children from the grassroots level. Her productions have been greatly influenced by veteran Sri Lankan dramatists like Dr. Sarachchandra as well as foreign masters such as Bertolt Brecht.

She says, “Artistes in any field should be committed to promoting social justice and conscience. Although the world is changing, good morals and principles need to be taught to the children.”

She had been striving to develop the talents of children through the Lanka Children’s and Youth Theatre Organisation (LCYTO), a voluntary organisation she founded in 1981. According to her, every child should be happy. Besides food and shelter, theatre and other quality entertainment play an important role in their lives by teaching them many lessons.

The famous veteran dramatist for children, Subasinghe says that adults have a big responsibility when it comes to creating a world which is suitable for children.

“They have to educate children, so that they would cooperate with each other in society and get the strength to live because the child gets everything from his/her atmosphere. When a child is small, he/she is very nice and receives a lot of special attention and treatment. But, later, the adults give up on the child due to many reasons.

We forget that children do what they see, hear, and observe in society. Therefore, society has a responsibility in making a good generation of children without inculcating bad values and morals, and also anger, hatred and jealousy in them.”

She further says, “The child is not an adult, but he/she has his/her own mental and physical needs. Therefore, what we give him/her should be necessary and applicable to him/her. In short, what we give a child should be digested by him/her. If not, the child’s mental and physical system will be damaged.”

Her family atmosphere had greatly helped and influenced her to look at problems with an open mind. Coming from a family of teachers, she also went on to become a teacher. Not content to settle for that, she went on to introduce a new look to the theatre. The awards she has won in many different areas such as acting, directing and production are too numerous to mention.

In a way, we can describe Somalatha Subasinghe as a radical character on and off the stage. She practises what she believes in, and this, as we all know, is not an easy trait to come by.

Children’s theatre

Punchi Apata Then Therei
Thoppi Welenda
Gamarala Diviyalokayata
Ranmalee
Ottooi
Hima Kumariya
Walas Pawla

Stage dramas with her participation

Vikurthi
Para Haraha
Sanda Kinduru
Mudu Putthu
Pawara Nuwarak
Opera Wanyosi of Wole Soyinka
The trial of Dedan Kimathi
Yadam
Antigone
Mavakage Sangramaya

Pix: Priyantha Hettige

The Curtain falls on an era

Author: Ajith Samaranayake
Source : Sunday Observer
Date:03/Nov/2002

Sugathapala de Silva with SLRC Chairman M.J. Perera at the Navayugaya awards ceremony in 1987.

The death of Sugathapala de Silva last Monday at the age of 74 after a long illness evokes a sense of epochal loss. For if Ediriweera Sarachchandra gave the Sinhala theatre a local habitation and a name by taking it to its roots in folk drama Sugath as everybody knew him, accomplished the next task of bringing the new theatre to the audiences of the 1960's. It has been said of the Russian novel that it emerged from Nikolai Gogol's 'Great Coat.' In the same sense all serious Sinhala drama of today has emerged from Sugathadasa de Silva's womb although he may not have fathered them himself.

Dissatisfied with his own translations and adaptations of the plays of Moliere, Gogol and Chekhov (done in collaboration with E.F.C. Ludowyke and A.P. Gunaratne) Sarachchandra after studying the Japanese folk theatre turned to our own nadagam, kolam and sokari plays and the thovil ceremonies to seek the roots of an indigenous theatre which would evoke a resonance from the soul of a people only recently liberated from the imperial yoke. The fruit of this labour was, of course, 'Maname' his refined adaptation to the stage of the original nadagama as enacted by Charles Silva Gunasinghe Gurunnanse of Balapitiya.

The ‘Loveable Dictator’ as Sugath sought to describe the role of the director in the theatre.

He reached the apogee of these labours with 'Sinhabahu', his own play where with skilful stylised movements, memorable poetry and haunting music he was able to narrate the story of the origin of the Sinhala race and suggest through it a contemporaneous generational gap. But by the early 1960's the stylised form had spawned mindless imitators who had made a caricature of Sarachchandra's mode. What is more, there was the feeling that the mode had exhausted itself and it was this new thinking which Sugath's generation represented. This was a generation of bi-lingual youth either of urban origin or who had come to Colombo in search of the pot of gold at the foot of the rainbow. They were a middle class generation working in newspapers or the advertising industry.

They were also excited by the new trends in English literature, drama and the cinema. Most of them were grouped round the 'Sinhala Jathiya' paper (published by Gilbert Perera of the Perera and Sons family) and the magazine 'Dina Dina' edited by Anandatissa de Alwis. The late Cyril B. Perera recalls in a tribute to Neil I. Perera how of a Sunday, Neil would somehow find the money to watch a film with a couple of friends to the accompaniment of a few bottles of beer, a packet of kaju and a packet of Bristol cigarettes! Basically outsiders to the Big City these young men would chase the sun down into the sea with their conversation which centred on bringing about an awakening in the arts.

It was out of these conversations that the idea of forming 'Apey Kattiya' emerged. Established as a loose artistic grouping at the now extinct Indian Club in Kollupitiya it took the Sinhala theatre by storm with such plays as 'Boarding Karayo' and 'Thattu Geval.' But it was not confined to drama alone. Sugath himself brought out several novels during this time such as 'Asuru Nikaya' and 'Biththi Hathara' later made into a film by Parakrama de Silva.

Sugath was no doubt inspired by dramatists such as Tennesse Williams and Pirandello translating or adapting successively their 'Cat On a Hot Tin Roof' and 'Six Characters in Search of an Author' but there was no doubt that he was a natural dramatist wishing to break through the mould of the proscenium arch. Technique which he used at the time such as a character running up on stage through the audience were revolutionary for their times and was like a whirlwind blowing through the claustrophobic corridors of the Sinhala theatre as well as ossified middle-class manners and morals.

This was a personification of the aspirations, satisfactions and frustrations of a new urbanised generation which was burgeoning in the 1960's.

But if in the 1960's Sugath expressed an existentialist sense of alienation, by the 1970's he had become a more overt politically inclined dramatist and writer. By this I do not mean that he ever waved a party flag or fell victim to the wave of socialist realism which swept the arts sometimes in deference to the new United Front regime led by Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike in 1970. Sugath was too percipient a writer for that. In fact there is no other artist in Sri Lanka (With the exception perhaps of Gunadasa Kapuge) who has been so battered by the bludgeon of blind political power as Sugath. However Sugathapala de Silva never fell into the intellectual error of confusing personal political convictions (which he firmly held) with partisan party politics.

His best play will perhaps remain 'Dunna Dunu Gamuwe' which was made in the aftermath of the 1971 Insurrection. Although centred on a trade union struggle (which might have looked like small beer to the brave insurrectionists) it had an admixture of politics and art expertly mixed with technique and aided by some superb acting by the late U. Ariyawimal and W. Jayasiri was the percussor of the serious political theatre which followed at the end of the decade.

In that sense Sugathapala de Silva will remain the one bridge which brought together the realistic theatre of the 1960's with the absurdist theatre of the 1970's and the post-modernist theatre which followed. Whether it is Simon Navagaththegama, Parakrama Niriella, Dharmasiri Bandaranayake or the latest star Rajitha Dissanayake all of them owe their origins to Sugath. Some may have followed his politics and others his techniques and some a mixture of both but the debt is beyond doubt and will certainly not be challenged.

Born in Nawalapitiya, the son of a small trader, Sugath grew up in that peculiar milieu of small town commerce with its mix of Sinhala, Tamil and Muslim traders. He has portrayed these experiences of Colombo and Nawalapitiya in different ways in the novels 'Ballo Bath Kathi,' 'Ikbithi Siyalloma Sathutin Jeevathvuha' and 'Esewenam Minisune Me Asaw' which were peculiar political novels in their own ways. Here we see the agonies and ecstasies of a newly-arrived class, their gradual evolution into a national bourgeoisie and finally their bid to challenge and even dialodge the old comprador class. As a political novelist Sugath was no propagandist and was too subtle a writer to make overt political statements but all his work is shot through with his sense of immense humanism and his hope for a better society for the wretched of the Sri Lankan earth.

A self-made man Sugath was widely read and belonged to a class of self-reliant and self-supporting artistes who are now extinct in the country.

Even though politically battered, economically derelict and at times his family itself scattered he never gave up hope or went behind the patronage of politicians. Even though bed-ridden for the last several years he did important translations the last being Shyam Selvadurai's 'Funny Boy' which was released only last month.

This showed his readiness to keep up with the young and the latest in literature and ideas even in the seventh decade of a crowded life.

Sugath worked for long at the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation as a producer and in the late 1960's was in charge of the weekly radio drama and the weekly short story programs which were the first stamping grounds of writers and dramatists who are today well-known in their own right. But he himself led no school or cult and 'Apey Kattiya' was a loose democratic organisation with no formal structure although he was certainly its undisputed leader or the 'Loveable Dictator' as he sought to describe the role of the director in the theatre.

In both the theatre and literature Sugath can be seen as an early percussor of post-modernism, a much abused term today. One of his earliest novels 'Asura Nikaya' was a depiction of the silver screen of the 1950's and 1960's when stars were worshipped as gods and goddesses. 'Biththi Hathara' was about the aimless life of a philandering young man adrift in the heartless city. In 'Hitler Ella Marai' he re-created the life of Adolph Hitler in his own idiosyncratic manner.

Sugathapala de Silva was almost the last of a generation. This was a time when Government servants like Henry Jayasena, S. Karunaratne, Sugathapala Senarath Yapa, R.R. Samarakone, Sandun Wijesiri and Dharmasiri Bandaranayake (to name only a few which presently come to mind) were active in the theatre and the cinema although receiving no duty leave for these cultural activities.

The cost of living was reasonable and a middle-class family could go to the theatre or the cinema without much strain on the family budget. Buses ran late into the night so that they could go back home. The Lumbini and the Lionel Wendt theatre were hives of activity before the Centre could not hold any more.

Today, however, we live in the electronic age which some call progress but where much of the decencies of life have been lost. Sugath himself was a victim of this decay and death of decency but watched it all with a philosophic detachment from his sick-bed in a ground floor Moratuwa Soysapura scheme flat.

Many of the luminaries of 'Apey Kattiya' such as Cyril B. Perera, Neil I. Perera, Augustus Vinayagaratnam and G.W. Surendra went before him. He follows them bringing down the curtain not only on a full and chequered life but also a cultural era in our troubled country.

Of theatre and gangsterism

Author: Indeewara Thilakarathne
Source: Sunday Observer
Date: 23/Aug/2009


Although the beginning of theatre can be traced back to the very beginning of the civilisation, the origin of folk theatre and dramatics can be traced to the ritualism of Vedic people of the second millennium BC. The rudiment of folk theatre consisted of dance, food, ritualism and depiction of events of the daily life. It was this depiction of events of the daily life which subsequently led to the birth of classical theatre.

Like the Peotics of Aristotle, it is the Natya Shastra of Bharata Muni which greatly influenced the Asian theatre. It was Natya Shastra which for the first time laid a firm technical foundation for drama. Extremely wide in scope, Natya Shastra describes in minutest details not only the precepts for the playwrights and actors but also ten types of drama, principles for stage design, make up, costume dance ( diverse movements and gestures) and a theory of aesthetics (Sasas and bhavas).

According to Bharata Muni, bhavas are the emulation of emotions that actors perform while the rasas (emotional responses) are those that inspire the audience. He lays down eight principle rasas; love, pity, anger, disgust, heroism, awe, terror and comedy. He points out that a play should be made up of diverse rasas but a principle rasa should dominate the play and all modes of expressions of an actor such as speech, gestures, movements and intonations should be used in a play.

However, the epics that first emerged from India were The Ramayana and Mahabharata which inspired generations of playwrights and still influence the work of art. Noh, Bunraku and Kabuki make up of Japanese theatre. Modern European theatre was dominated by realism. However, subsequently the tradition of realism was challenged and young dramatists experimented with theatre leading to the birth of host of new traditions such as epic theatre, absurdist theatre, and postmodern theatre. The landscape of twentieth century theatre was dominated by aesthetic movements such as Naturalism, Realism, Dadaism, Expressionism, Surrealism, Absurdism, Postmodernism as well as principal playwrights including Luigi Pirandello, Bertolt Brecht, Antonin Artaud, Konstantin Stanislavski, Harold Pinter, Eugene O'Neill, Samuel Beckett, Dario Fo and Tony Kushner.

Sri Lankan theatre

Early Sri Lankan theatre was greatly influenced by Indian theatre and drama.

Nadagam, a form of folk dance from India can be considered as the rudimentary form of Sinhala theatre. The next important phase of Sinhala theatre was the Tower Hall era which was dominated by early form of Sinhala drama referred to as 'nurthi'. The principal dramatists who dominated the landscape of theatre at the time were C. Don Bastian, W. John Perera, E.Y Perera, D. Bartholamus and John de Silva. Though John de Silva came into the scene much later, he virtually dominated the era.

However, it was Prof. Ediriweera Sarachchandra who converted rudimentary form of Nadagam into Proscenium stage with his seminal productions Maname and Singha Bahu. Prof. Sarachchandra, who was a scholar of international repute, was not only influenced by Western Classical theatre but also by Japanese traditional drama such as Noh and Kabuki. It was in 1959 with the regime change that Sarachchandra made Maname.

Maname and Sinha Bahu marked a watershed in Sinhala theatre. They are not only masterpieces in theatre but also prominent in the use of refined language, local idiom and techniques of theatre. For the first time, English medium theatre critics of the time, acknowledged the higher quality of the production.

One of the prominent characteristics of Sinhala theatre, from its very inception, was that the productions were influenced by the socio-cultural dynamics and the milieu in which the dramatists lived. While John de Silva's plays were intended to instil patriotism in the population, Sugathapala de Silva's plays were critical of the establishment. Sugathapala de Silva was greatly influenced by ideology of the leftist politics in general and Marxism in particular.

Sri Lankan tradition of ballet, though grew outside the mainstream theatre, has been moulded under the larger-than-life shadow of Chitrasena. It was the seminal productions of Chitrasena such as Nala Damayanthi and Karadiya which formed the anatomy of Sri Lankan ballet. The Chitrasena School which Chitrasena and his wife Vajira founded has produced generation of theatre personalities such as Ravibandu Vidyapathi and Channa Wijewardene. Perhaps, the singular contribution of Chitrasena to Sri Lankan theatre and drama was the adaptation of dying traditions such as Up Country, Low Country and Sabaragamuwa dance into proscenium stage and thereby preserving the corpus of indigenous knowledge associated with these traditions.

Gangsterism in theatre

With the socio-cultural transformation from feudalism to capitalism, the economic base for lineage-based school of tradition such as Garanas (generation of teachers by lineage) and traditional teachers of dance was eroded to a greater extent.

India which is home to a divergent group of such traditions and Garanas, has absorbed effectively the traditional form of art into its flourishing system of university. One of the benefits of institutionalisation of lineage-based schools of traditions is that the ability to tap a vast pool of talents from diverse parts of the country. It is an undeniable fact that informal sector, such as so-called academies of dancing have ganged up to project themselves as the saviours of traditions while distorting the image of the university. For instance, some theatre personalities, beyond doubt they are talented, are refusing even to visit the university, have sought media sponsorship from cheap media institutions for their performances.

The attitudes of some of the theatre personalities are anachronistic and out of touch with the reality. For instance, how can one be cultured if one serves one's teacher with a plastic cup of inferior quality while serving themselves with porcelain cups. The act smacks of class prejudices and is in the first place inhuman.

Gangsterism has denied stage for university graduates to perform. These so-called academies of dancing have virtually denied access of cultural units of diverse countries based in Colombo to university by tarnishing the name of the university.

Though there is absolutely nothing wrong in sponsoring academies of dancing, if the cultural unities intend recognising talents and tapping the growing talent base in universities, it is imperative to sponsor and aid the activities of the universities.

Ape kattiya dared to differ

Author: Madhubhashini Disanayak

Source : The Sunday Times

The young Sugathapala de Silva
In an article published two years ago in the drama magazine 'Preksha', Simon Navgattegama speaks of a group of young players who had made a major contribution to drama in our society - the group 'Ape Kattiya' (Our Group). He concludes:

The change that occurred during the fifties and sixties in the Sinhala stage can still be seen in a mature form today. The change that Navagattegama speaks about is the portrayal of social problems on stage - the bringing in of social realism on to the field of drama that had been swept away into the form of stylized drama with its plots taken from myths and legends, distant in time and space, with the success of Sarachchandra's 'Maname' in 1956.

Though it is hard to agree with the belief that the universal themes that stylized drama usually dealt with had no relevance to the present, there did exist a criticism (and still does, as apparent in the article 'Hitting at Maname' in The Sunday Times of 16 February 1997) that the form that took the country by storm did not deal with the problems that affected its people.

Navagattegama speaks of the challenge of producing realistic drama in the fifties when the powerful "Peradeniya School" was propagating the stylized form which they considered to be closer to our traditional roots. '"Luckily for modern Sinhala drama, Ape Kattiya was stubborn enough to follow their own vision with obstinacy, completely ignoring the enormous challenge posed to them by the Peradeniya school."

Sugathapala de Silva: Optimistic about the future of Sinhala drama
"The first name that comes to mind when I think of Ape Kattiya is Sugathapala de Silva", says Navagattegama. Banduala Jayawardena in his newest book "A brush stroke sketch of contemporary Sinhala theatre 1950-1980" (1977) says, "These plays (Sugathapala de Silva's Bodinkarayo - 1961, and Thattu geval - 1964) of the Ape Kattiya were in fact a concurrently growing protest movement against the so-called stylized theatre of tradition.

Sugathapala de Silva named this genre Thatvika or realistic drama, implying apparently that the plays which utilized myth and had lions, kings, princes and princesses for characters, had no relevance to reality. Plays of the Ape Kattiya, were on the other hand full of characters one meets in urban streets, boarding houses and mercantile offices...."

When there seems to be some interest in assessing the worth of stylized theatre in the field of Sinhala drama, it seemed fitting that we should meet the man who is supposed to be one of the founders of the opposing trend.

"I am against the word 'opposing'," says Sugathapala de Silva. "An artist is supposed to be a man of sensitivity. What has anger against another artist got to do with that kind of person? At that time what we wanted to show was that the stylized form was not the ultimate method. We had enough confidence in ourselves to go ahead and do what we believed in. We wanted to do the best we could - not put someone else down."

Also, the playwright believes that the form is subjugated to the content. He feels that the content itself would determine what the form of the drama should be. If we look at the last play of Ape Kattiya "Maratsad" (1987), we see that he does not hesitate to use a form that is far removed from realistic drama, when it suited what he had to say.

'We should be open to all styles from all over the world and enrich ourselves with what we can get," he says and this view shows why he feels that translations and adaptations have a positive influence on the drama of any country. "If we did not have drama from other countries to compare our productions with, then we can deceive the people here that everything we do is good.

"There must be a yardstick for people to judge. And why is it that we consider it all right to borrow from the West when it comes to Science and Technology, and it is wrong to do so in the field of art?" he asks, as a response to another belief that bringing in adaptations and translations of foreign playwrights was detrimental to original work produced within the country.

For Sugathapala de Silva, drama is, one way of expression. ln his involvement in it, he did not have a clear cut desire to serve any other idea than the desire to create. "Theatre is what I chose to express things I wanted to communicate. It is the expression that is important. The medium comes to one. Perhaps if my father had bought me a racing car when I was very young, driving may have been the medium of expression. Who knows?"

According to Bandula Jayawardena, however, Mr. de Silva's contribution has far reaching consequences: "But a daringly different tendency (than the drama that was done under political patronage) had been initiated in 1972 by Sugathapala de Silva in Dunna Dunu Gamuwe which had for background a company strike with trade union leaders, blacklegs and middle class wives as in Jayasena's Mana Ranjana Vada Varjana but the play ends entirely on the side of the strikers... the play opened the doors for an outburst that had been silently simmering among youthful playwrights. It took the form of a play of protest. Hindsight would make of Dunna a virtual Pandora's Box..."

Mr. Jayawardena feels that "neither de Silva's first attempt at traditional stylization in Nil Katrol Mal (1967) nor his Nandivisala (1977) attempting to make satirical use of a Jataka, nor the host of translations and adaptations he produced had as far reaching an influence as the Dunna."

It is not only in stage drama that Sugathapala de Silva has made a change for the better. His 19 years at the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation had resulted in the radio plays done by the Sinhala Service at that time, becoming enormously popular. Since he had already had experience in stage drama it was not difficult for him to deal with radio plays, he says and apart from introducing many newcomers into 'Guvanviduli ranga mandala' (radio drama) he himself wrote scripts for it.

Says Palitha Perera, now the Director of the Sinhala Service, who worked in the same unit with

Sugathapala de Silva when de Silva first joined the SLBC, "Sugath had a very good sense of judgment, when it came to understanding the worth of scripts and the skill of newcomers. That was of enormous value." Sugathapala de Silva says that it was by watching Palitha Perera, who had preceded him at the unit, that he learnt how to tackle this new medium. As a response to that, Palitha Perera smiles to say, "coming from such a man as Sugath, that would be one of the greatest honors I could get."Sugathapala de Silva is also a writer of novels, now working on his seventh. His first novel,

Biththi Hathara (1963) (The Enclosure) which was turned into a film, has a protagonist whose life seems to have resemblance to the writer's own, specially with regard to the death of the mother at a young age, and the death of the closest friend in his youth. Asked about it, de Silva smiles to say, the first novel would always have an element of autobiography.Biththi Hathara is a story of a young man's journey through various relationships, of his finding (and losing) himself through his contact with others in the process of growing up. The criss-crossing of time in the novel though somewhat confusing to the reader, gives it, even at that point, an element of audio visual art. For a first novel, the depth that he explores with regard to the complex process of living and of feeling alive is impressive.

In his novels too one can see a trend that parallels his theatre work. There are novels - original and translated - that deal with political issues. His Ballo bath Kathi (Dogs eat rice) deals with the life of a high politician, with all its intrigues, complexities and hypocrisies. His fearlessness to tackle issues that are most often left alone is still apparent when he speaks of Shyam Selvadurai's 'Funny Boy's as a work that he might consider for translation. Homosexuality is not a theme that is usually dealt with in Sinhala literature. De Silva had touched upon that theme earlier in a drama and even in his novels, aspects of sexuality dealt in a forthright manner.

Born in 1928 in Weligama, de Silva studied in a few schools in Galle and after passing the tenth grade from Jinaraja College, Gampola, came to Colombo. The expectation of his uncle, who took care of his education, was that he should study to be a doctor. But one look at the frog that he had to cut, put an end to that education.

As a boy he had been exposed to the popular Tower Hall plays and the Minerva plays of the time, brought to Gampola by his uncle. With his grandfather, he had visited the many thovils that the grandfather had been very fond of seeing. And his curiosity to learn more about art had led him to books and a great deal of reading and learning. With such a background perhaps the decision not to be a doctor may not have surprised many. Also, in Colombo, his exposure to the world of art was greater and he made full use of it by going to see as many plays as he could.

His various jobs after that time included teaching English, and working at the K.V.G. Bookshop, where he could continue his dearly loved reading. It was when he was working on the newspaper, 'Sinhala Jathiya', that he was one of a group of young men who met regularly at the Indo-Ceylon Cafe to sip tea and bite into a wade and discuss art, and exchange ideas found in books that they had read individually.

The others of the crowd included Cyril B Perera, G.W. Surendra, Vipula Dharmawardena, Ralec Ranasinghe and so on.

"I used to criticise the plays that were running at that time quite a lot" says Sugathapala de Silva, smiling at the recollection. "And once, Cyril said, then you do one and show us. That was when I wrote Bodinkarayo".

That script was entered into a drama competition organized by the Arts Council in 1962. It won awards for the best script, best production and the best male actor. Just to prove that this was not a fluke, de Silva wrote his next play, Thattu Geval in the same style.

"To enter Bodinkarayo to the competition we had to fill a form which had asked which group was presenting the play. We just put 'Our Group' (Ape Kattiya) there," says de Silva speaking of the name that had since then become very well known in the field of Sinhala drama.

Another legend in this field, that of Maname and Sarachchandra, of whom it is generally believed, Sugathapala de Silva stood in contrast according to the recent article 'Hitting at Maname' comes to mind. Among other things, it does not seem fair to criticize Maname for the paucity of its imitations. And to think that Sarachchandra himself admitted that Maname did more harm than good in Sinhala drama, is to miss Sarachchandra's subtle humour and sarcasm completely.

Perhaps it is fitting here to mention that various forms of art, once created in a country, can only enrich it. Art grows in opposition and contrast. Sometimes the reason something new grows is the existence of the old.

Mr. De Silva himself is a proponent of enrichment by whichever way it is possible and holds that form really is incidental to what has to be said. His contribution to Sinhala drama has not been slight and even now the spirit of his creative power takes him to more modern mediums like the teledrama with equal vigour and enthusiasm.

With a cheerfulness that seemed characteristic, De Silva admits that it is becoming increasingly difficult to produce stage dramas, when television attracts most of the talent, but admits that it is inevitable, given the financial difficulties that most people have to face.

But he speaks with optimism about the future of Sinhala drama. He has detected a trend of upcoming young men in this field, who produce plays for the sheer joy of its creation. They are dedicated enough to the art not to be lured into commercial, popular productions and in them, he sees hope. And when such a man as he, who has been so long in the field and has done so much by his work, does not consider the future to be too bleak, perhaps we too can take heart.

සත්වෙනි අනුස්මරණ දිනය නිමිත්තෙනි

Author: ශෂී ප්‍රභාත් රණසිංහ
Source :Silumina

සුගතපාල ද සිල්වා නමැති සොඳුරු ආඥාදායකයා මිය ගොසින් මේ ඔක්තෝබර් මස 28 වෙනි දාට සත් වසක් සැපිරේ. සුගත් ගැන බොහෝ දෙනා බොහෝ දේ ලියා කියා ඇත. එහෙත් මේ සකල කලා වල්ලභයා ගේ කලා නිමැවුම් පිළිබඳ තව ම ප්‍රාමාණික ශාස්ත්‍රීය විචාරයක් ලියැ වී ඇතැයි මම නො සිතමි.

ඔහු පිළිබඳ මගේ මතකය ඈතට දිව යයි. දෙතුන් වතාවක් පමණ මුණ ගැසී කතාබහ කොට තිබුණ ද මා ඔහු ගේ කලා නිමැවුම්වලින් ලද ඉගැඹුරු බිඳුම් අපමණ ය. සොඳුරු ආඥාදායකයා අනූහතේ සිට රෝගාතුර විය.

ඔහුට අංශභාග රෝගය වැලැඳී තිබිණි. එහෙත් ඒ ගත සිත දුබල වූයේ නැත. වෙව්ලන ඇඟිලි තුඩු මත පන්හිඳ රුවා ගත් හේ ශ්‍යාම් සෙල්වර්දෝර් ගේ ජ්භදදර ඕධර නමැති නවකතාව “අමුතු ඉලන්දාරියා” නමින් සිංහලයට නැගුවේ ය.

අවුරුදු 74 ක් පරම ආයුෂ විඳ නිහඬ ව අප අතරින් සමුගත් සුගත් උත්තරීතර සමාජවාදය උදාවෙන තුරු මඟ බලා සිටි කලාකරුවෙකි. එහෙත් මේ රටේ ව්‍යාජ සමාජවාදියෝ ඔහු ජීවත් ව සිටිය දී ම උත්තරීතර වූහ. වමත් දකුණත් සොයා ගන්නට නො හැකි ව ව්‍යාකූලත්වයට පත් වූ රටක ඔහු තනිව ම නිහඬ ව හුදෙකලා බුද්ධිමය අරගලයක නියැළුණේ ය.

අභිනව චින්තන විප්ලවයකට මුල පිරු හේ නව කල්පනා සිහින දැකුම් සමාජය හමුවේ කියා පෑවේ ය. 1972 වසරේ දී “අනේ දෙව්දත් නොදුටි මොක්පුර” නමැති කාව්‍ය සංග්‍රහය රචනා කරමින් සුගත් ස්වකීය බුද්ධිමය අරගලය මොනොවට පැහැදිලි කළේ ය. නිදසුනක් ලෙස එකවි සපුවෙහි නිමැවුමක් පහත හකුලා දක්වමි.

මොළ නෙලූ එකෙක්

රාක්ක මොළවලින් පුරවා

පොත් ගුලක හිර වී

කාවන් සමඟ සටනක

මොළ ගසා කෑ එකෙක්

සේප්පු කාසිවලින් පුරවා

රිදී යතුරු කැරැල්ල

විල්ලු ද කොට්ටය යට සඟවා

නොමැරෙන බේත් සොයන සටනක

(අනේ දෙව්දත් නොදුටි මොක්පුර - 17 පිට)

පූර්වෝක්ත කාව්‍ය නිමැවුමෙන් එදා සුගත් පැවැසූ පරිදි අද තිබෙනුයේ ද මොළ ගසා කන්නන් ගෙන් ගහන කුණු වී ගිය සමාජයකි. මේ සමාජයේ මොළ සූරා කන්නන් මිසක මොළ නෙලන්නන් දක්නට නැත. ජීවිතයේ රිද්මය සිය කාව්‍ය නිමැවුම්වලින් විමැසූ සුගත් පුද්ගලයා ගේ ධී සවිය පිළිබඳ අනවරතයෙන් ම කතා කෙළේ ය. ගතානුගතික වැඩවසම් වහල් චින්තනයෙන් වියුක්ත වී සිය සාහිත්‍ය කලාංගයන් සමාජ සංවාදය සමඟ සම්මිශ්‍රණය කිරීමට ඔහු ගත් ප්‍රයත්නය සුළු පටු නො වේ.

නාට්‍ය, නවකතාව, කවිය වැනි නිර්මාණ මාර්ගයන්හි මෙන් ම විචාර මාර්ගයෙහි ද සුගතපාල ද සිල්වා නායකත්වය දී තිබෙනුයේ මෙකී බුද්ධිමය අරගලයට ය.

ජීවිතය

කෙළ පිඩකි

අලුයම ලූ

මේ කෙළ පිඩ

බුද්ධියේ

අනුදක්නයෙන් අල්ලා

ජීවිතේ රෝග නිධානය සොයව්!

(අනේ දෙව්දත් නොදුටු මොක්පුර - 14 පිට)

සමාජ විඥානය ග්‍රහණය කරගත් විශිෂ්ට කලාකරුවන් අප අතර සිටිනුයේ අතළොස්සකි. එයිනුත් සුගතපාල ද සිල්වා සියුම් විචක්ෂණශීලිත්වයෙන් හෙබි සුවිශිෂ්ට කලාකරුවකු බව මම කියමි. ශෛලීගත සම්ප්‍රදායෙහි සිර වූ සිංහල නාට්‍ය කලාව ඉන් පරාරෝපිත කොට ඊට තවත් රූපයක් තිබෙන බව තිරසර ලෙස භාවිතයෙන් ම සාක්ෂාත් කළ නාට්‍යවේදියා සුගතපාල ද සිල්වා යැයි කීම අතිශයෝක්තියක් නො වේ.

සිංහල නාට්‍ය කලාව සුපුෂ්පිත කොට සුපෝෂණය කිරීම සඳහා බටහිර සම්භාව්‍ය නාට්‍ය කලාව සේවනය කළ සුගත් සිය අසමසම කලා ප්‍රතිභාවෙන් ද සියුම් ගැඹුරු ප්‍රඥාවෙන් ද උතුම් මනුෂ්‍ය ධර්මයෙන් ද පොහොණ වූ අප්‍රමාණ කලාකරුවෙකි. ඔහු ගේ විස්මිත කලා මෙහෙවර සිංහල නාට්‍ය, නවකතාව, කවිය මතු නොව ගුවන් විදුලිය ආදි ක්ෂේත්‍ර ගණනාවක් ඔස්සේ විහිදී ගිය මහා ප්‍රවාහයකි.

ගුවන් විදුලියෙහි සුගත් කළ විප්ලවයක් ලෙස ගුවන් විදුලි නාට්‍ය හා කෙටිකතාව ප්‍රමුඛ තන්හී ලා ගිණිය හැකි ය. කෙටිකතාව වූ කලී වචන පෙළකින් ඔබ්බට ගිය රස පද්ධතියක් බව ඔහු භාවිතයෙන් ම පෙන්නා දුන්නේ ය. ජාතක පොත, සම්භාව්‍ය සාහිත්‍ය මෙන් ම මාක්ස්වාදය ද පිළිබඳ චීරපරිචිත අවබෝධයකින් යුතු දුර්ලභ ප්‍රාඥයකු ලෙස ද ඔහු සිය රංග කලා හා සාහිත්‍ය භූමිකාව තුළ කැපී පෙනේ.

සුගත් ගේ නාට්‍ය නිෂ්පාදනය සහ අධ්‍යක්ෂණය අරබයා වූ පුළුල් දැනුම්වත්භාවය සහ අවබෝධය ඔහු විසින් 1988 පළ කළ සොඳුරු “ආඥාදායකයා හෙවත් නාට්‍ය නිෂ්පාදක” නමැති කෘතියෙන් වටහා ගත හැකි ය.

ඒ හැරුණු විට “මරාසාද්” වැනි දැවැන්ත පරිවර්තන නාට්‍ය නිෂ්පාදන හරහාත් සුගත් ගේ නාට්‍ය සම්පාදන කලාව විද්‍යමාන වේ. පීටර් වයිස් ගේ (Peter Weiss) මරා - සාද් (Marat - Sadc) නාට්‍ය දුෂ්කර පිටපතකි. එහෙත් නව වාමවාදී කතිකාව නිරූපණය කිරීමට ඔහු මේ දැවැන්ත නාට්‍ය කෘතිය පරිවර්තනය කොට වේදිකාගත කෙළේ ය.

සුගතපාල ද සිල්වා ගේ විශිෂ්ටත ම ස්වත්‍රන්ත්‍ර නාට්‍ය “දුන්න දුනු ගමුවේ” නාට්‍ය යැයි කීවොත් එය අතිශයෝක්තියක් නො වේ. දුන්න දුනු ගමුවේ පුරා දශකයක් පුරා මෙරට නගර, උප නගර, ගම් නියංගම් සිසාරා ගමන් කළ දැවැන්ත නාට්‍යයකි.

ගැමි රඟ මඬලින් ඔබ්බට ගිය නව නාට්‍ය සම්ප්‍රදායක් සඳහා පුරෝගාමී වූ “දුන්න දුනු ගමුවේ” සමාජ සංවාදය කැටුව අවතීර්ණ වූ මහාර්ඝ නිර්මාණයකි. කම්කරු සමිති නායකයකු ස්වකිය පන්ති සටන හා අසරණ වූ සිය බිරිඳ - දරුවා අතර මැදි වී කරන සන්ත්‍රාසජනක විඳවිල්ල මෙන් ම ලාංකේය කාන්තාවන් ගේ කැපවීම පිළිබඳ පණිවිඩය ද රැගෙන ආ මේ නාට්‍ය එවකට සමාජයේ මතු වූ කැකෑරිල්ල ද සුවිශද කෙළේ ය.

සුගතපාල ද සිල්වා ස්වකීය කලා නිමැවුම් කෙරෙන් ලාංකේය කාන්තාවන් ගේ අධ්‍යාත්මය විනිවිද දුටු මාහැඟි කලාකරුවෙකි. ඔහු විසින් නිෂ්පාදනය කළ “හිත හොඳ අම්මණ්ඩි” නමැති නාට්‍යයේ එන බර්ටෝල් බ්‍රෙෂ්ටි ගේ කාව්‍ය නිමැවුම පූර්වෝක්ත කරුණු කාරණා සනාථ කරන ආකාරය බලන්න.

ඉවක් කෝ? තැනක් කෝ?

දස්ස මිනිහට රටේ

වාසනා ගුණ සිඳුණු

පිදිය යුත්තන් නොදත්

දස්කම් විස්කම් ඔප්පු කරන්නට

අනුබල අනුහස තල්ලුව ඕනෑ

දස්කම් විස්කම් ඔප්පු කරන්නට

විලක්කු පාලිය රඟන්න ඕනෑ

(අනේ දෙව්දත් නොදුටු මොක්පුර - 20 පිට)

නිස්සන්, සුදුස්සන් නො ව පුස්සන්, ගැත්තන් රජයන සමාජයක දක්ෂයනට වැඩ කිරීමට අවස්ථාවක් කොහින් ද? දක්ෂයාට අද සමාජයේ ඉඩක් නැත. ඔහුට කිසියම් ආස්ථානයකට අවතීර්ණ වීමට නම් දූෂණයෙන්, වංචාවෙන් ජීවත් වන බඩගෝස්තරවාදී අමනෝඥයන් ගේ ඕනෑ එපා කම් ඉටු කළ යුතු ය. කාන්තාවකට නම් ඊටත් වඩා බොහෝ දේ පරිත්‍යාග කිරීමට සිදු ;ව්.

උඩු යටිකුරු වී ගිය සමාජය දෙසට සුගත් ගේ විමංසානාක්ෂිය යොමු වන ආකාරය කෙතරම් නම් අගනේ ද? සුගත් ගේ නාට්‍ය මෙන් ම කවිය ද මනුෂ්‍යත්වයේ පැහැයත්, සමාජයේ රිද්මයත් මුසු කොට සුපුෂ්පිත කළ පුෂ්පයක් බඳු ය. සංවේදී මනුෂ්‍ය හදවතට අනවරතයෙන් ම පෙම් බැඳි සුගත් මිනිස්කම අලුක්කාලක්වත් නැති ජරා ජීර්ණ සමාජ සංස්ථාවට අතුල් පහරක් එල්ල කරන තවත් අපූරු කාව්‍ය නිමැවුමකි මේ.

අහම්බෙන් මෙන්

විශ්වයේ කොහේදෝ තැනක

මොකක්දෝ පෙරළියක් වූ

අමාවක පෝ දාක

කිරි බැබළෙන හඳ එළියේ

ඇහින්දෙමි මම

උණුවෙන හදවතක්

“කාටද ඕනෑ උණුවෙන හදවතක්

කවුද ආශා උණුවෙන හදවතක්”

කෑ ගෑවෙමි මම

හදවත් නැත්තෝ

නහුතක් දෙනා

“එපා එපා” මුර දෙති

අහක බලාගෙන

අනේ දෙව්දත් නොදුටු මොක්පුර - 40 පිට

අද්‍යතන සමාජයේ හදවත් ගැනීම මෙන් ම පිදීම ද ගනුදෙනුවකි. පුද්ගලයා මූලික කර ගත් ආත්මාර්ථකාමී මිනිසුන් රජයන සමාජයක හදවත් ඇත්තෝ කවුරුන් ද? උණු වෙන හදවතකින් මේ ගොරතර සමාජයට කුමන නම් පලක් ද? මේ අරාජික සමාජයට අවැසි වනුයේ රළු පරළු ගොරහැඬි හදවත් ම පමණි.

එහෙත් හදවත් නැති මිනිසුන් අතරේ වුව ද සුගත් හදවතින් ම අපූරු සිහිනයක් දකියි. ඔහු ස්වකීය කලා නිමැවුම් කෙරෙන් විමැසුම් කෙළේ ද එකී මනරම් ජීවිතය යි. මෙනයින් ජීවිතයේ යථාර්ථය සොයන පුද්ගලයන්ට සුගත් ගේ මාහැඟි කලා නිමැවුම් සත්‍යයේ කැටපතක් බඳු ය.