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.

Tuesday 16 February 2010

Ashley Halpe - Intellectual beacon to the nation: Fruitful years of literatus and academic giant

Prof. Ashley Halpe, the doyen of English language education in Sri Lanka, marked 50 years of service as an academic here and abroad. In retrospect, his corpus and thousands of students he produced were only a part of the rich legacy of Prof. Halpe. The multi-faceted personality of his spreads into many territories such as paintings, poetry and a remarkable works of translations.

Perhaps an important facet of Prof. Ashley Halpe's character is the writer, dramatist, painter and poet in him. His burgeoning creativity has found avenues of expression in diverse media such as in paintings, and creative writing.

His rich and insightful poetry shed light on a vast terrain of human activities and social upheavals and cover wide range of subjects. He casts his poetic net upon the vast tapestry of social fabric bringing the everyday experiences as well as social upheavals under its scope.

Poet of distinction

For instance, the poem titled 'April 1971' which has been on the 1971 youth uprising, epitomizes the brutal crackdown of the insurgency.

'Young bodies tangled in monsoon scrub or rotting in river shallows, awaiting the kind impartial fish, and those not dead - numb, splotched faces, souls ravaged by all their miseries and defeats"

In another poem titled 'Memoranda of July', Prof Halpe revisits 'Black July' perhaps in a more creative manner.

"About sacks on shoulders in orangeness About hands slipping from

Bloodstained branches Welcome, torturers and redeemers".

Here, it is obvious that unlike most of the academics, Prof. Halpe is always sensitive to developments in political and social spheres. The 'Black July' would have been a devastating incident for gentle professor. It is this profound shock that he recreates in the above stanza.

Perceptive translator

As a translator, Prof. Halpe is marked for his economy of expression and attempt he made to stick to the original zest of the work. This characteristic is amply manifested in most of his translations and particularly in his translation of Martin Wickremasinghe's ' Madol Doova'. Although it is not possible for one to translate the zest of the original work from one language to another, Prof. Halpe's English translation of ' Madol Doova' is perhaps, a mirror image of the original work in Sinhalese.

In the mass of his translations, Sigiri poems would have been a gigantic academic exercise. However, he has succeeded in the endeavour, resulting in production of poems in English. The Way of the Lotus, and Madol Doova, translations of Martin Wickramasinghe's seminal works have been hailed as one of the best translations available in English of Wickramasinghe's work.

Madol Doova has been a prescribed textbook in the Ordinary Level English Literature syllabus.

Outstanding academic

In a paper, presented to be published in Singapore in a work on Sri Lankan Literature in English edited by Prof. Thiru Kandiah, Prof. Halpe observes the evolution of Sri Lankan drama and theatre in English which goes back to rudimentary early productions by Ceylon Amateur Dramatic Club and staging of plays of European origin by English Schools established in the middle of 19th century and the Norman School which, subsequently, became the Government Teachers' College.

Prof. Halpe discusses the influence that English theatre on Sinhala theatre of the day, especially, in the context of revival of drama and theatre in the University of Peradeniya. The movement was spearheaded by Prof. E.F.C Ludowyk and Prof. Ediriweera Sarachchandra.

E.F.C Ludowyk produced 'He comes from Jaffna', a brilliant adaptation with distinct Sri Lankan characteristics, situations and language.

Researcher par excellence

Prof. Halpe's paper titled 'Sri Lankan Literature in English' which he contributed to the publication 'Sri Lanka's Development since Independence: Socio-Economic Perspectives and Analyses' edited by Weligamage D.Lakshman and Clement A. Tisdell and Published by Nova Science Publishers Inc., Huntington, New York, shows the academic excellence and shedding insights into subject matter.

In his essays, Prof. Halpe treats the subject at hand in its entirety and digging into the very bedrock in the formation of Sri Lankan Literature in English, examining the limited corpus of work in English penned by Sri Lankans during the latter part of British occupation in Sri Lanka.

Inter alia, he observes that English was exclusively used in the state affairs in the post-colonial Sri Lanka. However, insignificant number of Literature in English was produced in the period.

Among other things, Prof. Halpe observes that though English had been used exclusively in the affairs of the state following the departure of British from Sri Lankan shores, very little Sri Lankan Literature in English was produced during the period.

At first, Sri Lankan writers in English were not able to express 'native sensibility' in their adopted tongue. However, he pointed out, in the latter stages, Sri Lankan Literature in English has evolved in scope, devising a diction which is capable of expressing authentic Sri Lankan experiences.

"Lankan Literature in English developed strength and sophistication and greatly extended its range as its practitioners arrived at 'a sense of real things'. Viewed another way, it is when this 'sense' penetrated this literature that it became for readers , particularly Lankan readers, materially integrated with their reality and , at least, potentially, a powerful agent of critical revaluation in a period of confusion and dismay" states Prof. Halpe in capturing the essential characteristics of Sri Lankan English."Interestingly, this arrival of prose comedy in English and on the Lankan stage chimed with the arrival of the same dramatic type in Sinhala. This is not surprising, since Ludowyk was associated with Ediriweera Sarachchandra and the members of the 'Sinhala Ranga Sabha' in the search for a 'modern' form for Sinhala drama.

The group has decided that a form could be evolved by beginning with adaptations of European comedies and the Ludowyk/Sarachchandra Kapuva Kapothi, an adaptation of Gogol's Marriage, had been a memorable result" comments Prof. Halpe on the early stage of Sri Lankan theatre in English.He pointed out that by now several playwrights have carved out niche for themselves in Sri Lankan theatre in English and the contemporary productions are rich in variety and their orientations.

"Sri Lankan theatre and drama in English today is a congeries of forms, styles and tendencies.

Thus Jehan Aloysius uses the masked dancers of ritual and Kolam drama to express one aspect of his meaning in The Ritual and the form of the music in Rag, and Ruwanthie de Chickera built a play around an immobilised protagonist in The Middle of Silence, experimented with time in Two Times Two and with forum theatre in Checkpoint. "states Prof. Halpe of the stature and nature of Sri Lankan contemporary drama and theatre in English.

Although one may not be able to exhaust the vast body of works authored by Prof. Ashley Halpe within a limited space, I believe that the little citations I made are suffice to taste the genius on the part of the author and the ground that his studies and numerous academic papers cover and their lasting contribution to the body of knowledge in specialised areas.

At the Literature conference "Towards Twenty First Century; Cross Cultural Identities in the Contemporary Sri Lankan and British Writing" organised by the British Council in 1999, when Prof.Ashley Halpe and Aparna Halpe presented their papers, victims of circumstances intimated to me of how Prof. Halpe's benevolent intervention, once enabled talented students, currently outstanding academics to complete their post graduate studies when a Satan in academic garb blocked their passage to excellence.

In fact, one salvaged student is now fully-fledged Professor attached to a prestigious university while the other is an academic and writer teaching at a leading university abroad. They are also insightful researchers and critics in the wide spectrum of language studies and literature.

Prof. Ashley Halpe remains as an intellectual beacon to dispel the darkness of ignorance. He bears the bright torch left behind by generations of academics including his guru Prof. E.F.C Ludowyk.

A critique on the State Sinhala Drama Festival of 1966

'An actor is one who is made and not born' should be the motto of Sinhala theatre Subject matter of realistic conversational original Plays in 1960's

(This is a translation of a critique by Prof. Ariya Rajakaruna. He served as the Head of the Department of Sinhala of the University of Peradeniya. He is currently a visiting lecturer attached to the Department of Fine Arts and Sinhala. This is the only comprehensive review written on any State Sinhala Drama Festival held during the past five decades. This review was first published in 1967.This critique has been translated for the first time)

Continued from last week



Prof. Ashley Halpe
Lasting contribution....



Kaushalya Fernando
Actress and dramatist of all times; listens amidst few genuine artists.

Some others rejected the introduction of Sinhala dramas through adaptations and translations of Western style drama to Sinhala theatre. They appreciated the dramas with songs and instrumental music as indigenous dramas.

Critic of drama should not be a person who has a grudge on some traditions of drama. He should be able to understand the specific needs of theatre in eastern nations. High quality dramas should not be jettisoned merely because they came from America or Russia.

Some critics were ignorant of on what basis dramas should be appreciated. There are many instances where success or failure of a drama is judged unjustifiably.

Some who completely jettisoned "Hele Nagga Don Putha "and " Ahasmaliga" as failures, considered "Vesmuna" as a successful production. What is the reason for such a judgment? It seems that all three dramas have been adapted to suit Sri Lankan life. On this count, "Vesmuna" cannot be considered superior to the other two dramas.


Stage play Weeduru Diva

Considering the needs of the Sinhala theatre, these dramas have positive as well as negative characteristics. Therefore, it is not fitting to describe these dramas as total failures or outstanding successes. Critics' judgments reveal that they have very little knowledge of the requirements of Sinhala theatre.

There are few critics who made their criticisms considering stage decorations, costume, make-up, lighting, acting and the plot of the drama in arriving at conclusions. Some do not consider, at all, of the attempts made to attract audience by using techniques of theatre.

As those critics had little understanding on Sinhala language, they often came to wrong conclusions with regard to the use of language on the stage. Some, who have no understanding on the history of contemporary Sinhala theatre, expressed ill-informed opinion on the importance of certain productions.

Some appreciated only the dramas that arouse feelings. Most criticism lost discipline. On most occasions, misleading and provocative headlines have been used for drama criticisms. Some articles revealed the anger of the critic after the performance.

There are some criticisms with the sole intention of attacking the dramatists. Some spoke on things that they are ignorant of.

If a drama becomes successful it was over-acclaimed and denounced when a drama became a failure. The objective of the critics should be to highlight the shortcomings of productions in a spirit to enlighten the readers and to encourage the dramatists to overcome them. Some critics expressed pertinent and progressive views. They help to increase audience's interest in theatre and be an aid to clearly understand the production.

What are the criteria adapted in criticizing Sinhala drama? All the productions presented for the festival can be jettisoned as they are not high quality productions such as Maname and Sinha Bahu.

What is the benefit this will bring Sinhala theatre? Talents shown by Sinhala dramatists on creative dramas are limited. However, their dramas with a lot of weakness would make a certain contribution to the development of future Sinhala theatre. What happened at their hand is only paved the way for the emergence of talented dramatists. A developed theatre can be built through the weaknesses of the present dramatists.

Eleven drama societies took part in the festival. The organizations Group 63, Kalapela Sankruthika Sangamaya, Naatya Chakra, Navaranga Samuluwa, Janaranga Shraniya, Sinhala Sangeeta Sangamaya, Tholosdena, Ape Kattiya, Deshiya Sankrutika Mandalaya, Taruna Sankruthika Sanvidanaya and Rangamandalaya have presented dramas for the festival.

In addition, Henry Jayasena, J.H Jayewardene, Sunanda Mahendra de Mel, Ameradasa Jayatunga and Chandrasena Dassanayake, as individuals, presented dramas. It seems though the associations differ, actors and actresses as well as technical staff are often the same persons.

A person who portrays a character on behalf of one drama associated, acted as a director for another. This would not augur well for the development of drama.

The 'Programme' of the festival shows that still it has not been decided on the proper usage for describing technical aspects of drama. Usages such as " Stage plan' Stage decorations, theatre plan, stage creation, theatre decoration, stage beautification' have been utilized to describe same concept.

Some use "Make up and costume design" to bring in the same meaning. Some use "Make up " for "costume design" and meant only for 'Dress making'. Some dramas, use 'Music Composition' and some others "Music Direction".

Even some are 'produced' while others were "formed". It is imperative that consensus should be reached on the vocabulary use to describe technical aspects of the drama.

Remarkable duo in hill country

Author: Ranga Chandrarathne

Source: Sunday Observer

Date: 08/01/2006


Prof. Ashley Halpe and his wife Bridget.
Pic by Saman Sri Wedage

It was one of the fashionable, calm but unusual houses situated in a fashionable quarter of the hill capital, Kandy. The house looked like a museum of the arts. As soon as I stepped into it with my able photographer, what I experienced first was the sight of enthusiastic students who had come to study choral music under Mrs. Bridget Halpe.

It was indeed a most suitable abode for such pursuits as music and literature. The house is set against a well-maintained garden and surrounded by tall green Atthika, Damunu, Haveri Nuga and other trees, providing an aura of serenity, while the veranda gives spectacular views of the Hantana range and Primrose Hill. There is no doubt that the cool fresh air that pervades the atmosphere would breathe fresh ideas and much needed artistic freedom into the enthusiastic students as well as visitors to this abode of the Halpes.

Brilliant career

After a brilliant career at the University of Ceylon/Peradeniya as Professor of English for thirty three years, Professor Ashley Halpe is now retired. But he and his wife Bridget are still leading quite a busy life contributing to all spheres of human activity.

"I attended De Mazenod College, Kandana, upto what we now call O/Ls and then I went over to St. Peter's as De Mazenod had no science teaching for the University Entrance - I was a science student then. I was admitted to the University of Ceylon in 1952. I was in the first batch that came to Peradeniya in 1952 - there were only nine hundred students on the Campus then! I graduated in 1956 and in the same year Bridget entered the University", said Professor Halpe reminding us of a golden era of his life and certainly of the University of Ceylon as it was then called .

"He came as an English lecturer and I was one of his students. That's how we met. We had a wonderful time in the campus as undergraduates. I must say we were not like present-day students. Campus was an exciting place and we took part in every possible activity", said Mrs. Bridget Halpe, of the kind of student life they had on the Peradeniya campus.

"In fact we were more comfortable in campus than in our homes", said Professor Halpe. "My father was a teacher with seven children. Much of my childhood was spent in Kandana. My father, though trained as a teacher of English, rapidly moved on to administration. He was interested in cadetting and was an officer, so during the war he volunteered for service.

For some time, he did administration for the army, and when he came out of that he became a government teacher. He was the Principal of the Havelock Town Senior School, now called Lumbini", he said.

Mrs. Halpe's father was a civil servant. Most of her childhood was spent in Colombo and in Galle. Her father, Victor Fonseka Abayakoon was in charge of elections in the Western and Southern provinces. Bridget had to change schools whenever her father was transferred.

As an infant she began her schooling at St. Mary's Convent Matara, then to Holy Family Convent Dehiwela and then in Galle she attended Sacred Heart Convent. She was one of the few who got direct admission to the University of Ceylon in 1956. She said that the university training instilled a sense of disciplined reading in her.

It was when she went to England that she began to discover her talents in music. While Professor Halpe did his PhD she turned to specialising in music, and in England she was intrigued by the vast horizon it presented. She did the LRAM (Licentiate of the Royal Academy of Music) in pianoforte performance, in London, while simultaneously taking the B.Mus courses in the University of Bristol. Since then her hobby has become her career; in fact she started her teaching career in England.

Mrs. Halpe has also been the President of the Kandy Music Society for many years. The society is a forum that provides an interactive platform for music of diverse traditions, Western, Sri Lankan and global. In the activities of this society, music is presented to the members and wider audiences.

Exuberant

Visiting musicians from various countries perform in Kandy, enriching cultural life and exposing local music lovers to diverse musical traditions. Every year the society holds a "Young Performers' Concert" to promote young talent in and around Kandy and a Choral Festival, to which all school choirs in and around Kandy are invited. These events are multicultural and are not confined to Western "Classical" music alone.

It should be mentioned here that Bridget Halpe has kept The Peradeniya Singers alive. The group started in 1953 as the University Singers under Robin Mayhead from the University of Cambridge and consisted of campus students.

This group as Peradeniya Singers, so named because it now includes many non-university people, continues to present many concerts annually.

Following the tradition of residential universities, they have always shared their lives with university students.

Their house became a centre for the meetings of different student societies, while Professor Halpe's work as University Proctor, Director of Welfare and with the Dramsoc constantly brought students into their lives, sometimes in the middle of the night! as ardent Catholics, the religion has had a profound influence on their lives and no doubt on the service they give to others.

Apart from numerous academic papers and articles to professional journals both local and international, Professor Halpe has translated major Sinhala literary works such as Martin Wickramasinghe's Madol Duwa and Viragaya into English, besides doing versions of several Sigiri Poems.

He has also served as Dean, Faculty of Arts, has been a visiting lecturer at the University of New England, Armidale, Australia, Honorary Fellow, Clare Hall, Cambridge and twice Visiting Professor to the USA in the Fulbright Programme.

Genius in Fine Arts

He is also a critic and poet with three volumes of poetry to his credit. The government of Sri Lanka has conferred the titles of "Kalakeerthi" and "Vishvaprasadhini" on him, and the French government that of "Chevalier dans I'ordre des Palmes Academique".

A little known fact about him is that he is also a gifted painter whose works have been exhibited at the Sao Paolo Biennale in Brazil and at the Royal West of England Academy. He has also been active in theatre and has directed several productions for the University Dramsoc.

Both Halpes have contributed to the drama activities of the wider community eg. producing Twelfth Night in Sri Lankan costume, MacIntyre's Let's Give Them Curry and EMW Joseph's The foreign Expert with the Kandy Players.

They have frequently helped Kandy schools with their presentations at the Shakespeare Competitions and their productions won first place for Trinity College in 2003 while Trinity and Girls' High School were adjudged as the best outstation schools last year (2004).

Both Professor and Mrs. Halpe keep an open house for students, friends and family, always welcoming them and guiding and counselling whenever needed. It was evident from the gleaming eyes and the manner in which they spoke of the past that the duo had led a very good life.

Professor Ashley Halpe

Author: Fazli Sameer
Source: Lankan Personalities
Date: 15/12/2008

A well known figure in the corridors of Pera and in the music, drama and literary fields, Professor Ashley Halpe now 75, talks of what has shaped his life to Kumudini Hettiarachchi.
Be it sitting on a panel with eminent literary scholars, teaching Shakespeare to fresh-faced 16-year-olds or singing his heart out on stage or at mass – one thing marks him out as “different”.The endearing quality that many great academics lack is ingrained in this professor who needs no introduction.

Humility is Professor Ashley Halpe’s hallmark and sitting before him in his daughter’s home in Mount Lavinia, while his “beloved wife who has unfailingly fed my spirit” Bridget is teaching piano to a boy, The Sunday Times attempts to gain an insight into what has made him what he is.

Prof. Halpe whose name and life have inextricably been linked to literature and the University of Peradeniya for long years, has just reached three-score years plus 15. He celebrated his 75th birthday on November 19.

To find an answer to what makes him tick, Prof. Halpe journeys back to his childhood…..and picks on the great influence his father had on him. “He had a crucial impact. He put books in our hands. Being an excellent artist, he guided me but never thrust literature or art down my throat,” he says. His father, known fondly as Captain Vernon, as he was a Cadet Officer had been the Principal of Lumbini Vidyalaya when the theatre was created there, subsequently becoming the home of Sinhala drama.

Books, books and more books…….a constant flow, enriched by the travels across the country, from Talaimannar to Matara or to the east or the hills. For his father had railway warrants.
In his childhood, Prof. Halpe had never been a Colombo boy, except for a short stint, the final years of the H.Sc. which he spent at St. Peter’s College, Bambalapitiya. Starting his school career at the Montessori at St. John’s College, Panadura, followed by a few years at Holy Cross College, Kalutara, he believes that it was later at De Mazenod College, Kandana, and St. Peter’s College that he was offered more than education. “The primarily Catholic environment was tangible, real,” he says, successfully and naturally nurtured by committed teachers including the Brothers of that order. De Mazenod also had a tradition of choral singing.

Talking about the years when he was studying to get admission to university, he says there was no competition. “If you passed you were in university. The stimulus was the work itself and you competed with yourself.”

St. Peter’s also had a strong tradition of music and drama and that was where the young Halpe was drawn into acting. It was also there that he faced the academic challenge of an open prize system, where whatever the student was studying, science or arts, he could compete for prizes in the other stream. “I tried for every conceivable prize…….this gamaya, while all the other boys were mainly from Colombo 4 itself, and collared three from the other stream (he was doing science) apart from the class prize.”

But never a bookworm, he was also heavily involved in music, choral activity, debating and sports such as cricket, football and tennis, though he was “never very good at cricket”.
Poetry and sketching had always been a passion………a “fantastic holiday” spent at Minipe coming to mind where his uncle who was working there had taken him to see anicuts, birds et al. They would explore the land and this impressionable youth would write poetry “in my head”, come back and reproduce it in exercise books. He also did a lot of sketching.

Suddenly Prof. Halpe remembers the three libraries – De Mazenod, St. Peter’s and also the British Council in Colombo -- which played a major role in his life. The reading was “not streamed and I read what I felt like reading”, science books as well as Eliot, Dickens, Walter Scott, Chaucer, just to see what they were like.

The next “big change” in his life came along with a “shock” to his father who wanted him to become a doctor or scientist when he changed track and decided that it was the arts for him. Facing a gruelling interview he got into university to do arts.

Into the full life of the campus of the University of Ceylon, in the beautiful setting of Peradeniya his “encounter with English”, started early in life, became strengthened. It also opened up new and exciting vistas. Though cut off from Colombo, the hub for concerts and exhibitions, those at Pera, as they call it, never felt “deprived”.

“We did our own thing through Dramsoc (Drama Society) with E.F.C. Ludowyke introducing us to famous directors of the time like Jubal. Around that time, the students also formed themselves into the University Singers, which later became the Peradeniya Singers, under a lecturer in English, Robin Mayhead,” he says. Twice a week for half-an-hour Mayhead put them through their paces in four-part harmony in a cappella style.

The grandeur of nature was just a short walk away. “We savoured the hills about two or three times a month.”

“But it was not only academic and cultural,” adds Prof. Halpe. “Pera was also a world of people. Relationships meant a lot and life-long friendships were forged here.” It was as a young lecturer at Peradeniya that he met his life’s partner, Bridget, whom he says he “grabbed” in 1957 when she joined as a fresher. They married in 1959 and have been inseparable since then, even now travelling down to Colombo by Intercity together to teach students, he English and she music and singing. Family life with their three children was also very important amidst all the work.
For Prof. Halpe, Peradeniya provided every kind of experience, witnessing first-hand the inevitable politicization of the university, the tussles, the group rivalries and also being part and parcel of the tense times…1968 stands out when there was a standoff between the undergraduates and the army. He was Proctor (dealing with discipline) during the challenging years of 1971 (when the country agonized over the first youth insurrection) and would be out of home which was on campus itself for long hours. “There were calls in the middle of the night, there were visits to Bogambara Prison and also Pallekelle and Weerawila camps on behalf of the students.”

Down the years, before the country experienced Black July ’83, some people “jumped the gun” and attacked Tamil students, he recalls, and the students just disappeared, fearful of staying at Peradeniya. It was Prof. Halpe and Dr. Premasiri who were instrumental in getting them back. “We persuaded the lecturers to gently refuse to teach until all students, including the Tamil students, were back in class.”

July ’83 found about 10,000 people fleeing from the violence beingprovided shelter at the Hilda Obeysekera Hall. 1988 -89, the beeshanaya period was “a naked kind of conflict with young people at risk,” says Prof. Halpe.

Retiring from university in 1998, the bonds have not been severed, for he has been invited to continue teaching as a Visiting Lecturer. “Teaching is part of my life,” says Prof. Halpe, while he also continues to direct plays and paint. Not only does he teach at university but does so privately to students sitting the Advanced Level and external degree both local and London. This is what sustains them along with Bridget’s music and singing lessons as they “plunged all my retirement benefits into a house we built at Anniewatte”.

To the public Prof. Halpe and painting are not common knowledge. Drawing has always fascinated him and once again it was his father who took him to the Royal Primary School Principal H.D. Sugathapala who in turn introduced him to Harry Pieris of the famous 43 Group. Prof. Halpe was 18 at that time. Soon after he met Neville Weeraratne. An uncle of his also took him to see Donald Ramanayake and he was the first artist who gave him some tips on choice of colour to suit Lankan landscapes he was dabbling in at that time.

A long and illustrious life. As Prof. Halpe faces a new year, what hopes and plans for the future?To publish as a whole his works that have remained in journals and notebooks, he says, adding that though at the moment it is a fallow period for him as an artist “a canvas on an easel in my room” awaits.

Impressions on the sand of time : An indelible mark on culture



Prof. Ashley Halpe

Prof. Ashley Halpe became a Professor of English at the tender age of 31 thus becoming the youngest professor in the country. He is currently the most senior Professor of English, and can fittingly be described as the doyen of English Education in Sri Lanka.

Professor Halpe’s contribution to the corpus of work is substantial and of lasting value. He served in academia holding many positions including those of Dean, Faculty of Arts at the University of Peradeniya, Head of the Department of English for over twenty-five years and concurrent Head of Fine Arts for several years and as visiting professor in numerous foreign universities.

He has authored a substantial body of books, including creative works, and academic papers besides translations of Sinhalese works into English and has directed over a dozen theatre productions.

Q. Why do you think Sri Lankan Literature both in Sinhala and English is increasingly becoming one-dimensional and imprisoned within the context of an island mentality and little known beyond our shoreline? Some have observed that Sri Lankan writers’ confining themselves to anecdotal writing have contributed to this imperfection. Comment.

A: Well, I do not think it has been becoming increasingly one dimensional. Writing today actually reaches in many different directions. For instance, there is Tissa Abeysekera’s writing in his three-part novel in English, In my Kingdom of the Sun, and poetry such as that of ‘Rajan Perera’, Lakdasa Wickramasingha and Richard de Zoyza where there is exploration of varied experiences and forms of language.

There is Carl Muller’s melding of several registers of the English used in this country to match the range of experience he covers in his works, as in The Jam Fruit Tree, Yakada Yaka, Colombo and The Children of the Lion, and the lively exploration of theatrical idiom by several writers from Ernest MacIntyre to Ruwanthi de Chickera.

In Sinhala, you get writings such as the experiments with language of Ajith Tilakasena, Eva Ranaweera and Simon Nawagaththegama in Dadayakkaraya, the poetry of Parakrama Kodituwakku, Buddhadasa Galappathy - a list would be lengthy.

So you find there is the opening out. And an opening out did take place in its own way in the older literature of Martin Wickramasinghe, Siri Gunasinghe and Gunadasa Amerasekara in Sinhala or R.L. Spittel, S.J.K. Crowther et al in English. They made a very big input exploring Lankan experience certainly. But now people are certainly moving the frontiers.

I would also say looking at those very writers that there isn’t a confinement to anecdote. There is, sometimes, experimental exploration even of experience and while granting you there is a lot of anecdotal writing, a lot of narrative, that’s true of the broad spectrum of writing anywhere.

Q. How do you think Sri Lankan writers could cross National, Geographical, Cultural and Linguistic boundaries?

Answer: I wouldn’t make a programme of it or make any prescription. Because I think that it is something that happens according to the sensibility of the writer and his experiences. I have implied in my last answer that crossing occurs.

It happens inevitably as in the story Three Cities by Sumathi Sivamohan where a diasporic character, the protagonist, goes from Jaffna to Colombo and then to Paris, where crossing occurs as a result of “ethnic” trauma. Then you get the effect on our writers of diasporic experience for other reasons.

There are people who have just gone for academic reasons or found more space for writing in foreign environments. Writers like Yasmine Gooneratne, who has now come back, Chitra Fernando, Chandani Lokuge, and Ernest MacIntyre in Australia and across on the other side of the world, people like Romesh Gunasekara and Shyam Selvadurai. Michael Ondaatje was born in Sri Lanka but says he found himself as a writer in Canada.

His first well-known novel In the Skin of a Lion, was set in Toronto. He comes back to Sri Lanka though in Anil’s Ghost and The Cinnamon Peeler (poetry); In Divisadero he goes out again. There is the “Sun Man” in exile, Rienzie Crusz ... our expats have an important place in the picture.

So there is no rigid limit that binds the writer. Some writers cross limits by exploring the other areas of consciousness which would not be limited by local and cultural boundaries. It is wide open.

Q. How can Sri Lankan writers in English in general and especially the Diasporic writers, in particular, use the English language to textualise a discrete Sri Lankan sensibility?

A: This is something which bugs me a lot. What is a distinctively ‘Lankan’ sensibility? For that matter do we judge Lawrence by distinctively ‘English’ experience? I think what happens is that the sensibility that gets expressed can have a distinctive ‘Lankanness’ or ‘Londonness’ or whatever.

That is simply the part of the nature of personality and therefore of expression. There are times when language is modified by the writer’s own roots in local language or local cultural experiences such as in Tissa Abeysekera’s In My Kingdom.

You find in Jean Arsanayagam, Lakdasa Wickramasingha and even in the older Patrick Fernando moments where the writer uses something that’s right out of the Sri Lankan world.

For instance, one image in Patrick Fernando comes from the kitchen: “The sky cracked like a shell again and the rain poured through” which exactly echoes the splitting of a coconut. And then Lakdasa speaks of a “behind shed” (Pitipasse or Pilikanne Maduwa). So it just happenes according to the possibilities of situation and you find a variety of expressions.

Q. From the colonial era to the present, how do you perceive the changes that have been taken place in Sri Lankan Literature in English? Do Sri Lankan writers devise a unique language and an idiom that is capable of expressing authentic Sri Lankan experience although English has been and is used by less than 3% of the Sri Lankan population?

A: It is now quite well known that in the early colonial period Sri Lankan writers were strongly influenced by and sought to imitate English models. This is particularly true of writers in English who wrote verse which resembled Victorian ‘Album Verse’ in English and of sentimental or didactic novels in Sinhala.

Then there was a significant change with an increasing sense for the circumambient reality and that comes into for instance, writings by R.L. Spittel and Lucien de Zilwa. Thus Spittel brought the world of the Veddhas into English Literature.

Just as George Keyt adventured into modernism in art, he also made contact with French writing and was influenced by symbolistic writing while fusing with the idiom of Tagore in his three volumes of poetry published in the 1930s.

Ten years earlier, S.J.K Crowther, wrote a satiric novel, The Knight Errant on the vicissitudes of a young man who rises through the social classes. H.E Weerasuriya, another person who looked at what was happening to the middle class, wrote The Trousered Harijan.

Well, that was the beginning of the change to a greater sense of the reality. This really became dramatic with the encountering of social drama which was vivid in the writing of Lakdasa Wickremasinghe in the 1960s and early 70s and then in writing that was in response to the 1971 insurrection.

At that stage Sri Lankan writing seems to come of age and confronts its contemporaries.

In fiction, this is reflected in Sarachchandra’s transcreation of his Heta Echchara Kaluwara n’ as Curfew and Full Moon. I think that from that point on, our writings have been in constant encounter with the current and reflect current reality and current issues. That continues to broaden the scope of Sri Lankan writing.

Q. Does this find expression in your own creative work?

A: Definitely. After the April 1971 insurgency I was struck dumb and then wrote The Dream which was the first of a series of poems on that event. To quote a brief example: ...Young bodies tangled in monsoon scrub or rotting in river shallows, awaiting the kind impartial fish, and those not dead - numb, splotched faces, souls ravaged by all their miseries and defeats In another poem titled Memoranda of July I revisited ‘Black July; ... About sacks on shoulders in orangeness About hands slipping from Bloodstained branches Welcome, torturers and redeemers Then the Bheeshana Kalaya has evoked a long poem I call Pasan.

I quote: Imagine ahead The eyes, the eyeballs finely veined in delicate pink over eggshell blue, in one corner, the left, a black clot with an orange-red surround, jagged, wicked; the eyeballs out, pushed out, globed, the pupils black black points in a brownblack circle circled by the veined whites the blooded lids the ditchsockets parted by half a nose above blubbery leaky lips over a most beautiful firm strong chin above Rags and tatters A painting by the same name responds to traumatic experiences of our country from as early as the 1950s to 1983.

Q. You have translated a number of Sinhalese writings into English including novels and medieval Sinhala poetry such as the Sigiriya poems. What is the role of the translator in enriching collective experiences of a Nation and introducing hybridity, cultures, mentalities, perceptions, processes of thinking etc. especially in the present context of acrimonious ethnic relationships?

A: I just enjoyed it. Even as a student I enjoyed translation exercises we worked with in the classroom. This continues in my life. I was brought into translation by Sarachchandra inviting me to try Martin Wickramasinghe’s Leli for an anthology and that attracted me to the activity of translation from Sinhala. The grappling with the English language to try to make it express the sensibility and the idiom of Sinhalese speaking Sinhalese was a challenge that really tested me.

It also made me feel the immediacy of Sri Lankan experiences in such writings. Sarachchandra next put me on to Martin Wickramasinghe’s Viragaya and Martin liked it very much.

Since then I have taken to things on commission or request eg. when I was invited by the editor of the UNESCO Volume of Modern Sri Lankan Writings Christopher Reynolds and the committee to undertake some stories and poems for the book and in the end I did 11 pieces in the volume.

Then in the same period, the chance discovery of E.F.C. Ludowyk’s comment on a Sigiri poem in his The footprint of The Buddha fired me with enthusiasm for the Sigiriya poems. I really enjoyed the process of translating and I went into all 700 verses published by Paranavithana in Sigiri Graffiti. It took me years. I did not rush it and I was not under any pressure.

I was doing it for myself really. In 1996 I published them as Sigiri Poems. From thinking about my own experience in world literature through translations, I realised that what we read, enjoyed and in fact, were educated by, was not originally only English but translations of Greek, Roman, French and Russian works into English.

We would not have had the cultural experience we were able to grow on without those resources. So I realised that what the translator does is to explore the territory for his generation and share the discovery with others. Of course, no translation can be final and perfect.

There is a saying in Italian, tradutore tradittore meaning the translator is a traitor. It was Oscar Wilde who quipped that a translation is like a woman: either beautiful or faithful. My own philosophy of translation which I have picked up from somebody was to try to translate imagining what the original author might have written if he wrote in the new language.

Q. How do you appraise the overarching influence that Prof. E. F. C. Ludowyk had on the Sri Lankan theatre in English of his time and also Sri Lankan theatre in general especially in the context of his pioneering productions at the University of Ceylon?

A: Ludowyk has had an enormous impact on Sri Lankan theatre. He made an impact beginning with an adaptation of a French play into English and set in Colombo, He comes from Jaffna. His work had two values: one was that he brought contemporary world drama to the Sri Lankan theatre world through the medium of English in productions of the University’s dramatic society, the Dram Soc.

In the process he also infused his enthusiasm into a large number of performers some of whom turned into directors in the future. Another impact was to give people a sense of standards in performance and production that spread among all these people so that English theatre provided Sri Lankan audiences with genuine contemporary experience both in terms of performance values and in actual plays performed.

He also had an impact on Sinhala theatre because Sarachchandra and the Sinhala Ranga Sabha invited Ludowyk and his wife to be part of their group. Sarachchandra says in his contribution to the Ludowyk Felicitation Volume that watching Ludowyk’s rehearsals and performances gave him a grasp of values in performance and direction which had a vast influence on his own productions.

Another thing that Ludowyk did for theatre in Sri Lanka which had a value for both Sinhala and English theatre was bringing Jubal, a professional director, to Sri Lanka.

Jubal further developed that sense of professionalism which Ludowyk had already introduced to the amateur theatre. Since he also worked with famous Dayananda Gunawardena and directed a Sinhala translation of Moliere ( Wedahatana), it percolated into Sinhala theatre.

Generations continued to pass on the torch. Immediate beneficiaries, people who worked with Ludowyk and Jubal at the university, themselves brought more modern theatre to Sri Lanka. Dennis Bartholomeusz started the Aquinas Dramatic Society which did some excellent productions such as The Wild Duck and The Lark. Another group formed “Stage and Set” which nurtured Ernest MacIntyre and Karen Breckenridge.

Q. Vindicating the universally acclaimed fact that Shakespeare is for all times, Sri Lankan audience have also enjoyed Shakespearean plays both in their original form and in numerous adaptations.

The salient fact that can be observed in adaptations is the assimilation of theatrical forms and stylistic elements from a particular tradition in the host country into the production. What is your view on the use of theatrical elements such as those of Sanskrit theatre, Noh, Kabuki, and Kathakali etc?

A: There is an ongoing tradition of Shakespeare performance and production in this country. There is experimentation in both Sinhala theatre and English theatre in productions of Shakespeare.

In a sense Sinhala theatre has had a tendency to be influenced by European models. While they have given powerful performances in specific roles the productions have not been particularly innovative except for, I think, two outstanding examples: G.K. Haththotuwegama’s production of Hamlet with the university students of Peradeniya where his experience with street drama melded with his sense of English theatre and was of a very lively translation which he did with two others, Gamini Fonseka, a lecturer and Lakshman Fernando.

He also collaborated with Fritz Bennowitz. G.K’s own production of A Mid Summer Night Dream was also a very lively production. In English language theatre, there certainly were old fashioned costume productions performed in what used to called the Teapot style of acting and also much more modern attitudes to be performance.

There have been experiments with using Sri Lankan costumes like our production of Twelfth Night for the Ludowyk centenary and also the incorporation of elements of the ritual theatre like Kolam and Thovil into theatre. This gives new energy to productions of Shakespeare in this country.

Q. With the broad-basing of the use of the English language especially in electronic media, internet, and in short messages (sms) etc., there is a steady decline in the standards of language sometimes going to the extent of vulgarising or bastardising the language.

As an academic and a lecturer, what are the procedures that you would think of in arresting this negative trend and the reforms that should be brought about in language education in order to impart essential language skills to each and every student?

A: I do not know whether you can speak of a steady decline in the standard of language because language is such a fluid thing and it moves with social change. So people use it in all these various forms, certainly there is a lunatic fringe where there is the use of absurd abbreviations and the mixture of English and Sinhala.

In the end change enters into the creative writing and into the language people use in public life. There is good Lankan standard English which is spoken by people in seminars and in formal addresses and there is also the work-a-day use of English in various situations.

I do not think the widening in the use of English is negative but what is negative is the laziness in the use of the language in certain areas like in advertising. People need fluency in the utilitarian sense for getting on with the business of using knowledge and tapping into sources like the internet. In that regard I think there is lot to be done.

Q. As a literatus, how do you perceive the Gratiaen award and what, in your opinion, is the contribution that it made to Sri Lankan writing in English? What is your opinion on the criteria that the Gratiaen judges adapt in considering the submissions for the award i.e. does poetry seem to be favoured against fiction?

A: I think the institution of the Gratiaen prize for writing in English has had a great value for Sri Lankan writing. You look at entries that come in and the increased in the number of publications. I do not think that writers do it for the sake of winning the prize but they are rewarded for their achievements and that stimulates further attempts. The criteria can vary.

The Gratiaen panel seeks to get a good evaluation by having on each panel of selection, an academic, a practising writer and a member of the English- using public. I don’t think that there has been bias towards poetry.

There have been many notable winners with fiction like Gamini Akmeemana, Tissa Abeysekera, and Punyakanthi Wijenaike and, occasionally, playwrights. Michael Ondaatje has also instituted a fund for translations from Sinhala and Tamil into English and selected stories to be translated from Sinhala into Tamil and from Tamil into Sinhala. Three volumes have already come out.

Q. What are the fundamental changes, in your opinion, that you envisage in the field of education enabling each and every citizen to enjoy equal status and to make a significant contribution to the humanity?

A: Just one: a return to conscientiousness, sadly lacking today. There is plenty of expertise and understanding of theory and there are plenty of good people in the field. What we need is a renewal of conscience.

සැබෑ ජීවිතයේදී රඟ නොපෑ හැබෑ නළුවා

Author: රවී රත්නවේල්
Source: Sarasaviya
Date: 11/02/2010
හො
ඳ නාට්‍යයකින් පුළුවන් ජීවිතය ඉගෙන ගන්න. විශාල මුදල් කන්දක් ළඟ ඉඳගෙන ලබා ගන්න බැරි මිහිරික් ජීවිතයට දැනෙනවා වේදිකවට නැග්ගම’.

රසික මනසේ රැඳෙන රංගනය තම අනන්‍යතාව කොටගත් හබරකඩගේ ඇලෝසියස් පෙරේරා හෙවත් එච්. ඒ. පෙරේරාට වේදිකාව ගැන තිබුණේ එබඳු හැඟීමකි.

පාසල් වේදිකාවේ දී මඟ හරින්න බැරි තැන වරක් රයිගමයාට පණ පොවා, තවත් පාසල් නාට්‍යයක් දෙකක් නිර්මාණය කර තිබුණත් එච්. ඒ. තුළ නළු සිහිනයක් කිසිදාක නොතිබිණ. ඔහුගේ පළමු පෙම වෙන් වී තිබුණේ සප්ත ස්වරය වෙනුවෙනි.

මෝදර කෝවිල ශිව රාත්‍රිය පහන් කළේ යාපනෙන් එහි එන ‘නාදස්වරම්’ ශිල්පීන්ගේ ‘නාදස්වර’ වාදනයෙනි. උපතින් කතෝලිකයකු වු එච්. ඒ. ට මෝදර හින්දු කෝවිල සැබවින්ම දෙව්ලොවක් වූයේ එයින් නැගෙන ඉමිහිරි සප්ත ස්වර නිසාවෙනි.

කෝවිලේ සංගීතයෙන් මත් වූ ඔහුට, අසල්වැසියෙකුගේ සර්පිනාවක හිමිකරුවකු වෙන්නට ලැබීම සංගීතය ඉගෙනීම කෙරෙහි ඔහු යොමුකර වූ හැරවුම් ලක්ෂය විය. නිල සංගීත අධ්‍යාපනයක් ලබනු වෙනුවට ඔහු කළේ තමන්ම සපයා ගත් සංගීත විෂයෙහි පොතපත ස්වෝත්සාහයෙන්ම ඉගෙනීමය.

ඒ අසංවිධත සංගීත අධ්‍යාපනය ඔහුට අමාරු කාර්යයක් නොවිණි. මන්ද, රිද්මය ඔහුගේ සිරුරට කා වැදී තිබුණු හෙයිනි.

ගමේම සංගීත ලැද තරුණ ගැටව් කිහිප දෙනෙකු එකතුව ඩොලැක්කියක්, සර්පිනාවක් සමඟ අටවා ගත් සංගීත කණ්ඩායමක එච්. ඒ. ද ප්‍රමුඛයකු විය. ගමේ හැම මඟුල් ගෙයකටම වැද ස්වේච්ඡාවෙන්ම සංගීත සාජ්ජ පැවැත්වීම එකල එච්. ඒ. ලාගේ සිරිත විය. මෙය එච්. ඒ. ගේ අතත්, කණත් වඩ වඩාත් සංගීතයට හුරු කරවීමේ තෝතැන්නකත් විය.

මෙසේ දන්නා දේ කරමින් වැඩිදුර සංගීතය ඉගෙනීමට පෙර මං බල බලා සිටි එච්. ඒ. ට ඔහුගේ මිතුරකු සුබාරංචියක් ගෙනාවේය.

‘ලයනල් වෙන්ඩ්ට්’ එකේ රංග ශිල්ප ශාලිකාවේ රඟපෑම් ගැන පංති පැවැත්වෙන බවත්, තමන් ද එහි යන බවත් කී මිතුරා එච්. ඒ. ට ද එහි එන්නැයි කීවේය.

එවිට එච්. ඒ. ‘මට ඕන ඇති රඟපෑමක් නෑ. සිතාර් ගහන්න උගන්නනවා නම් එන්නම්’ ඒ ගමන එච්. ඒ. කීය. මෙය ඔහුගේ ජීවිතය එහෙම පිටින්ම වෙනස් කරන ගමනක් වනු ඇති වග එදා ඔහුවත් නොසිතන්නට ඇත. නියමිත දිනයේ ශිල්ප ශාලිකාවට ගිය එච්. ඒ. මුලින්ම මුහුණ දුන්නේ ප්‍රශ්න කිරීමකටය.

‘නාට්‍යයක් එහෙම බලලා තියෙනවද?’

‘ඔව්’

මොකක්ද?’

ඒ වන විටත් නාට්‍යයක් බලා නොතිබුණ ද නාට්‍යකට අදාළ ටිකට් එකක් දැක තිබුණු මතකය විදිල්ලක් මෙන් සිහියට ආවෙන් එච්. ඒ. එය කියා දැමීය.

‘හුණුවටයේ කතාව’ එච්. ඒ. දුන් ඒ උත්තරයේ ප්‍රතිවිපාකය ද එසැනින්ම අතේ පත්තු විය.

‘මොකක්ද ඒ නාට්‍යයේ තමුන් කැමතිම ජවනිකාව’.

එවර එච්. ඒ. ට කට උත්තර නැති වූයෙන් ඔහු පළමුව කී අතේ් පැළවෙන බොරුව වසන්නට තවත් ගජබින්නයක් ඇද බෑවේය.

‘ඒක බලලා හුඟක් කල් නිසා මතක නෑ’.

තමන්ගේ ප්‍රශ්නවලට ලැබුණු ඒ අසාර්ථක උත්තර පසුපසින් වුව සිටින්නේ ඉතා හොද අනාගතයක් ඇති යෝධ නිර්මාණකරුවෙකුගේ අංකුරයක් වග එච්. ඒ. ගෙන් ප්‍රශ්න කළ ගාමිණී හත්තොටුවේගමට නිසැකයෙන්ම සිතෙන්නට ඇත. ඒ අනුව හත්තොටුවගම නියම කළ රංගන අභ්‍යාසයන්හි අකැමැත්තෙන් යෙදුණු එච්. ඒ. මතු දිනක මහා නාට්‍යකරුවකු, ප්‍රතිභාසම්පන්න රංගවේදියකු මතු නොව රංග කලා ගුරුවරයකු බවට ද පත් කිරීමේ අඩිතාලම ද එයම විය.

එච්. ඒ. ගේ මුල්ම නාට්‍ය ගුරුවරයා මෙරට වීදි නාට්‍යයේ පෙර ගමන්කරුවා වූ නිසාම එච්. ඒ. ද මුලින්ම රංගනයෙන් දායක වූයේ වීදි නාට්‍යයටය. වීදි නාට්‍යය සමගින් දස වසරක් පමණ ගෙවා දැමූ ඔහු ඉන් පසු වේදිකාවට ගොඩ විය.

එතැන් පටන් එදා මෙදාතුර ලාංකේය වේදිකාවේ දිග හැරුණු සුවිශේෂ ඝණයේ නාට්‍ය ගණනාවක් සමඟ එච්. ඒ. පෙරේරා යන නාමය අනිවාර්යම අත්‍යාවශ්‍ය අංගයක් බවට පත් වූයේ යාළුකම් නිසා නොව කුසලතාවය නිසාමය.

‘ස්පාටකස්’, සෙක්කුව‘, ‘ස්ත්‍රී’, ‘විනිශ්චය’, ‘ගැලීලියෝ’, ‘උත්තමාවී’, ‘සුදු හා කළු’, ‘නුඹ විතරක් තළඑලළුයි’, ‘සුබ සැන්දෑවක්’, ‘හිට්ලර්’, ‘වරෙන්තු’, ‘ඇමැති දියණිය’ ඇතුළු තවත් නාට්‍ය නිර්මාණ රැසක් එච්. ඒ. කවුරුද යන වග කියාපාන සාක්ෂි බවට පත් විය.

‘නුඹ විතරක් තළඑලළුයි’ නාට්‍යය එම වසරේ හොඳම සංගීත නිර්මාණයට හිමි යෞවන සම්මානය එච්. ඒ. වෙත දිනාදෙන්නට සමත් විය.

ඒ ආකාරයට ආරම්භ වුණු එච්. ඒ. ගේ සම්මාන පෙරහර ‘වරෙන්තුව’ නාට්‍යයෙන් තව තවත් ඔප වැටිණි. ඒ වසරේ හොඳම අධ්‍යක්ෂණය, හොඳම පරිවර්තනය, හොඳම නළුවා, හොඳම නිෂ්පාදනය සහ හොඳම සංගීත අධ්‍යක්ෂණය යන සම්මාන පහම හිමි වුණේ එච්. ඒ. ටය.

වේදිකාවේ සාරවත් නළුවකු වුණු එච්. ඒ. ට පුංචි තිරයේ දොර ඇරුණේ ‘ජනේලයෙන් ආ අමුත්තා’ නාට්‍යයෙනි. එය කලාවේ එච්. ඒ. ගේ කිට්ටුම ගමන් සගයකු වූ පරාක්‍රම නිරිඇල්ලගේ ටෙලි නළුවකිනි. අද වන විට යන එන මං නොදත්තකුගේ තත්ත්වයට පත්ව ඇති මෙරට ටෙලි නාට්‍ය ක්ෂේත්‍රයේ එදා එච්. ඒ. ලාට යසෝරාවය නගන්නට හැකි වූයේ ඔහු තුළ තිබූ අතිශය ප්‍රබල වූත්, සහජය වූත් රංග ප්‍රතිභාව නිසාය. තම රංගන හැකියාව නිසාම අජීවි රූපවාහිනියෙන් මතු වී සජීවී මිනිසුන්ගේ ‘නෑදෑයෙක්’ වෙන්න තරම් ‘නෑදෑයෝ’ හි එච්. ඒ. රසිකයන්ට හෘදයාංගම වූයේය.

‘නෑදෑයෝ’ ටෙලි නළුවෙන් රටේම රසිකයන්ගේ නෑදෑයෙක් වුණ එච්. ඒ. ට ඔහුටම කියා සහකාරියක පවා හොයා ගන්නට විවේකයක් නැතිව ගියේ ඔහුගේ කාලය කලාවටම ගෙවී ගිය නිසාය.

එච්. ඒ. යනු භෞතික සම්පත් පසුපස ලුහු නොබැන්ඳ, තනතුරු තාන්න මාන්න ඉල්ලා අනුන් ඉදිරියේ වැද වැටුණු නිවටයකු නොවීය. එනිසාම කවදත් ඔහුගේ වාහනය වූයේ ඔහුගේම දහඩිය මහන්සියෙන් හරි හම්බ කර ගත් යතුරු පැදිය පමණි. එච්. ඒ. ගේ යතුරු පැදියත්, උපන් දා සිට පදිංචි වී සිටි මෝදර පුංචි ගේ පොඩ්ඩත්, දිස්නයක් නැති ඇඳුම් පැළඳුම් දකින ඇතැම් දුහුනන්ට සිතෙන්නේ එච්. ඒ. දුප්පතෙක් කියාය.

එහෙත් හදවතින් පොහොසත් මේ මිනිසා දවල් මිගෙල් රෑ දනියෙල් වැනි පුහු දුචරිතවාදීන්ට වඩා මිනිසත්කමින් පිරි සැබෑ කලාකරුවෙක් විය. එච්. ඒ. දුප්පත් නේදැයි අසල දුහුනන්ට ඔහු කීවේය. ‘මම දිනාගන්න උත්සාහ කළේ සෞන්දර්යය ජීවිතයයි.

එය මා ඉහළින්ම දිනා ගත්තා, අපේ රටේ මිනිස්සුන්ට කලාව ගැන සැබෑ සංවේදීතාවයක් තියෙනවා නම් මේ රටේ මිනීමැරුම් සිද්ධ වෙන්නේ නෑ. උගතා කියන්නේ ජීවිතයට සංවේදී වුණු කෙනාටයි. කිසිම සංවේදීකමක් නැති, හිස් මිනිසුන්ගෙන් ඇවිදින මළමිනී වගේ මිනිසුන්ගෙන් සමාජයට ඇති සෙතක් නෑ කියාය.

එච්. ඒ. ගේම මේ දැක්ම කෙරෙහි ඔහුගේ සවිඤ්ඤාණික දේශපාලන මතවාදය බලපෑවා විය යුතුය. දේශපාලනය යන්න ඔහු දැක්කේ්,

’මිනිසා විවිධ හේතූ®න්් මත බැඳ තබන, මිනිසාට විරුද්ධ ස්වභාවික හා මිනිස් සමාජය විසින් ඇති කර තිබෙන බැඳීම්වලින් මිනිසාව නිදහස් කරන එකට තමයි දේශපාලනය කියලා කියන්නේ. ඒක හරි අපූරුවට කලාවෙන් කරන්න පුළුවන්. ඒ හින්දා කලාකරුවෙකුට අමුතුවෙන් දේශපාලනය කරන්න ඕනෑය කියලා මම හිතන්නේ නෑ. මිනිසා එදිනෙදා කරන කියන දේ වලින් තමයි එයාගේ දේශපාලනය තීරණය වෙන්නේ’.

එච්. ඒ. ගේ ඒ මතවාදයත් ඔහුගේ දැක්මටම සමපාත වූවා විනා, පක්ෂ දේශපාලනයේ නාමයෙන් තම බඩ තර කරගන්නට හදන ඇතැම් අවස්ථාවදීන්ගේ අවස්ථාවාදයට කිසිසේත් සමපාත වන්නේ් නැත්තා සේය.

මෙරට ප්‍රධාන කලා භාවිතා මාධ්‍යයක් වී තිබූූ වේදිකාව ‘වරෙන්තුව‘, ‘හිට්ලර්’, පුංචි තිරයේ ‘යශෝරාවය’, ‘දූ දරුවෝ’, ‘නෑදෑයෝ’ සිනමාවේ ‘සාගර ජලය’, ‘අයෝමා’, ‘කෙළිමඬල’ යන සුවිශේෂී නිර්මාණ ඇතුළුව නිර්මාණ රැසක මෙකී මාධ්‍ය ත්‍රිත්වයේම නි්මාණශීලී ප්‍රවීණයකු වී සිටි එච්. ඒ. තමන් වැර වෑයමෙන්, කැපවීමෙන් උපයා ගත් දැනුම දුහුනන් වෙත බෙදී දීමෙන් ලැබුවේ අප්‍රමාණ සතුටක්. ඔහු ඒ දැනුම අරගෙන ඔහුට හැකි පමණින් රට වටා ගියේ ඒ නිසයි.

ලාංකේය කලා ක්ෂේත්‍රයේ ස්වකීය අනන්‍යතාව මැනවින් සටහන් කළ, වචනයේ පරිසමාප්ත අර්ථයෙන්ම නිර්මාණකරුවකු, කලාකරුවකු වී සිටි එච්. ඒ. එදා මේ ගමන ආරම්භ කළේ අහම්බෙනි. ඒ නවකයන්ගේ දක්ෂතා දැක දෙපා වෙව්ලා, දක්ෂයාගේ ගමන ලත්තැනම ලොප් කරන කුහක ප්‍රවීණයකු නොවූ, නවකයකුගේ අනාගතය විනිවිඳීමට තරම් සමත් දැනුමක් හා දැක්මක් තිබූ රටේ අවාසනාවකට අද අප අතර නැති සැබෑ ප්‍රවීණයකු හා සැබෑ ගුරුවරයකු වූ ගාමිණී හත්තොටුවෙගම හමුවීමෙනි.

එච්. ඒ. තරුණායගේ හෙට දවස දකින්නට තරම් හත්තොටුවේගම සමතෙකු වූ බැවිනි. එදා එච්. ඒ. තරුණායගේ හෙට දවස දකින්නට තරම් හත්තොටුවේගම සමතෙකු වූ බැවිනි. එදා එච්. ඒ. තරුණයා තමන්ට අවශ්‍ය සංගීතය මිස රංගනය නොවේ යැයි මේ ප්‍රවීණයාට කියූ කළ හත්තොටුවේගම ‘ඔයා දිහා බලපුවාම කියනන්න පුළුවන් ඔයා කවදා හරි හොඳ නළුවෙක් වෙනවා කියලා. මම එහෙම කියන්නේ රඟපෑම ඔයාගේ ඇඟේ තැවරිලා තියෙන විත්තිය මට පේන හින්දයි.

ඒ නිසා මම නම් කියන්නේ සංගීතය පැත්තකට දාලා රංගනයට බහින්න කියලයි’.

අවසානයේ එච්. ඒ. තරුණායට ඒ ඉල්ලීමට පිටුපා යන්නට බැරි තැන රංගනයට බසින්නට සිදු විය.

එතැන් පටන් ලාංකේය වේදිකවේ, සිනමාවේ, ටෙලි නළුවේ දිගහැරුණු හරවත් චරිත රැසකට ජීවය දුන් ඔහු අවසන ඔහුගේ නිසඟ හැකියාවන් ගේ මතකයන් එච්. ඒ. යන ආදරණිය නාමයත් සදා අපගේ මතකයේ රඳවා තබා පසුගියදා සමාදානයේ සැතපෙන්නට යන්නට ගියේය.

ස්වතන්ත්‍ර විකාරරූපී නාට්‍ය කලාවක පුරෝගාමියා

Author: සු. මි.
Source: Sarasaviya

Date: 11/02/2010

සුගියදා අපෙන් වියෝ වූ පතිරාජ එල්. එස්. දයානන්ද වැඩි ප්‍රසිද්ධියක් අත්පත් කරගන සිටියේ චිත්‍රපට අධ්‍යක්ෂවරයකු වශයෙන් බව සැබෑය.

ඔහු චිත්‍රපට හත අටක් පමණ නිර්මාණය කර ඇත.

ඔහු වේදිකා නාට්‍ය ද චිත්‍රපට තරමටම ප්‍රමාණයක් නිර්මාණය කර ඇත්තෙකි. ඉන් බොහෝමයක් සාමාන්‍ය ගණයේ නාට්‍යය. එසේ වුවත් ඔහුගේ එක් නාට්‍යයක් සිංහල වේදිකාවේ නව ප්‍රවණතාවයක් ගොඩ නැංවීමට උපස්තම්භක වූ විශිෂ්ට නිෂ්පාදනයක් බවට පත් වූයේය.

‘කවුරුත් එන්නේ නෑ’ නම් වූ නාට්‍යයයි. මේ නාට්‍යය සිංහල වේදිකාවේ නව ප්‍රවණතාවයකට පුරෝගාමිත්වය දැරූ කෘතියක් ද වෙයි. ඒ ප්‍රවණතාව නම් විකාරූපී නාට්‍ය කලාවයි. නූතන සිංහල වේදිකාවේ ප්‍රථම ස්වතන්ත්‍ර විකාරරූපී නාට්‍යය ලෙස විචාරකයන් විසින් පිළිගනු ලබන්නේ ‘කවුරුත් එන්නේ නෑ’ නාට්‍යයයි.

ධම්ම ජාගොඩගේ ’කොරා සහ අන්ධයා’ බන්දුල විතානගේ ගේ ‘ගංගාවක් සපත්තු කබලක් සහ මරණයක්’ වැනි ස්වතන්ත්‍ර විකාරරූපී නාට්‍ය බිහි වූයේ ද සැමුවෙල් බෙකට් (‘පරපුටුවෝ’) ඉයුජින් අයනෙස්කෝ ( ‘පුටු’ සහ ‘හස්තිරාජ මහත්තයා’) වැනි යුරෝපයේ විකාරරූපී නාට්‍යකරුවන්ගේ නාට්‍ය කෘති සිංහල වේදිකාව මත පරිවර්තනය – අනුවර්තනය වන්ට පටන්ගත්තේ ද ‘කවුරුත් එන්නේ නෑ’ නාට්‍යයෙන් ඉක්බිතිවය. එහෙයින් පතිරාජ එල්. එස්. දයානන්දගේ නාමය සමකාලීන සිංහල වේදිකාවේ නාට්‍ය කලා ඉතිහාසයේ එක් පිටුවක් ලෙස ගෞරවයෙන් සඳහන් කළ හැකිය.

පතිරාජ එල්. එස්. දයානන්ද කලාවට ප්‍රවිෂ්ට වන්නේ කලාකරුවන් රැසක් බිහි කළ කැලණිය ගුරුකුල මහා විද්‍යාලයෙනි. මාලිනී ෆොන්සේකා, එච්. ඩී. ප්‍රේමරත්න, ඩොනල්ඩ් කරුණාරත්න, විමල් කුමාර ද කොස්තා, කේ. ඒ. විජේරත්න, ප්‍රේමවීර ගුණසේකර, ගුරුකුලයේදී ඔහුගේ් සමකාලීනයෝ වූහ. ඔහු එස්. මලල්ගෙන් නැටුම් පුහුණු වී ඇත. (මාලිනී ෆොන්සේකා නැටුම් පුහුණු වී ඇත්තේ ද එස්. මලල් වෙතිනි).

කැණාරත්න ඩී. පිලිප්ගේ ‘යැංකි හටන’ පතිරාජ රඟපෑ මුල්ම වේදිකා නාට්‍යය ලෙස සඳහන්ව ඇත. ඉන් පසු ඔහු තවත් නාට්‍ය කීපයකටම රංගනයෙන් දායක වී තිබේ.

එච්. ඩී. ප්‍රේමරත්න රචනා කළ ‘යකාගේ කම්මල’ (1964) පතිරාජ නිෂ්පාදනය කළ මුල්ම වේදිකා නාට්‍යයයි. ඉන් පසු ඔහු ‘දියසේන’ (1967) නමින් ද නාට්‍යයක් නිෂ්පාදනය කළේය. එය විකාරරූපී රංග ශෛලිය පිළිබඳ කළ පර්යේෂණාත්මක අත්හදා බැලීමක් ලෙසද විචාරකයන් හඳුන්වා ඇත. මේ නාට්‍යයේ මංගල දර්ශනයට ප්‍රධාන අමුත්තා වශයෙන් සහභාගී වූයේ එවක කැලණිය විශ්ව විද්‍යාලයයේ කථිකාචාර්යවරයකු වශයෙන් කටයුතු කළ ඒ. ජේ. සෙල්වදොෙර්ය. ඔහුට සැමුවෙල් බෙකට්ගේ ‘වේටිං ෆෝ ගොඩෝ’ නාට්‍යය (‘ගොඩෝ එනකං’ නමින්) සිංහලට නැඟීමේ අදහස පහළ වූයේ ‘දියසේන’ නාට්‍යය නැරඹීමෙන් බව කියැවෙයි.

‘ගොඩෝ එනකං’ නාට්‍යයේ නිෂ්පාදන කටයුතුවලට පතිරාජ ද දායක වී ඇත. මේ නාට්‍යයේ මංගල දැක්ම පේරාදෙණිය විශ්ව විද්‍යාලයේ මහාචාර්ය ඈෂ්ලි හල්පේගේ ප්‍රධානත්වයෙන් පැවැත්විණි. විකාරරූපී නාට්‍ය කලාව සම්බන්ධයෙන් ඒ. ජේ. සෙල්වදොරේ හා මහාචාර්ය හල්පේ කළ කතාබහ ඔස්සේ එහි රංග කලා සම්ප්‍රදායය පිළිබඳ කිසියම් අවබෝධයක් ලත් පතිරාජ ඉන් ලත් අනුප්‍රාණයෙන් ‘කවුරුත් එන්නේ නෑ’ නාට්‍යය වේදිකාවට ගෙන ආවේය. ඒ අනුව ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ ප්‍රථම ස්වතන්ත්‍ර විකාරරූපී නාට්‍යය ‘කවුරුත් එන්නේ නෑ’ය.

‘කවුරුත් එන්නේ නෑ’ නාට්‍යය ‘ගොඩෝ එනකං’ නාට්‍යය මෙන්ම චරිත දෙකක් වටා ගෙතුනකි. එම චරිත දෙක විමල් කුමාර ද කොස්තා හා මර්සි එදිරිසිංහ විසින් රඟදක්වන ලදී.

‘කවුරුත් එන්නේ නෑ’ නාට්‍යයට ඉහළම විචාරක ප්‍රතිචාරයක් ලැබිණි. මහාචාර්ය තිස්ස කාරියවසම්, ගාමිණී හත්තොටුවේගම, මහාචාර්ය චන්ද්‍රසිරි පල්ලියගුරු, චාල්ස් අබේසේකර, පියල් සෝමරත්න, සිරිලාල් කොඩිකාර යන අය මේ නාට්‍යය පිළිබඳ ප්‍රශංසනීය විචාර ලියා පළ කර ඇත. ප්‍රවීණ නාට්‍යවේදී සුගතපාල ද සිල්වා මේ නාට්‍යය නරඹා පතිරාජ වෙත ලියා එවූ ලියුමක මෙසේ සඳහන් වෙයි.

‘වෙනත් මිනිසකුගේ ජීවිතය මිට මොළවා ගන්න ඕනෑම කලාකාරයකුට අපූරු වාසනා ශක්තියක් තියෙන්න ඕනෑ. ඔබේ අතැඟිලිවලට අහු වුණේ බොහෝ ඇසූ පිරූ තැන් ඇති, අත්දැකීමෙන් මහලු වුණු රචකයකුට උරුම වූ විෂයයක්. ‘කවුරුත් එන්නේ නෑ’ නාට්‍යයෙන් අපි කම්පා වුණා. සසල වුණා. නාට්‍යකරුවකු හැටියට ඔබ කළ යුත්තේ ඒකයි’.

පතිරාජ ඉන් පසු සිනමා ක්ෂේත්‍රයට සම්බන්ධ වූයේය. ධර්මසේන පතිරාජගේ ‘අහස් ගව්ව’ චිත්‍රපටයේ නිෂ්පාදන පසුබිමේ සිටියේ ඔහුය. ඒ සම්බන්ධයෙන් ඔහු මෙසේ කියා ඇත.

‘එච්. එස්. ප්‍රේමේන්ද්‍රටයි මටයි චිත්‍රපටයක් නිපදවන්න හිතුණා. අපි තීරණය කළා, මෙහි අධ්‍යක්ෂණය සුගතපාල ද සිල්වාට භාර කරන්න. ඒ් වන විට සුගත් ‘සමනළයෝ’ නමින් චිත්‍රපටයක් නිර්මාණය කිරීමට ගත් උත්සාහය ව්‍යාර්ථ වෙලා තිබුණා. මායි, ප්‍රේමේන්ද්‍රයි සුගත් හමුවෙන්න ලෑස්ති වෙනකොටම අපේ කාමරේ හිටපු ඩබ්ලිව්. ජයසිරි කිව්වා ධර්මසේන පතිරාජ කියලා දක්ෂ කොල්ලෙක් ඉන්නවා. අපි එයාට අවස්ථාවක් දීලා බලමුද කියලා. මේ අනුවයි අපි පතිත් එක්ක ‘අහස් ගව්ව‘ පටන් ගත්තේ’.(සරසවිය 2005 ජූනි 16).

පසු කලෙක පතිරාජ එල්. එස්. දයානන්ද ද චිත්‍රපට අධ්‍යක්ෂණයට යොමු වූයේය. ’හත්දින්නත් තරු’ (1973) ඔහු නිර්මාණය කළ මුල්ම චිත්‍රපටය විය. ඉන් පසු ඔහු පිළිවෙළින් ’ගංගා’ (1976), ‘සෙලිනාගේ වලව්ව‘ (1978), ‘ජෝඩු වළලු’ (1980), ‘සිංහබාහු’ (1980),‘තුත්තිරි මල්’ (1983), ‘චණ්ඩි පැටවු’ (1983), ‘කිවුලේ ගෙදර මොහොට්ටාල’ (1987) යන චිත්‍රපට අධ්‍යක්ෂණය කළේය. එහෙත් අවාසනාවකට මෙන් ඒ එකම චිත්‍රපටයක්වත් සිංහල සිනමාවේ පවතින කෘති බවට පත් නොවූයේය. ඊට හේතුව ඔහුගේ පහත දැක්වෙන ප්‍රකාශනයෙන් අපට වටහා ගත හැකිය.

‘මේ චිත්‍රපට කිසිවක් මගේ හිතේ හැටියට නිර්මාණය කර ගන්න බැරි වුණා. ඊට හේතු වුණේ නිෂ්පාදකවරුන්ගෙන් එල්ල වූ බලපෑම්. ඔවුන්ගෙන් මා මුහුණ පෑ පීඩා, දුෂ්කරතා හේතු කොට අවසානයේ මා බලාපොරොත්තු වූ ප්‍රතිඵල මේ නිර්මාණවලින් ලබා ගන්න බැරි වුණා’ (සරසවිය ඉහත සඳහන් ලිපිය).

පතිරාජ චිත්‍රපට කීපයක (‘අහස් ගව්ව’, ‘සිකුරු දසාව’, ‘විසි හතර පැය’, ‘කිවුලේගෙදර මොහොට්ටාල’ වැනි) රඟපෑවත් ඒ රඟපෑම් ද සුවිශේෂත්වයක් නොගනී. ඔහුගේ තරමකවත් සාර්ථක රංගනයක් දක්නා ලැබුණේ ‘සිකුරු දසාව’ චිත්‍රපටයේ පමණි.

පතිරාජ ටෙලි නාට්‍ය කීපයක් ද අධ්‍යක්ෂණය කර ඇත. ‘නුඹ නාඩන් සෙනෙහෙලතා’ ඉන් එක් නාට්‍යයකි.

අන්ධභාවයත් රෝගී තත්ත්වයක් නිසා පතිරාජ අවසාන කාලයේ අසරණ ජීවිතයක් ගත කළේය. එසේ වුවත් ඔහු කලාව අතහැරියේ නැත. අවසාන කාලයේදී ඔහු ‘තම්මැන්නා තීරේ’ නමින් වේදිකා නාට්‍යයක් නිෂ්පාදනය කළේය.

2006 දී ඔහු වෙනුවෙන් අභිනන්දන උළෙලක් පවත්වා ඇත.

පතිරාජ චිත්‍රපට අධ්‍යක්ෂණය කරන අතරවාරයේත් අතරින් පතර වේදිකා නාට්‍ය නිෂ්පාදනය කර අඇත. (උදා: ‘ආයිත් ඉතින් හෙට’ (1976) ‘පැමිණිය නොහැක’ (1981) ‘හූනෝ’ (1980) ‘පිහාටු කඩා හැලේ’ (1990) ‘කැණිමඬලේ විනිසුරුවෝ’ (1990) ‘පේරැස් මුද්ද’ (1991) ‘මුතුකැටයේ පලුද්දක්’ (1996) වැනි) එහෙත් මේ එකම නාට්‍යයක්වත් ඔහුගේ ‘කවුරුවත් එන්නේ නෑ’ නාට්‍යය ඉක්ම වූවා යැයි මම නොසිතමි. ප්‍රතිභාව තිබුණත් විවේක බුද්ධිය හා ව්‍යුත්පත් ඥානය වර්ධනය කර නොගැනීම නිසාදෝ ඔහු අතින් ඉන් පසුව එකම උසස් කලා කෘතියක්වත් බිහි වුණේ නැත. එහෙයින් ඒ ප්‍රතිභාව අපතේ ගිය එකක් ලෙස හැඳින්වීම වැරදිද?