Colombo Colombo: A magical take on different slices of life

Author: Tahnee Hopman
Pix : Sanka Vidanagama
Source: Sunday Times
Date: 02/08/2009

Indika Ferdinando is a firm believer in and advocate of what he calls the magic of the theatre.
Steadfast in his views, he has little or no patience for what he calls the “lazy dialogue style” of drama that he has witnessed time and again. “I have no interest in going to the theatre, to see before me a picture or video of myself – or for that matter, anything that I am already familiar with. I want to see something different; or something that I am familiar with, shown in a different perspective, or given a new meaning,” he says firmly.

Scenes from the play.

This, it would seem is Indika’s challenge as a director – and definitely an important aspect of his upcoming production, Colombo Colombo, which is set to take the audience by storm on August 8 and 9 at the Lionel Wendt at 7 p.m.

Performed by eight experienced actors of Theatre Plus, a new theatre group, Colombo Colombo is its debut performance and promises to be a mix of experimentalism, realism, fantasy, music and yes, a little bit of magic.

The magic of course, is not of the supernatural kind; rather it lies in the art of finding new ways of representing reality. Says Indika, “I feel that the theatre industry at large has lost sight of some of the magic of drama and I want to try and bring that back.

To me, art is not realistic. Art should find a way to overcome all that is realistic, or to portray the realistic in a slightly different light so the audience is able to derive a new experience and learn something new when they see it. And that’s where the magic begins.”

Described as anti Aristotelian in nature – where the drama does not revolve around a single plotline but many, Colombo Colombo, is based on four separate incidents which turn out to be interrelated and reflect certain happenings around Colombo. Saumya Liyanage a well known actor in the local drama scene and narrator of Colombo Colombo reveals that the four scenes are constructed by use of diary entries.

Elaborating on this concept, Indika explains that the inspiration for Colombo Colombo came from the 2004 movie Crash, Rashomon by Akira Kurosawa and a few other works of fiction. “It took around two months of writing,” he says, “but even on completion, the script remains a work in progress as we make constant improvisations to it during the course of rehearsals.”

Indika Ferdinando

Apart from the relative challenge of an unconventional script, the actors are also faced with the challenge of not only having to act, but to sing, dance and play music as well. “I have had a great deal of experience in the theatre,” smiles Saumya, “but I can safely say that acting in Colombo Colombo is definitely one of the most interesting and yet challenging theatrical experiences I have had. Nevertheless, it is exciting and I speak for the entire cast when I say that working together has been a thoroughly memorable experience. We feel as a society, we are stagnated and isolated. In theatre, we feel that we are an important part of a community. For us, drama is all about the complexity of human relationships.”

Striving, as a dedicated group of actors, to show the audience the different identity of theatre as opposed to movies or teledramas, Theatre Plus seems to rely on the magic of theatre to build up this identity. They bring to life four or five different slices of life and work to show the audience how to apply different perspectives to their own lives. For them, that is just how theatre works.

Tickets for Colombo Colombo, priced at Rs. 500, 300, 200 and 100 are available at the Lionel Wendt.

Kaleidoscopic ‘Colombo Colombo’ On stage

Author: Sachitra MAHENDRA

Source: Daily News

Date: 05/08/2009

They are caught up in their own encounters at different locations. The four couples have a dilemma: they can hardly grasp the identity of each other. Indika Ferdinando is to ferret out the solace among them in his latest stage play ‘Colombo Colombo’.

‘Colombo Colombo’ rehearsal. Pictures by Ruwan de Silva

Ferdinando has received many awards for his plays including Janadipathi Thaththa. He was the best upcoming director at the State Drama Festival 2000. He is a versatile artiste, above all, being a director, actor and scriptwriter. He found his feet strong on the stage during his university years.

“Cast is the most important element for me. They have a magic within them. For this matter, no one can challenge the cast, so I keep on doing theatre productions until I discover their magic in a full scope.” Ferdinando says.

‘Colombo Colombo’ is an attempt to exhume the life in crowded Colombo. It provides a periscopic view into what is happening in various places of Colombo such as tunnels. Characters move on with their varied experiences. The satire in the plot, Ferdinando handles with much ease.

The music in the play are almost surrealistic, but they are not so in actual sense. Dances are tuned to the effect of the song-rhythm. The play, which runs for half an hour, does not have a traditional separate music orchestration. It is being rehearsed at the premises of University of Visual Arts and Performance these days with the participation of both undergraduates and outsiders.

Lovers are engaged in their personal talks, while a balloon man passes by. In the following scene, they all dance together. All characters are similar and diverse in their own forms. All scenes are like a tapestry, says Saumya Liyanage, who performs the male lead.

Anasuya Subasinghe

Indika Ferdinando

“I always loved the theatre. It is so amazing. My role in Colombo Colombo is diverse. I mainly act like an old man but I act like a young lover too.”

Anasuya Subasinghe, more seen on the English stage, performs the female lead. She finds her role as Vyanga very challenging. Vyanga is both old and young.

“It shifts rapidly, so it’s sort of challenging to give life to various roles in one go.” She says.

Commenting on the Sinhala theatre, Anushiya says it’s more professional in the Lankan context, whereas the English theatre is confined to Colombo.

“But I think it has a solid audience within Colombo premises.” A tragicomedy by nature, it brings in a novel aspect of theatre performance, with the physical form of the guitar being used both as a musical instrument and also as a character in the play.

The play is the offshoot of a research project carried by Indika Ferdinando and Saumya Liyanage. The research paper was recently submitted to the symposium held at the University of Kelaniya.

“The theatre has been dominated by the Aristotelian linear mode. It restricts the theatre’s scope and affects the natural development of this art medium. Theatre should go beyond the limitations. You have a wide scope in the theatre.”

Saumya Liyanage

Indika’s plays do not respect the accepted norm. They rather come up with fragments. Life itself is fragmented, so the theatre should be the same. Yet they are all thematically similar.

The drama also brings together versatile set designer Pradeep Chandrasiri who has won the State Drama Award for Set Design for several consecutive years, as well as Thushan Dias as Lighting Designer, backed by many years of experience and a range of productions to his credit in both the Sinhala and English stage.

The drama is presented by Theatre Plus, which was formed as an experimental platform for theatre practitioners and looks into various aspects of theatre production and related research.

Its membership consists of experienced theatre practitioners and academics and works with a sound practical orientation.

Although these incidents take place in four different locations in Colombo, they represent the issues prevalent in every corner of this island. ‘Colombo Colombo’ attempts to look critically at some of the influences that transform human relationships and lead them into conflict; the social and political system that constantly infiltrates those human relationships; and the collective indifference with which the public nurtures the system severely influences their lives.

‘Colombo Colombo’ is a tragi-comic musical play and an experimental theatre endeavour that consists of a compilation of independent scenes and does not conform to a linear story line. However, the scenes are cohesively linked by the appearances of several significant characters that are common to all the events.

Another important aspect of this play is the use of the guitar and the human body as musical instruments, while the actors collectively play the roles of musician, singer and dancer.

At times, ‘Colombo Colombo’ takes a jab at transcending reason and reality. It is fast-paced, theatrical, and bursting with energy. It attempts to create a fresh theatre experience for the Sri Lankan audience.

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Colombo Colombo theatre production

Cast:
Saumya Liyanage
Anasuya Subasinghe
Jagath Chamila
Atula Jayasinghe
Sarath Karunaratne
Upul Weerasinghe
Thilanka Gamage
Nadika Somathilake

Stage set and costume design: Pradeep Chandrasiri

Music: Theja Buddhika Rodrigo (Misha)

Choreography: Manubandu Vidyapathy

Make-up: Jagath Padmasiri

Lighting Design: Thushan Dias

Stage Management: Kosala Thotawatte

Stage Management Assistance:

Himali Thakshala amd Disna Dilantha

Lyrics: Piyal Kariyawasam

Media Coordination: Gaya Nagahawatta

Script and Direction: Indika Ferdinando

A Theatre Plus production.

Colombo Colombo will be staged at 7 pm on August 8 and 9 at the Lionel Wendt Theatre.

Author: Amila Galappatthi
Source: Amila Galappatthi's Blog
Date: 12/08/2009

‘Colombo Colombo’ - interview with Indika Ferdinando

Author:Daily Mirror
Source: Daily Mirror
Date: 03/05/2010

‘Colombo Colombo: The story of your coffin’ is a tragi-comic musical play written and directed by Indika Ferdinando. First staged in August last year, the play has since been critically acclaimed as a fresh and exciting theatre experience that sets the benchmark for contemporary Sri Lankan theatre.



The play comprises a dynamic cast of young actors from the Sinhala theatre including Saumya Liyanage and Jagath Chamila and the lead role is played by Anasuya Subasinghe, who had gained her degree in Theatre Studies in New Zealand. The lighting for Colombo Colombo was designed by Sri Lanka’s foremost lighting artist Thushan Dias; the lyrics for the songs written by Piyal Kariyawasam, a recipient of state literary awards, and the music composed by Theja Rodrigo who has also received many awards for his music composition in the theatre.



In February this year, ‘Colombo Colombo’ was staged at the South Asian Women’s Theatre Festival held in New Delhi and Mubai, Daily Mirror online caught up with Indika Ferdinando on his return from India for an exclusive interview about the play.

What is the South Asian Women’s Theatre Festival?

It’s an event organised by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations in collaboration with the National School of Drama in New Delhi and the Jamia Millia Islamia University. The idea of organising this event had risen from a conference on Women of South Asia that was held last year. The festival focuses exclusively on women’s issues as well as women theatre artists. Eight theatre groups from Afghanistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Myanmar and Sri Lanka along with six theatre groups from different parts of India performed at the festival. As an extension of the main event in New Delhi, mini festivals were held in Kolkata and Mumbai.

How was Colombo Colombo, a Sinhala play that discusses local issues, received in India?
Although the play was initially written and performed in Sinhala, the most crucial dialogues were translated into English for the India shows. In addition, I had a scene-by-scene synopsis projected onto screens on either side of the stage to help the audience. I believe that the issues discussed in the play are more or less relevant to all South Asian nations, having said that, my concern was the duration of the play. Would Colombo Colombo have the capacity to sustain the attention of a foreign audience for two hours? But what we learnt from the audience itself during discussions after the shows, was that in spite of the language barrier, they were able to feel the intensity of the situations and the dynamic and expressive style of performance combined with the musical component kept them engaged from start to end.

I must add, that what we underline as ‘rasa’ in the language of the performing arts, is a complex concept, referring to the aesthetic experience that the performance is meant to generate in the spectator. This does not refer to decorative beauty, but to truth and depth which in its best form can transcend the language barrier and reach out to any audience as an aesthetic experience. And in my theatre practice, I believe that it’s my responsibility to offer an exciting and aesthetically engaging theatre experience to the audience. In short, for me, it’s about finding and creating magic in theatre.

What challenges did you face in the translation process?

I wanted the English translation to retain the rhythm and playful style of the original Sinhala dialogues. It had to flow with the overall identity of the play and enable the switch between the two languages to happen seamlessly.

Why do you describe Colombo Colombo as an experimental piece?

The play does not conform to an Aristotelian structure. In other words it challenges the linear storyline with a single climactic ending that we are often familiar with, and replaces it with an episodic structure with four independent scenes. However, these scenes are linked together through thematic elements as well as the appearances of several characters and recurrent conditions that are common to all the events. There is also an effort to utilise multiple skills of the performer. I did not use recorded music or an orchestra. The instruments played throughout the play were eight guitars, and the players were the actors themselves. In addition to being instruments, the guitars were also used as substitutes for props and people.

Does the play carry a feminist theme?

‘Colombo Colombo attempts to look at the existing social and political systems and their power to determine the nature of human relationships. The influences of the socio-political context that we live in have the ability to transform the values and beliefs of people and their relationships in a matter of minutes. Yet another segment of the population chooses to remain indifferent to these conditions for the fear of having to change the lives that they’ve grown accustomed to. Having said that there is definitely a focus on the woman in Colombo Colombo. Central to all four episodes in the play is a young woman. Her name is Vyanga. But in each episode she is a different person. The difficulties faced by all these Vyangas draw attention to the impending dangers that not only threaten the existence of women, but also pursue them even after death. However, the perils of living in a society such as ours and the fight for survival is not merely a woman’s plight. I feel that this tragic condition is common to every individual in this country. Take Ibsen’s Doll’s House for example. It’s often perceived as a feminist play and the main character is a woman (Nora). But the tragedy of the play is shared by both Nora and her husband Helmer. This tragedy that I talk of is not limited to the tragic ending but is present throughout the lives of these characters. Similarly, Colombo Colombo highlights the perils of being a woman in this society while underpinning the tragedy that’s present throughout the lives of both men and women.

Tell us about the festival and the theatre culture you experienced on the tour?

India’s has a sophisticated and unique theatre tradition that has evolved over the years through numerous traditional forms combined with local flavours and the influences of colonialism, urbanisation and globalisation. Not only do the resources made available in terms of state support, funding, education and research play a huge role in sustaining the theatre arts, but there also appears to be an awareness about the challenges posed by the media boom and the economy. The Bharath Rang Mahotsav is an annual theatre festival organised by the National School of Drama in New Delhi. This year the festival presented over eighty performances by both Indian and international theatre artists. As a researcher and a spectator who was present at the Festival, I noticed that Indian theatre artists boldly experiment with diverse styles that range from traditional forms that are unique to the local culture to more contemporary forms and styles that are influenced by western traditions.

It appears that, all over India, a rich and varied theatre is being created by artists with a unique personal vision. In spite of owning similarly rich artistic traditions, it is this urge to experiment with different styles and forms of theatre that I find lacking among theatre practitioners in Sri Lanka. Well publicised theatre festivals that feature both local and foreign productions not only offer a wide range of theatre experiences for the Indian audiences, but also help the number of theatre enthusiasts increase each year. It is worth mentioning, that at the Bharath Rang Mahotsav, one could expect a full house at a 9.30 pm performance in spite of it being the dead of winter in New Delhi. This enthusiasm towards theatre was also evident at the South Asian Women’s Theatre Festival. In both New Delhi and Mumbai organisers ensured that no compromises had to be made in terms of the quality of the play. Therefore, my team and I were provided with the best of facilities in order to help make the performance a success. We also received a lot of support from the Indian High Commission, here in Colombo, during the tour.

What next in terms of local and international performances?

We’re scheduled to perform Colombo Colombo on June 5 and 6 at the Lionel Wendt and at at several universities within the next few months. Meanwhile, we have also received an invitation to perform at the Kathmandu International Theatre Festival to be held in Nepal in November this year.

- Indika Ferdinando, recipient of several state awards for best playwrite and director, works as a lecturer at the University of Visual and Performing Arts in Colombo, and had conceived the play as an experimental piece which is an extension of his scholastic research. (KA)

විද්‍යාරත්නගෙන් සම්මත අසම්මත කෝලම් සම්ප්‍රදායට නව ප්‍රවේශයක්‌

Author: ලක්‌මිණී
Source: Divaina
Date: 16/05/2010
ලාංකීය නාට්‍ය ඉතිහාසයේ පළමු යුගය නාඩගම් වූ අතර දෙවැනි යුගය නූර්ති ලෙස හඳුන්වයි. නූර්ති යුගය ගත් කල එහි ආරම්භකයා සී. දොවන් බස්‌තියන්ය.

මෙසේ 19 වැනි ශතවර්ෂයේ අගභාගයේ දී නූර්ති යුගය ආරම්භවීමට පෙර නාඩගම් යුගයේ අවසන් අවදියේ දී එනම් 18 වැනි ශතවර්ෂයේ පැවතියේ කෝලම් නාට්‍ය සම්ප්‍රදායයි. සුරඹා බලි, චිත්‍ර බලි, අනඟ බලි ආදී පහතරට නර්තන සම්ප්‍රදායන් මුසු කරගනිමින් නිර්මාණය වූ මෙම කෝලම් නාට්‍ය සම්ප්‍රදාය හැඬ වුණේ පෘතුගීසි කෝලම, නොංචි කෝලම, ජසයා හා ලෙන්චිනා ආදී කෝලම් චරිත වටාය. මේ අයුරින් ග්‍රාමීය මට්‌ටමින් පැවති මෙම සම්ප්‍රදාය පසුකාලීනව වෙනස්‌ ආරක්‌ ගනිමින් නූර්ති යුගයට පැමිණ එයද ඉදිරියට ගෙන යමින් ටවර්හොල් නාට්‍ය ඇරඹිණි.

එසේ ඇරඹි මෙම ටවර්හෝල් නාට්‍ය සම්ප්‍රදාය තුළ වර්තමානය වන විට බොහෝ නාට්‍ය නිර්මාණකරුවන් සේම රංගන ශිල්පීන් බිහිවන බිහි දොර බවට පත්වී ඇත.

ඒ අය අතරින් විද්‍යාරත්න ප්‍රනාන්දු ශිල්පියාට විශේෂ ස්‌ථානයක්‌ හිමිවන්නේ සිංහල අපේකම රැඳි යටපත් වී ගිය ඒ කෝලම් නාට්‍ය සම්ප්‍රදාය නැවතත් වර්තමාන වේදිකාවට ගෙනඒමට ගත් උත්සාහයේ මංගල දැක්‌ම මේ මස විසි එක්‌වෙනිදා පස්‌වරුවේ දිග හැරෙන නිසාය.

සෞන්දර්ය විශ්ව විද්‍යාලයේ ආචාර්යවරයකු වූ කේ. එස්‌ ප්‍රනාන්දු මහතාගේ පුතුනුවන් වන විද්‍යාරත්න ප්‍රනාන්දු පරම්පරාවෙන් ලද ඒ ආභාෂයත් සමග ජයලත් මනෝරත්නයන්ගේ ගුරු තරැව, සඳ ගිර, කනේරුමල්, අන්දරේලා වැනි නාට්‍ය නිර්මාණ සමග එක්‌ව වේදිකාව මත සම්මානයට ද පාත්‍ර වූ නිර්මාණකරුවෙකි.

කොළඹ ආනන්ද විද්‍යාලයේ නර්තන ආචාර්යවරයකු ලෙස සේවය කරන විද්‍යාරත්න ප්‍රනාන්දු ඒ ලැබුණු අත්දැකීම් එක්‌කරගනිමින් කෝලම් සම්ප්‍රදාය ආශ්‍රිතව ගොඩ නැගුණු නාට්‍යයක්‌ ලෙසට "සම්මත අසම්මත" වේදිකාවට ගෙන ඒමට සූදානම්ව සිටී.

වර්තමාන සමාජ රටාව තුළින් අපේ සංස්‌කෘතියට වන හානිය හුවා දක්‌වමින් ඉදිරිපත් කරන "සම්මත අසම්මත" කෝලම් නාට්‍යය සඳහා සාම්ප්‍රදායික කෝලම් රඟමඬලට අමතරව දෙවන පරපුරක්‌ ද නියෝජනය කෙරේ.

සම්ප්‍රදායික බෙර හඬ, නාද රටා ඇතුළුව වර්තමානයට ගාලපෙන පරිදි ගීත කිහිපයක්‌ද "සම්මත අසම්මත" තුළින් ප්‍රේíකයා හමුවට ගෙන එනු ලබනවා.

ජානක ෆොන්සේකාගේ සංගීත නිර්මාණයෙන් හා මහාචාර්ය ලයනල් බෙන්තරගේ අතින් නිර්මාණය වුණු අලුත්ම වෙස්‌ මුහුණු වලින් හැඬ වුණු මෙම කෝලම සඳහා රංගන ශිල්පීන් ලෙසට රොඩ්නි වර්ණකුල, ප්‍රියන්ත සෙනෙවිරත්න, ගිරිරාඡ් කෞෂල්‍ය, අජිත් ලොකුගේ, ඇතුළු ඉන්දිකා ජයසිංහ, සංජීව දිසානායක උපේíd සාරංගි, සුජානි නිසංකා වැනි ප්‍රවීණ මෙන්ම නවක ශිල්පීන් රැසක්‌ රංගනයෙන් එක්‌වේ.

පහතරට ශාන්ති කර්ම ආශ්‍රිතව හා ඒවාට අදාල බෙරපද, ගායනා ආදිය එකතුකරගනිමින් ලබන 21 වැනිදා සවස 6.30 ට ජෝන්ද සිල්වා රංග ශාලාවේදී දිහ හැරෙන "සම්මත අසම්මත" කෝලම නැරඹීමට දේශීය කලාව රසවිදින සැමට පැමිණෙන ලෙස විද්‍යාරත්න ප්‍රනාන්දු කලාකරුවා සුහද ඇරයුමක්‌ ද මේ සමග කර සිටිනවා.

Re-reading Ibsen in 'postmodern hypertext': 'Curtain is raising' - Ibsen and his influence on contemporary drama:

Author:Indeewara Thilakarathne and Ranga Chandrarathne

Source: Sunday Oberver

Date: 10/02/2008

Saumya Liyanage

A five day interactive theatre workshop titled 'Ibsen and his influence on Contemporary Drama' was recently held at the Sarvodaya Development Centre in Bandaragama. The workshop was based on randomly selected four images (images were taken from newspapers and magazines). Two acts of performance were derived from these four images.

However, the significant aspect of these rather impromptu acts of performance was that neither of the workshop leaders nor the participants knew the slightest cue of what there pieces of performances would going to be. The 35 participants who had been selected through 'selective conversations' were divided into two groups and worked on these images for the five days, developing ideas and actions within the frame work of four images.

The ideas derived from the images were developed into two acts. These ten-minute pieces of performances were later shaped and finalized towards the end of the workshop.

One performance is somewhat closer to realistic tradition while the other followed the absurd tradition of drama. The unique experiment of the workshop was the development of different zests, realistic and absurd, based on the same four images.

Kaushalya Fernando and Saumya Liyanage -hands guiding youth

Though these performances were enacted along the bank of picturesque Bolgoda Lake at dusk under floodlights, they were, by no means, theatrical pieces but two pieces of performances.

By coincidence, the two pieces of performance contained minutes characteristics which were closer to the issues and concepts envisaged in Ibsen's work. For instance, there was a character similar to that of Nora has been developed in the realistic form.

Character like Master Builcger was evolved in the absurd form. In the final stages, the participants tried to integrate raw-materials such as dialogues taken from Ibsen's text into the two pieces of performances.

Though the two pieces were created entirely with the material taken from newspapers and magazines, some times the image of Ibsen emerged. It would have been a profitable exercise for both workshop leaders and participants as more emphasis was on the learning process than the outcome of the process which has also not been pre-conceived at any point of the workshop.

The final performances were enacted on the meadow by the Bolgoda Lake at dusk around 6.00 p.m under the lights. Saumya believes that the workshop provided much-needed leverage for process of education and that it would be a smooth commencement rather than an end.

Before parting to meet again

Workshop took a dynamic approach where diverse ideas were allowed to clash in an interactive environment. Though it was not common in conventional drama workshops, here the workshop leaders confronted with ideas in an interactive environment which was conducive to such clashes of ideas, a feature lacking in contemporary theatre scene.

The workshop was marked for its significant departure from the traditional sermons-on-the mountain approach where workshop leaders delivered lectures while the participants looked on as if they were disciples. However, here participants were only guided allowing them to make their own creations. Emphasis was on the process rather than the outcome.

It would have been a daunting task for enthusiastic participants and the talented workshop leaders to convert ideas derived from four images into set of acts. What the workshop leaders did was to encourage participants to create the two pieces of performances according to the realistic and absurd traditions.

The amazing outcome was a couple of characters which were similar to those in Ibsen's dramas. Unwittingly Ibsen's ideas and concepts have been developed in those pieces, instead of them being forcibly inserted into them.

Throughout the workshop, Ibsen's pervasive influence has been visible in a most natural manner. It is obvious that contemporary Sri Lankan theatre is greatly influenced by Ibsen and his work. However, the re-reading of Ibsen or de-construction of his work in a post-modern context, is relevant to Sri Lanka, especially in a milieu Sri Lankan youth are greatly influenced by post-modern thinkers such as Stanislavesky and Artaud.

The central question that confronts the present generation is whether it is possible to de-construct Ibsen and re-produce Ibsen's 'modernist' texts and thoughts into 'post-modern hypertext' in order to explore urban realities.

Though Ibsen is present in Sri Lankan theatre through translations and adaptation of his monumental pieces in naturalistic form, it has, perhaps, for the first time that research, into his ideas and concepts is conducted through a process culminating in the creation of two pieces of performances.

These pieces of performances have not been identified as 'theatrical pieces' for the simple reason that they would recall proscenium type performances. The two performances enacted on the meadow of Bolgoda Lake were, though used light sets, not conventional theatrical pieces.

They were, in fact, outcomes of a process of education where the veterans and theatre-enthusiastic participants ventured into the rather forgotten realm of Ibsen and the socio-economic issues he highlighted through his work.

The socio-economic issues depicted in Ibsen's work are as relevant to the contemporary Sri Lankan society as they were in Ibsen's time. Film screening, discussions were also held during the workshop. One of the significant characteristics of the workshop was that workshop encouraged participants to discover their talents and to make their own creations rather than becoming perpetual students.

The 'Ibsenight' project is designed and focuses to research hundred years old Playwright's legacy and the possibility of reproducing the major concepts and thoughts inherited in Ibsen - text in the contemporary performance form.

Although the reproduction of Ibsen in contemporary theatre with Naturalistic form is a common trend, the workshop attempted at re-producing Ibsen's 'modernist' text, thoughts and developing them into 'postmodern hypertext' in order to explore urban realities of Sri Lankan youth.

Piyal Kariyawasam, Ruwanthi De Chickera, Presannajith Abesuriya, Rajitha Dissanayake, Saumya Liyanage and E. M. D. Upali made up the Resident Artists and Mentors while Kaushalya Fernando, Hemasiri Liyanage, Priyankara Ratnayake, Pradeep Chandrasiri and Ranjith Dissanayake were other resource personnel.

The 'Curtain is rising' was organized by SARASAVI MITHORO, the alumina association of the University of Colombo.

National Drama Festival - 2007:Young playwrights dominate the scene

Author:E. M. G. Edirisinghe

Source: Daily News

Date: 12/09/2007

BEST ACTRESS: Anoja Weerasinghe in a scene from Diriya Mawa

DRAMA: Recently concluded 36th Annual National Drama Festival reflected the dramatic presentations of the cream of present-day dramatists of the country. The festival was dominated mostly by the young play-wrights who are still fresh to the medium, and are at various stages of learning and experimentation.

Of the 13 plays that came on stage at the festival competing for national honours, only four were translations or adaptations. There were nine original plays which is a welcome departure from the trend that was at the beginning of the century when majority of the plays at the festival were translations signifying the dearth of original creative talent at national level.

The Sri Lankan theatre audience should certainly be exposed to world theatre which has the capacity to enhance their taste and knowledge; but, not at the expense of original plays springing from our own soil spraying a fresh scent and a taste.

Research into our socio-cultural and political interaction prevailing in the social millieu throwing up various issues, should be the subject for indepth study and dramatisation within the local theatre arena.

They should be able to interpret their vision back to the general audience. Anyway, the objectives of the previous drama panels to reward the original scripts with awards appears to have been productive and paying in the long run.

At the drama festival there was Kuweni as a new production of the magnificent original play written by Henry Jayasena, which had a significant viewership appeal in the sixties.

BEST ACTRESS: Madani Malwattage in a scene from Denuwara Dennek

Also, it was the best play in 1963. The new production was by a young dramatist Samudra Karunananda from the University of Aesthetic Studies.

Although she failed to generate the tremendous poetic and dramatic quality in the original play, it was a good attempt by a young drama artist whose intention was to revive the image of universal woman who is destined to suffer continuously in her effort to seek freedom from endless suffering to which she was born.

Comedy

The festival opened with Kasimalla of Nalaka Withanage. It was a comedy based on a social theme centering round man's craze and greed for money. It was moving briskly arousing laughter and curiocity thereby compelling the audience to a teat of joy.

Janathawa Paradai of Anura Ekanayake is a political play focusing on the prevailing corrupt political system. However, dramatically it failed to make an impact on the viewers as it depended more on throwing about bunches of verbal punches.

Buddhika Damayantha who is one of our leading young dramatists presented his first ever original play Putha Enakam.

It tells about the urban domestic life which has miserably failed to realize its true aspirations which go counter to each other and no common goal of realization could be achieved. However, the script is not strong enough to give dramatic effect and create spectator interest in the play however powerful and relevant the theme was.

Cultural values

Man Diyawela (I am dissolved) which won the awards for the Best Play, Best Direction and Best Original Script was a superb production directed by young playwright Thanuja Wanniarachchi. It was a dynamic, neat and coherent production reflecting various social, academic and emotional issues the present-day youth have to face, and how finally their fertile ambitions fail and crumble disintegrating their hopes for a prosperous future.

Sunil Chandrasiri, a veteran dramatist in the current Sri Lankan theatre, brought Maya Devi on stage for the festival. It portrays the ill-effects of the open economy introduced in 1977.

Consequently the cultural and social values were steadily losing their hold and influence on the individual and society as a whole. The use of divine characters to strike his theme on an unusual note is the principle feature of the script written by K. B. Herath. However, it failed to produce the degree of depth it envisaged.

Mekka (The Flea) was directed by M. S. Weerasooriya. It depicts the surrender of one's reasonable thinking to meaningless childish and superficial feelings which finally ends with ruining one's own future.

Vijaya Nandasiri the popular film and teledrama actor and veteran theatre personality brought Sri Gajaba on stage. It was based on the life of King Gajaba who reigned in the 2nd century AD.

He was well-known for walking down the streets in his kingdom disguised as an ordinary man in order to gather first-hand information about the life of the citizens.

However, it failed at the script level as well as the production level to create an impact on the audience.

Bertolt Brecht's Mother courage and her Children translated into Sinhala as Diriya Mava Saha Ege Daruwo by Henry Jayasena was able to create an impression among the audience with a fine performance by the artists.

Significantly, it highlighted the cruelty in war, a current subject very close to any Sri Lankan today. Anoja Weerasinghe the veteran award winning film actress won the award for the best actress at the festival for her role as Diriya Mawa. For her to have shared this honour with another actress was looked down upon as a flaw in judgement and indecisiveness as there could be only one 'best' actress.

Difficult play

Together with this classic their was another world renowned play. Henric Ibsen's Dolls House is A tale centred around sharing life at home between husband and wife, which finally turned sour due to misunderstanding and lack of understanding as a result of failure to be appreciative of each other's role at home. It was titled Boniki gedara in Sinhala.

Yet another translation Vana Tharavi was adopted to stage by E.M.D. Upali a well-known figure in our theatre. Its original Henric Ibsen's The Wild Duck is considered his most pleasant as well as the most difficult play. Malkanthi Jayasinghe performing the role of Jina in this play, won the award for the best supporting actress of the year.

Sanda Gini Aran an original play written and directed by Thumindu Donatenna is a well conceived plot although it failed at the performance to win an award. The script interspersed with quotations from Sinhala literature may have been a distraction to rob its originality which could have been viewed from a different perspective.

Anyway, the play was developed within a troubled rural background and was made to move along a story of love and romance the strongest human sentiment that could go totally wild or leave one totally cold.

Translated by award winning national poet Ariyawamsa Ranaweera Denuwara Dennek was an excellent comedy directed by Susil Gunaratne. Its original play was in Russian written by Emil Braginsky and Eldar Ryazanov. It is one of the world famous comedies.

At a time when there are less comedies, it is heartening to see two comedies coming on stage this year. Madani Malwattage as Nadhya succeeded in sharing the award for the best actress with Anoja Weerasinghe who said that she would have been happier had it been awarded to Madani instead of making them to share it.

A hilarious comedy well directed with perfect timing and brisk movements is based on a mistaken identity of an apartment. The audience enjoyed it from start to finish.

Distant dream

Sri Lankan theatre in general is gradually shrinking with less and less dramatists both young and old producing plays. The audience at any theatre is dwindling and the golden era of Sinhala theatre in the sixties and seventies is today a distant dream with no sight in the near future.

This year, of the 37 scripts submitted to the National Drama Panel 23 were presented in the initial round of selection. At the end, 13 plays came on stage representing the final round at which a panel of independent judges selected the awardees.

However, enthusiasm of the few playwrights together with a few young dramatists who aspire to become dramatists in future, constitute the present group in theatre contributing their maximum with minimum agitation to keep the mother of all arts alive and breathing.

In this national endeavour, the National Drama Panel headed by Tilak Jayaratne performs a tremendous job by initiating, organizing, evaluating and warding both Sinhala and Tamil Stage plays.

If the panel initiates a programme to make an effort to take national award winning plays to the people embracing a wider spectrum of viewers, we can expect a growing audience for theatre in the near future.

Once theatre was the foremost medium of entertainment too, before the advent of first the wide screen, and then the small screen, taken in intellectual and appreciative grip of general viewership.