Theater’s potential to shift politics
 |
| Pics by Chandana Wijesinghe |
“It’s almost
15,000 days since I first set foot on a stage. This is why the festival was
named Dawas Pahalos Daha (Fifteen thousand days). In other words it’s been
almost 45 years since then,” Dr. Jayalath Manoratne told The Nation, speaking
about his drama festival which is scheduled to commence tomorrow. Seven dramas
out of 12 he has scripted and directed will be staged at the festival. “We
always try to do a similar festival every five to six years, since it helps
university and school students engaged in theater and it offers a great opportunity
for anyone rehearsal who is in love with theater,” he said. “It is also a great
opportunity for us, as we get to meet the audience, talk to them and see what
they feel or whether their expectations were fulfilled.” He explained that this
creates a sub culture within the field, which he sees as a blessing in the
development in Sri Lankan theater.
Dr. Manoratne,
fondly referred to as Mano, is an extraordinary character on the stage. He has
mastered singing, acting, directing as well as playwriting. His folk songs,
stage songs and Noorthi enrich Sinhala song culture. Although he has acted in
several tele-dramas and movies and was highly appreciated for his contribution,
his love for the theater remains steadfast. Manoratne has won several awards
including the State Drama Awards for best actor, director and also playwright
during his journey of 45 years. Peradeniya
University presented him with
a Doctorate in Literature (D. Litt) honoring the service he has rendered to the
field of arts.
Manoratne
was born on June 12, 1948 in the village called Dehipe in Nuwara Eliya District.
“My village was a farming village. During spare time after harvesting,
villagers act out folk plays such as Sokari or Sandakinduru and I felt the
wonder of it. That’s how I became enthusiastic about plays,” he explained.
Receiving his primary education from Dehipe
Mixed School,
Manoratne entered Poramadulla Madya Maha Vidyalaya for his secondary education.
“Sunil Sriyananda, music teacher of our school was the earliest to recognize my
talent. He selected me for many school dramas he produced. I was selected for the
main role of the school play, Assa Gudun and it won the first place at the Interschool
Drama Competition of Central Province the same year,” he recalled.
Passing his
advanced level examination in the arts stream he entered Peradeniya University
in 1966. Fortunate enough to learn under a legend, Prof Ediriweera Sarachchandara,
he set foot on popular theater during his university days. Being one of Prof
Ediriweera’s brightest students, Manoratne got to act in his play, Pematho Jayathi
Soko. He also contributed to Maname and Singhabahu. Since then, he has been engaged
in theater work for over 45 years, continuously. His latest production, based
on the life of the last Sinhala king Weera Parakrama Narendra Singha, Sellan Nirindu,
was staged for the first time last December. With Manoratne himself enacting
the main role as Narendra Singha, who was said to be a flamboyant king, Manoratne
said that this story relates to the present social situation.
Prof
Ediriweera Sarachchandra, Henry Jayasena, Sugathapala de Silva, Dayananda Gunawardena
and Gunasena Galappaththi are the five pillars of modern Sri Lankan stage. They
were all able to create unique styles. “These five were exceptional and I got
the opportunity to act under all of them. Their knowledge on local and foreign
stages was a blessing; it was like studying in five different universities,” he
said. “They enlightened us about theater studies and my love and respect
towards the theater grew.” Gaining knowledge under veterans for many years, Manoratne
wrote and produced his own play, Maha Giri Damba in 1980.
So far he
has written and produced 11 stage plays. Puthra Samagama; a translation of
Alexander Vampilov’s The Elder Son is the only adaptation among his plays. “I
love to experiment with different styles,” said Manoratne. He uses both
naturalized (Swabhawika) and stylized (Shailigatha) genres. Most of my
experimental plays fall into the documentary genre.” Documentary theatre was first
introduced to the Sri Lankan audience by Dayananda Gunawardena through Gajaman Puwatha.
According him historical incidents and biographies can be staged in documentary
form. “Historical stories are adapted according to the contemporary society.
Many parallels can be drawn between incidents that took place in the 1700s or
1600s and present. It’s true that history repeats,” he said.
Manoratne admitted
that he has noticed a lack of interest, on the part of the younger generation, in
developing their own style. “However a handful of amateurs are keen on
experiments rather than following the same old styles. Eventually they’ll find
the best style suited for them. This would only happen with maturity and
experience,” he noted. He also noted that youngsters are more interested in
foreign scripts. “I think 99 percent of the dramas written by the youngsters
are adaptations. As with styles, autonomous scripts are very rare. I have
noticed a lack of interest towards native styles,” he emphasized. “I don’t say
this is off beam, but if you take foreign countries like USA, Germany
or Italy;
they seem to have built-up their own identity even though their theater does
not have a long history,” he added. Manoratne stressed that if the dramatists
want to build-up a unique identity on Sri Lankan stage, they should be exposed
to native drama styles. He said that it is not fair to complain about lack of
opportunities anymore since Drama and theater studies are a subject in school
and university curriculum.
Manoratne
has staged his plays in many countries. With over 45 years of experience and
knowledge he gathered traveling around the world, Manoratne observes that,
compared to world theater Sri Lankan plays are still in a primitive stage.
“Recently we had shows in Nikaweratiya, Bandarawela and Ampara. I was in those
places in 1970s. I notice no development in these theaters, not the least bit,”
he expressed his displeasure. “I don’t think any of the responsible parties
have noticed this. It’s the spirit of the dramatists that takes their dramas
around the country,” he said. “We can’t wait until all these issues are
resolved. We can only do our best with the resources available to us,” he
added. He said that the massive crowds the theaters in rural areas draw is
proof that audiences still love theater despite these shortcomings. He also
spoke about the need of preserving the scripts as well as plays and pointed out
that currently there is no such system.
According to
Manoratne, the number of people in the audience fluctuates from time to time
depending on the country’s social situation. “There was a
huge decrease in numbers during the war. Now it’s comparatively high. There is a
small decrease in numbers these few days because of the election,” he said. He
noted a general decrease in the numbers with the impact of the television.
“There is an increase in the numbers again now. It’s a good sign,” he added. While
explaining he said that the quality of what dramatists gift the audience should
be looked into as some dramatists try to sell ‘cheap laugh’ to the audience.
“There are a few who always act responsibly to present dramas of aesthetic
quality.”
There are
folk, popular and classical plays. Classics are few and the average audience is
rarely exposed to these as opposed to popular or folk dramas. Manoratne pointed
out that Sri Lankan dramatists have misunderstood the concept behind popular
dramas. “Dramas cannot be called popular dramas just because they are
widespread. Popular dramas are not like classics. They might be simple, but the
storyline conveys a strong message. Our dramatists have mistaken it for humor
and profanity,” he noted. “Making the audience laugh should not be the motive
of the dramatist. Laugh is essential, but it should be meaningful,” he reiterated.
Manoratne said that the audience should laugh, but they should be made to think
what and whom they are laughing at, at the end of the play. He elaborated on
this fact using Prof Sarachchandra’s Mahasara, KB Herath’s Mayadevi and his own
script Andarela as examples. “Dramatists should see to it that the audience is
enlightened with the artistry,” he said.
He also
spoke about theater’s potential to change a person’s political ideologies. As
he explained, a strong political message could be sent to the audience through a
play. Manoratne emphasized that an artiste does not have to engage in party
politics to make the country better, contrary to many Sri Lankan artistes who
choose party politics to ‘serve the country’. “I do vote for a political party
which compliments my views. But I don’t do political campaigns for them. It’s
unnecessary,” he reiterated. “A dramatist’s responsibility is to serve the
common man, but he doesn’t have to restrict himself to a political party.”
Manoratne’s stage plays
Maha Giri Daba
(1980)
Puthra Samagama
(1985)
Thala Mala
Pipila (1988)
Andarela
(1993)
Guru Tharuwa
Sanda Gira
Kaneru Mal
Lokaya Thani
Yayak
Sudu Redi Horu
Buruwa Mahaththaya
 |
| Rehearsals of Lokaya Thani Yayak |
Sellam Nirindu
(2013)
No comments:
Post a Comment