An actor’s philosophy which revolves around image

Renowned artiste Dharmapriya Dias talks us through his acting career which is dotted with many accolades, including the award for the Best Actor for his role in Hyena at the State Drama Award in 2003

Award winning actor Dharmapriya Dias believes that a fine comedy play is not merely an act which makes people laugh at low grade jokes and impersonation of famous personalities or speaking dirty.

“I don’t understand why people should laugh at mistakes made when speaking a foreign language or insults made on another human being. Saadaya Marai - Salli Hamarai doesn’t fall under this category. This is an attempt to create meaningful humor without using profanity or laughing at the expense of one’s culture,” Dias told The Nation while speaking about his latest stage play direction Saadaya Marai Salli Hamarai adapted from the farce Funny Money written by the British Playwright Ray Cooney.

Dharmapriya is known in the field for his commitment for acting. According to him he has been committed to acting from school days at Piliyandala Madya Maha Vidyala. “I was curious about acting since I was very young. I always wondered how children got to play different roles in Vesak Dramas played near Kesbewa Wewa. I wanted to know why I couldn’t play a role,” he recalled how he enjoyed theater as a child.

Young Dharmapriya was confused why the king from the Vesak play rode a bicycle to work. “The person who wore jewelry and shimmering costumes on Vesak day, went to work wearing office attire. This puzzled me,” he said that it was under his school drama master Premkumar Karunarathne that he learnt the ABC in drama. Their work including Muthu Etaye Geethaya which won many accolades in school drama competitions. 

Dharmapriya’s firsts contribution to popular theater was in Bandula Vithanage’s Romaya Gini Gani. “Working with this drama crew was like a practical workshop for me. I learnt much about popular theater,” he reminisced. With this debut drama, he received the opportunity to work with veteran dramatists the likes of KB Herath, Jayalath Manoratne, Rajitha Dissanayaka, Neil Alas, Pujitha de Mel, Sarath Kothalawala, Chamika Hathlawaththa and Thumindu Dodamtenna.

He specifically mentioned the roles he played in S Karunaratne's Hyena, Rajitha Dissanayake’s Apasu Harenna Be, Mata Wedi Thiyanne Nadda, Thumindu Dodamtenna’s Arundathi and Thilak Nandana Hettiarachchi’s Guti Kamata Niyamithayi as the roles he mostly enjoyed playing. His critically acclaimed role in Athula Pathirana’s Dolahak is also noteworthy. 

Dharmapriya has won many awards including Best Actor - State Drama Award for his performance in Hyena directed by Chamika Hathlawaththa in 2003, Best Set Designer for Ruwan Malik Peiries’ Dasa Mallige Bangalawa (Dasa Malli’s Bungalow) in 2004, Best Choreography in his production Gehenu Lamai Weda Arambathi and Youth Drama Festival’s Assistant Actor for Lanka Ishan Kankanamge’s Sanda Sewanella in 1997. Saadaya Marai Salli Hamarai is his second stage direction while Gehenu Lamai Weda Arambathi marked his debut.

His talent for acting is not limited to the stage. He said that he still enjoys his work as a radio and television voice artiste. He began working with radio and television during the early stages of his career. He considers the opportunities he received while working with teledrama directors Nalan Mendis, Sudath Rohana and DG Somapala as blessings. “Experiences gained on stage helped me immensely in adapting to teledramas and cinema,” he explained. “Having to act in Wimalarathna Adhikari’s Ingammaruwa was an extraordinary experience in the teledrama field,” he said remembering how teledramas employed radical themes, couple of years ago. 

Dharmapriya was regarded as the Best Actor for his first lead in the internationally acclaimed movie Machang by Oscar nominated producer Ubarto Passilini. Dharmapriya played minor roles in Vijitha Gunaratne’s Wala Patala and two other films Bora Diya Pokuna and Nahi Werena Werani, which have been awaiting release for past several years. He mentioned that Machang was a turning point in his personal life as well as his acting career. “I used to be double the body size I am now, I had no control over eating. I didn’t give body image much importance,” he recalled how he almost missed the role in Machang. “They told me that although I am suitable for the role, they can’t give it to me since my body image doesn’t match the character. They challenged me to lose weight that if I did they would give me the role.” Not only did Dharmapriya accept the challenge and succeeded, he wound up creating one of the most celebrated roles in the recent film history. Playing his maiden major role in this internationally acclaimed movie, Dharmapriya received the opportunity to travel to many countries. He also pointed out that physical and mental well-being is essential to becoming a successful actor. “This is rare in the Sri Lankan setting,” he said.

He further said that the experiences he acquired travelling across the world made him question the situation of contemporary Sri Lankan cinema. “I observed that in many other countries acting is a respected as well as a well paid profession,” he pointed out that most Sri Lankan actors are engaged in the field part-time as artistes while doing a fulltime job in a completely different field. “I’ve heard that there was a time in Sri Lanka when such value was attached to the profession. Too bad I never got a chance to witness it,” he lamented.

Speaking further about theater productions, Dharmapriya said that there has always been a stable audience for stage plays unlike cinema and teledrama. “Audience for stage plays has been considerably stable during both good and bad times. People came to watch plays even during the period of the armed conflict. There were fluctuations, but the dramatists were able to maintain the quality of the plays.” He said that the dramatists have attempted to give the maximum to the field using the limited resources they have. “Unfortunately, facilities in theaters have deteriorated. None of the responsible parties have looked into this.  This is a very sad situation,” he emphasized.

‘Our education system creates young dinosaurs’ - Ruwanthie de Chickera

Award winning playwright and director Ruwanthie de Chickera believes that there is no gender inequality in the contemporary Sri Lankan arts field and that the field is very open to women today. “Yet, however, other pressures of society – like judgment of women artistes, pressures of family life, prejudices and double standards of society pull women artistes down more than they pull male artistes down,” she said. “Within the industry itself, I feel that there is a lot of respect and space for women to work,” she said speaking to The Nation about her latest play and the path she traveled.

Working in the field for more than 15 years now, Ruwanthie’s plays have been produced in Sri Lanka, the UK, Japan, India, Australia and the Philippines. She reminisced that the influence she received from her school, Methodist College, Colombo, played a big part in setting the path in writing and theater.  She recalled the memories in the school theater. “Playing a female role for the first time in my final year in school is an unforgettable memory. Because of my height, I had been always cast in male roles,” Ruwanthie said adding how she wrote a play which finally allowed her to play a female role on school stage. “I wrote a play with only female characters. And that finally set things right.”

Ruwanthie was just 16 years old when she was first put on the professional stage. She says that she is unaware of the factor which inspired her to develop affection towards theater and art, yet whichever that is, it is deep seated and also continues to motivate her. She wrote her first professionally recognized play at the age of 19 and it was picked up by the Royal Court Theater in London’s West End and was first performed there. “I guess this was the turning point which pretty much decided my future,” she reflected.

Her first play won the British Council International New Playwriting Award (1997) and was performed at the Royal Court Theatre in London. In 2000 she was awarded the Gratiaen Prize. She is also the recipient of the 2001 Presidential Scholarship for Theatre from the Government of Sri Lanka. 

In 2000, Ruwanthie, with a group of friends set up the Stages Theatre Group which she considers as another significant milestone in her career. Stages Theatre Group is a theatre company committed to create socially conscious and cutting edge original Sri Lankan Theatre.  

 Ruwanthie’s first screenplay ‘Machang’ won several awards internationally, including Best Film at the 2008 Venice Film Festival and the Best Screenplay Award at the Durban I.F.F. She believes that Machang is a special movie because of the balance it maintains between a comedy and a tragedy. “I am a big fan of this mix.  I believe it brings out truths in an unusual way,” she said, admiring her work. “I was very lucky with Machang. I knew the movie would get made and shown. This is very rare opportunity for an artiste in Sri Lanka,” she added.

According to the critics Machang evidenced that Sri Lankan movie makers could still make films with powerful messages, meaning that there is a lot of potential in the field. Yet, the critics themselves condemn the field for not producing acceptable Sinhala films. When asked, Ruwanthie said that there is couple of reasons behind why we don’t see many fine Sri Lankan productions or powerful movie plots. “This happens mainly because our artistes have to struggle so hard, against such odds, for so long to make a movie. Then, even after they make it, they can't show it. There is no money and there is so little support,” she stressed that it is very frustrating situation.  

When asked whether she is satisfied with the effort made by the young artistes in the film industry today, she said that she doesn’t believe that the problem lies with the effort that is put into the industry. “There is a lot of people who are working very hard, completely alone, to make films.  However there is no support for them.” She reiterated.  

“What 'needs to be done' is a can of worms isn't it?” she asked. “Basically we need a complete re-addressing of our priorities as a society.  Unless we become a country and a people and a government that value good and quality art, who value the depth and the heights that art can take society to, we will always be in this rut of sporadic success stories in the midst of many, many failings,” she said. “If we support our artistes properly, we can then demand that they produce quality work,” she added.

Speaking further about the contemporary Sri Lankan theater, she pointed out that we do not have a strong culture of criticism which could help shape fine dramatists and take art to a higher level in society. She explained that a strong culture of criticism is necessary for art to survive and to penetrate deeper into people's lives and also for self-reflection and social change. “We don't have a strong culture of criticism. There are a few good critics but they also work very much on their own - and their work is not picked up adequately by society.  This is because we don't have a surrounding culture which supports criticism,” she pointed out.

As she elucidated, at a very basic level, in order to produce good critics, we need to produce people who are familiar with critical thinking - people who are drawn to the practice of 'thinking critically'. “Unfortunately our entire education system, which runs on ridiculous levels of reproduction of notes and memorizing, does not produce young people who are prone to critical thinking,” she said. . “In an age where exams are redundant and information is no longer a privilege, our entire education system runs on forcing millions of children to spend almost 20 years of their lives memorizing and memorizing useless notes in order to pass exams. Young people we are creating are dinosaurs; not equipped to be useful to society.  Because society no longer needs people who have stored up buckets of knowledge about things that already exist,” she added.

 “With a very few exceptions, most of our schools and universities are still producing people who can only reproduce what has already been taught them.  They cannot look at something and see what it could be, what is lacking, cannot connect it to wider and deeper issues, or think of anything original,” she expressed her dissatisfaction.

She reiterated that the problem of lack of critical thinking goes beyond arts. “We are very far behind, as a society, compared to where the world is headed,” she said. “This problem of lack of critical thinking is wider than an arts issue.  In fact the arts seems to be one of the few disciplines that even sees this as something important to instill in society,” she noted.

There are many fine Sinhala theater productions today. Yet, not many gets adapted to English or Tamil. Ruwanthie supposes that adapting the dramas to English would help them claim international recognition. “This is one of the reasons that we have stated working in both English and Sinhala. We want our plays to be both local and international, immediately.  This opened up many doors. You have to put in a little more effort for this, but it is worth it,” she emphasized.  

She also spoke about her latest play, ‘Walking Path’. This is a play that was devised along the several walking paths of Colombo.  It is a play that tries to understand what is happening to the city and its people as a result of the emergence of the walking paths of Colombo city.  It addresses the city’s new found interest in exercise and healthy living; it profiles the urban dweller’s obsession with technology and recreation.  It looks at the control and maintenance of these places created for public use. The drama was first staged in July this year.

She said that the drama is an examination of human behavior in the pleasure parks. “There is no plot.  There is a concept.  The concept is the impact of the walking paths and this intense drive to 'beautify' Colombo after the war, on society.  It’s an examination of human behavior in these parks. It’s simply about what this tells us about our people, and our country,” she said.

Yet, ‘Walking Path’ is a play without words. “Communication is not only through words.  In fact, words are often a big obstacle to communication. They often stand in the way of honest communication.  We pay far too much attention words when we communicate,” Ruwanthie said adding that removing words from the performance was a relief almost. “It left us with the basics of human communication - which is incredibly complex and subtle and open when it is not limited and defined by words,” she explained. Also, in these parks, all behavior is on public display.  We can see everything but we don't hear anything. The play reflects this situation of people watching people,” she added.  

Dr. Sunil Wijesiriwardena commenting on Ruwanthie’s play said that the play pushes the boundaries of the imagination about the lifestyles created by the contemporary socio-political base in the near future. The most dangerous suppression may not come in the familiar image of suppression, but in an innocent image beloved by you. When things you love are compiled and supplied by the system, look at it with judgment and suspicion.

Ruwanthie commenting on the audience’s response she received so far said that she is overwhelmed by it. “People have truly responded very strongly to the play.  They have loved its relevance; they find it timely and very insightful. They seemed to find it very politically interesting,” she said. “Also, they loved the form we chose, the 'no words' discipline of the performance. It seemed to have created a new theatrical experience for the audience,” she added. 

Capturing the hearts of youth with reel

Veteran teledrama director Ananda Abeynayake believes children are reluctant to listen to Dharma while being seated in one position for an hour, but they can be influenced to watch a teledrama on religion

Sansare Piyasatahan, popular Poya Day single episode Buddhist teledrama series directed by veteran teledrama director Ananda Abeynayaka celebrates 21 years

In an era where teledrama directors constantly get blamed for their commercialized tele-productions that do not fulfill the demands of the viewers and do not have expected aesthetic value and entertainment, only a few directors and producers get praised for their commitment in trying to maintain standards. They are the ones who try to protect the industry from downfall. One such personality is veteran teledrama director Ananda Abeynayake who believes that true satisfaction of teledrama or film directing comes from seeing the production contribute to the betterment of society.

Ananda is an old boy of Ananda College, Colombo 10. He reminisced that his interests in arts and creative writing began during childhood, when he started compiling his own children’s magazine as a hobby. “The only person who read my magazine was my mother. I sold my only magazine copy to her for 50 cents,” he said adding how he used his mother’s sewing machine to bind the magazine when the number of pages increased. Still, she was the only buyer of his small magazine.

However, his mother identified that he was a talented child. He was also interested in arts. Although there were no artistes in his family, his mother took him to the temple close to his house where veteran artist Jayasiri Semage and Thalangama Jayasinghe conducted an art class. “That’s how the foundation was laid. And I built my career on this,” he reminisced.

Later he got the opportunity to work with veteran dramatist Dharmasiri Bandaranayaka on ‘Eka Adipathi’ drama team. The First film he joined was Pembara Madu directed by Sugathapala Senarath Yapa released in 1977. “Not many know this fact about me, but I joined this film as a fight choreographer. I stunt doubled for Tony Ranasinghe in the movie,” he recalled. “As a child, I was keen on learning martial arts although I’m all out of practice now,” the veteran teledrama director recollected his introduction to the cinema. Abeynayake had been a talented martial artist who represented the first ever World Open Karate Tournament in Japan in 1975.

Abeynayake’s debut film production was Sagarayak Meda. Released in 1981, the film was directed by late Gamini Fonseka. Gamini also played the main role in the movie. “Experiences I gained working with Gamini was immense. I believe these experiences guided me to become the person I am today,” he said. Sagarayak Meda was the fourth Sinhala color film. “I was just 27 years old and I had to face many hurdles. But this also encouraged me to direct films,” he said explaining how he became a film director and then a tele drama director. His teledramas won many awards at prestigious awards ceremonies including State Drama Festival, Sumathi Tele Awards and Raigam Tele Awards.

In 1999 his Poya tele-drama; Kohomba Yakku won the Jury’s special award at the Japan Prize International Contest for Educational Media in Tokyo. The ceremony was organized by NHK. In 2008, his tele-drama There is a way won the best tele-drama award at the same ceremony. His most popular tele drama series Sansarae Piyasatahan has won over 20 national and international awards during the past two decades.

He spoke about Sansarae Piyasatahan, the pioneering Poya day single episode TV series in Sri Lanka which celebrates its 21^st anniversary this year. “I was interested in teledramas since my school days. The influence of the Buddhism, books I read as well as the Buddhist environment of my school, Ananda College nurtured a yearning to start a Buddhist teledrama series,” he said. “Meeting Somaweera Senanayaka and Raja Abeynayaka was another reason to initiate such a series. Senanayaka’s proficiency in language and religion made the single episode tele drama series a success,” he iterated. The first drama of Sansarae Piyasatahan series was telecast on a full moon Poya day in 1993. The debut drama was scripted by Somaweera Senanayaka and Jayalath Manoratne and Chandani Senveritane played the main roles. Since then, a new episode of Sansarae Piyasatahan is telecast on each Poya night at 7.30 pm.

Commenting on single episode dramas Abeynayake said that it is a fascinating thing to know the beginning and the end of a story within a day. “I knew that a single episode drama is capable of making a huge difference. I was inspired to do this because of fulfilling memories I had of reading Siththara strip cartoon newspaper and I used to enjoy Anura Shrinath’s single episode cartoon strip published in it,” he said.  

He also said that it was a challenge to continue the drama series since he was eager on maintaining the quality, creativity as well as the power of the message conveyed. “End result is always satisfying. I always receive positive feedback once an episode is telecasted,” he reiterated. He mentioned few incidents where people personally contacted him to reserve DVD copies to show their employee, friends or students who missed watching it. “I remember a depot manager called me once to get a copy of a drama episode which spoke about a child who lost his father due to a road accident by a drunken diver. The depot manager wanted to show in the bus drivers’ workshop, that he believed they would never drink and drive if they saw the episode,” he recalled.

He also mentioned about the scripts he chooses for the drama series. “We have never created a drama out of a Jathaka Story although it’s all Buddhist themes. Main criteria of choosing a script is that it include a striking moral message,” he explained. “Many veteran script writers as well as amateurs provide stories. In fact anyone can send a script or a story to me.  I’ll be more than happy to receive a fine script,” he added.

Abeynayake noted that his main goal of this tele series is to attract the young audience to watch the drama. “They are quite reluctant to listen to Dharma seated in one position for an hour. But it is easier for them to watch a teledrama,” he opined. “Young generation is quite distracted from the television today. But, I know, when they see a good production they stick with it,” he said.

Using three decades of experience in the field he said that he too had noticed the decline in the teledrama field over the years. “Many try to cater to the commercialized demands, but not to the nourishment of the human mind. However, it is the responsibility of any film or teledrama producer to help the society understand what is right and wrong while providing entertainment,” he emphasized. He identified limited budgets, lack of fine actors and actresses as well as lack of commitment to produce fine dramas as the main reasons for the fall of the teledrama industry. He also mentioned that he is thankful to Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation for allowing the Poya Night 7.30 time belt maintaining the standards.

 
Abeynayaka has introduced lot of new faces to the audience through his teledramas. He said that he always tries to select the best person for a teledrama character since he believes that not using the most suitable person would lessen the aesthetic quality of the drama. He further explained that today selecting fine actors for teledramas has also become a challenge. “Earlier the actors and actresses entered the teledrama field with academic experiences and a plenty of experiences on the stage. It was easy to work with them. Today, such people are rare and it is not helping the industry,” he expressed his grief. “However, we do not have any recognized education institution to study about teledrama deeply. Few places including state universities have a few short courses and on and off subjects. But they don’t seem to help much,” he pointed out.

Abeynayake reiterated that low quality teledramas distract the audience from the television. “There is an increase in the crowds who come to see films and stage plays. A reason behind this could be the frustration the audience has towards the teledramas,” he stressed. He also said that it is not impossible to restore the reputation of the Sinhala teledramas. “There was a time when the stage plays also fell from its grace. They identified the mistakes and they are in the process of regaining their power. Teledrama too can do this,” he further said. 

 

Pic by Ravindra Dharmathilake

Trapped in a dramatist’s shoes

Dinesh Sandaruwan is an amateur dramatist who is about to stage his debut drama direction, ‘Blood Wedding’.

Pix by Ravindra Dharmathilake

Few months ago, when Gayan Randeera, Director of Johnge Sattuwatta, spoke to The Nation, he said that he found the ideal person for the character of John. Johnge Sattuwatta is a Sinhala adaptation of The Zoo Story which was originally titled Peter and Jerry by American playwright Edward Albee in 1958.

John is an isolated and disheartened man who failed to build any form of relationship with others. Although his appearance perfectly fits John’s character, this young actor claims that he is not isolated and the people of the university love him as he loves them in return. “They love me not because I am an actor or I make occasional television appearances. They love me for the friendship we have and the good relationship we maintain,” Dinesh Sandaruwan said. He added that the value of human relationships is more important to him than anything else.

Sandaruwan stepped into popular theater through Johnge Saththu Watta. Jonhge Sathuthu Watta has been staged over 20 times and its lead actor, Sandaruwan said that they were delighted by the feedback and participation. During this short period he has been active in the field, he played the main role of Wisekariyo (Lysistrata-Aristophnes) directed by Priyankara Ratnayake. Sandaruwan has also contributed to Dharmasiri Bandaranayaka’s Makarata since 2012. 

Dinesh Sandaruwan is a product of the Kelaniya University. He sat for his Bachelors in Arts special degree final exams early this year. He is from Dewalegama, Kegalle. “My village is beautiful, surrounded by mountains. I didn’t know about theater productions in the city outside the mountain range. Village dramas were different,” he recalled. Sandaruwan said that he had loved the arts and culture in his village since childhood, but always suspected that there was art beyond this. He received his primary education from Bamunugama Maliyadewa Vidyalaya, Kegalle and attended Parakramabhahu National School, Polgahawela for the Advanced Level Examination.

“Later I met a teacher called Hemachandra Piyadasa and I was inspired by his work. When I got to know that I could study drama for my Advanced level Examination I was more than happy,” Sandaruwan said. He said that he had to move to another school because he wanted to study drama. “As a child I planned to have a carrier in the arts field. It was my hobby and I dreamt of doing my best as a professional in the field,” he added.

Backed by the motivation he received as an actor on stage, he will be staging his debut direction Niyangala Premaya (Blood Wedding) in October. Blood Wedding is a tragedy by Spanish dramatist Federico García Lorca written in 1932. “Blood Wedding was first directed for the final project at the university. Considering the feedback received, I thought it would be better for a public audience,” said Sandaruwan.

Speaking further about Niyangala Premaya he said that this drama has been produced before, under the supervision of the veteran dramatist Kaushalya Fernando as Sanda Langa Maranaya. “One may ask why we chose a pre-produced drama. Firstly this was produced for the university and secondly we wanted to see what we can do on our own with the script,” he said. The budding director said that it suited his drama group’s ideologies and he always admired García Lorca’s work. “García Lorca’s work always won my heart. Most of his work reflected on Spanish folk culture and we had to look into ways to adapt it according to our society,” he said adding that the drama ‘Blood Wedding’ speaks about human relationships deeply and makes the audience question the social norms.

When he was asked how he was taking up the challenge of directing a stage play he said that he doesn’t find it too difficult. “This maybe because I have acted under skilled directors,” he said. He believes that directing is a way of expressing himself. “We all have a vision of our own. A director will choose the best script which suits their ideologies and make an attempt to express themselves through the actors,” he explained. He also said that the best way to express them is to create an autonomous script. “Blood Wedding started to satisfy a university need. I have already started to write an autonomous script; a political comedy. Hopefully, it will be named as Political Heenaya,” he said.

Sandaruwan pointed out that school education is not sufficient to understand theater. Common perception in the society is that drama and theater is not a field in which a person can earn money. “People are made to think that actors are those who they see on television everyday. My view too was similar to this until I studied the subject,” he said. “A person can make money doing drama. But a dramatist cannot do whatever he or she wants to for the sake of making money. Yet there are people who are making money doing whatever they want,” he added. However, he said that there are instances where people lose all their money doing dramas. “Sometimes dramatists get wretched. But we are a group who has studied the subject deeply. We are the specialists. If we are to leave this to earn money, who will be there to save the field?” he raised a question.

He further explained the responsibility of a dramatist. According to Sandaruwan, a director and a scriptwriter are responsible for each and every word said on stage. “If the dramatists fake their work, the audience will know. They have to be honest with their work. Unlike teledrama, a stage play cannot be staged without proper rehearsals,” he pointed out.

He also said that there are three types of groups in the audience. “When a drama is staged one group enjoys it for its outline story. The next group whose intelligence level is superior to the previous group tries to seek the underlying meaning,” he stressed. “There is another group; the most intelligent, they seek for the politics and the psychology of the drama,” he added. According to him, the dramatist should be skilled enough to satisfy all three groups. “Dramatist must know which audience he is targeting. Although there are dramas which is said to be addressing all audiences; children, youth or adults, I don’t think it is successful,” Sandaruwan opined. 

He also spoke about the barriers to entering the acting field. He said that he has tried to pursue a career as a teledrama actor, yet was demotivated because of the disappointments and the hardship of breaking into the field as an amateur. “One should either have connection with powerful people or money. Or else it is hard for a person from middle class to become an artiste. The doors are closed for them,” he lamented. “The only other possible route is through university education. Through university education you get the opportunity to strengthen skills and build the necessary relationships,” is how he expressed his grief. He said that a person concluding school education doesn’t have the capabilities to pursue a professional carrier in any field. “University education is a must if a person wants to become a professional,” Sandaruwan added.

Although he is satisfied with the university curriculum, Sandaruwan lamented that the situation at schools is not satisfactory at all. “It’s not the subject matter, it’s the teachers assigned. Most of the time there aren’t specialized teachers to teach the subject,” he emphasized. “Sinhala language teachers or the dancing teachers at school have to teach drama too,” he pointed out. According to him when the teachers have not studied the subject, they are not interested about the subject. “No one can guarantee that the students are getting 100 percent of what the syllabus has recommended.  If the student doesn’t have tuition, he will be devastated,” he said.  “Although the government doesn’t look into the qualifications of the private tuition masters, sometimes that’s where the child receives complete education,” he added. He also said that the university education is different to this that the lecturers don’t spoon-feed the students with the subject matters. “But since we were pampered and spoon-fed in the school education system, sometimes the student oriented education system becomes very difficult,” Sandaruwan emphasized. “Therefore some lecturers have to spoon-feed the students at the university level too. The numbers of students who refer to library books have decreased. Sometimes it is the photocopied notes which help the students to get through the examinations,” he iterated adding that these issues don’t receive the attention of authorities.

The availability of jobs for the special degree holders is not satisfactory in Sandaruwan’s opinion. Majority of graduates pursue jobs as teachers while another percentage joins the Ministry of Cultural Affairs. Some jobs are available at the Maharagama National Youth Council too. “Many prefer teaching since there are more benefits like free time to carry out their own creations during the free evenings,” he said. “Majority of the general drama degree holders also become teachers. Therefore is it worth for the special degree holders too to become a school teacher? Why did they specialize on the subject if they just wanted to become school teachers?” he queried.

He said that one of the major reasons that the producers aren’t much interested in stage plays is that they have a doubt about profits. “There are stage play coordinators but no producers. They try to divide the sponsorship. Sometimes it’s the director who sponsors his play,” he said. “Yet sponsors are ready to sponsor teledramas or films since the profits are quicker and it comes easily. They can sell their products to the media institutions,” he reiterated. “However, producers are not artistes, they are businessman investing money for profits,” he added. He emphasized that this is why the theater productions are rare and many among these rare production are cheap productions.

http://www.nation.lk/edition/fine/item/31843-trapped-in-a-dramatist%E2%80%99s-shoes.html

What’s in a name?

Veteran dramatist Rajitha Dissanayaka says that the name of a play makes a huge impact

 

Pic by Chandana Wijesinghe

Witnessing a stage drama is different from all other aesthetic experiences. It’s live and a fine theater production is capable of speaking to the heart as well as the brain of the audience. “Once a person experiences this wonderful feeling he or she will never abandon theater. This is why there is always a good turnout for a fine stage performance and why there is a group who looks out for a good stage play at all times,” said veteran dramatist Rajitha Dissanayaka speaking to ‘The Notebook of an Achiever’, about his voyage in the field of theater.

Dissanayaka passed his Advanced Level examinations in 1989 yet couldn’t enter the university the same year as the universities were closed due to conflicts that existed at the time. He believes that these experiences during this period of violence might have had an influence on his work. “Schools were closed for months and it was a period people feared for their lives. As students we had despised the government’s attempts to stamp down the riot,” he recalled. Rajitha had developed an interest in drama from schooldays at St. Mary's College, Chilaw. “When the schools were reopened, we wanted to seek a method to vent our frustrations. Drama seemed the ideal medium,” he said. Although he wrote a script, young Rajitha and his group of friends were not allowed to stage the drama in school under the circumstances.

However, during this period while killing time at home till the universities were reopened, he continuously wrote drama scripts and studied the subject. His first public performance, Sakwadawala was directed when he was a student at the Colombo University. His debut stage script was awarded the title ‘Best Drama Script’ in the Youth Drama Festival in 1994.

The young dramatist, motivated by this achievement, was able to give hope to the audience in an era they were losing their faith on stage plays, through Hansayintath Mang Asai (I Love Swans Also - 1996) and Mata Wedi Thiyanne Nadda (1999). Dissanayaka assured the audience of his capabilities when he staged Weeraya Marila staged in 2002. “Our drama team began to receive attention with Weeraya Marila. It was a career milestone. We were able to stage this drama over 100 times in the first round,” he reminisced. Weeraya Marila is the most staged drama among his creations and was awarded the best drama, best Director, Choreographer, Lighting and best script titles at the State Drama Festival 2002. His other plays, Sihina Horu Aran (Dreams Robbed -2004) and Apahu Harenna Ba (No return - 2009) were also selected as the best in many categories at the State Drama Festivals. Bakamuna Weedi Basiy (Owl on the street) was first staged in 2011 and his latest play Adara Wasathuwa (Love Object) will mark its first anniversary this year. Early in his career he also served as a program producer and a script writer for Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation.

Adara Wasthuwa

He believes that the name of a play has a huge impact on attracting a large audience. “I think that we can send the society a message through the title of the drama alone. It was during a period in which the integrity, corporation and peacefulness were absent from the society that we first staged Weeraya Marila. It was a frightful period that our idols turned out to be greedy, needy, swallowed by consumerism,” he explained how the name they used spoke of the existing situation in brief while the drama spoke about it in depth. “Sihana Horu Arang was directed in a period in which our dreams were actually robbed. The title states the obvious, yet when you watch the drama you’ll start to think whether you should just stay frozen while your dreams are robbed or whether you should make an attempt to secure your dreams,” he explained.

According to Dissanayaka the main responsibilities of a dramatist are to help the spectator look into their lives in depth, understand their lives, society and impart knowledge so that they will be intelligent enough to identify the changes in the process. “A dramatist can create a window through which to look out for what is happening. Looking out and taking actions is in the hands of the spectator. The dramatist can only set the background required for this understanding,” he iterated. When asked about the freedom of expressing their views on stage, he said that the dramatist cannot expect the society to grant complete freedom at all times. “There will be limitations. The support will not be the same, always. The dramatist has to understand this and work to the best of his abilities,” he said.

Commenting on the current limitations in society he said, “One cannot say that there aren’t any limitations to freedom of expression today. Although there are certain limitations, I believe, that the artiste should understand the circumstances and do their maximum within this frame.” He further said that an artiste should have the ability to produce outstanding creations, even within these limitations if they use their maximum creativity. “That is what we are trying to do,” he emphasized.

Bakamuna Weedi Basiy

Intellectuals criticize contemporary society for not giving priority to cultural activities, in their schedules. They say that this could devalue human life. Dissanayake too, lamented that abandoning the aesthetic activities will make a negative impact on society. “Most among us do not consider reading a book, watching a movie, going out for a drama or listening to good music as a human need. It is very unfortunate that these values are being ignored,” Dissanayake pointed out. He said that the society is made to believe that experiencing art is watching the television at night. “However we do not have state of the art facilities to experience fine aesthetics either. Not only western countries, even India has better facilities in each of its states. India has given priority to establishing good libraries, galleries and theaters,” he added.

He also said that none of the governments that came into power to date have given priority to nurturing these needs. However, according to him people of the country show a lukewarm interest on the subject that they don’t make demands on behalf of cultural requirements. “They can’t be accused of not demanding too when they have bigger problems to look into,” he exclaimed. “I believe that it’s essential that we demand cultural needs in parallel with other demands, or it will be too late if we wait until we find answers for our basic demands,” he said. “It is the duty of the institutions established to oversee cultural activities in the country. They don’t seem to do their duty,” he alleged.

He pointed out that this situation has a huge impact on theater and dramatists. He suggested that setting up mini theaters is one viable solution for lack of proper theaters. “We need at least three more fine theaters in Colombo and at least one theater in each major city,” he suggested. “There should be a proper plan to maintain these theaters in good condition while giving the dramatist the opportunity to issue tickets at a lower price,” he opined. As he explained, if there is a system to secure sponsorships and reduce the cost paid for the stage, the ticket prices will automatically drop. Theaters should be maintained. Watching a drama should be a pleasant experience. It would not become pleasant if the hall is too hot or lighting is poor,” he added.

“There should also be more space for aesthetics in the education system where children can be taught to be more sensitive to arts,” he said. He also emphasized the importance of encouraging dramatists to produce new autonomous and creative scripts and the effect of fine criticism and appreciation. “When I entered the field, the awards presented at the Youth Drama Festival as well as the State Drama Festival conferred recognition on budding dramatists. Today, it’s different,” he said. “If something can be done to give a hand to budding dramatists we recognize through drama festivals and award ceremonies to sponsor their theater productions, they will be motivated to produce better scripts,” he opined. He also mentioned that seeking sponsors is a challenge for not only amateurs, but veterans in the field. “This is why many veterans leave the field for other careers,” he said.

He also expressed his contentment on the participation of youth as audience. “I have been to many countries including France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Italy. The majority of their audiences are people who are well past their middle-age. Youth representation is very low,” he said. “Surprisingly, youth representation in our audience is very high. In fact the majority audience here is youth. A similar situation is noted outside Colombo,” he said. However, as he mentioned, their participation decreases when they mature in age and when they are faced with life’s challenges. “When they are young and free they can spend time as they please. When they get married and start families they are forced to drop their ‘cultural habits’ although they don’t want to. I have met many who complain that they can’t find time to go out for a play,” he said.

Sihinna Horu Arang

Speaking about the drama festival which is to be held no August 1, 2 and 3, Dissanayaka said that the theater lovers will be able to experience three dramas with three different themes at the festival. “However, all these themes are woven around contemporary society,” he said. “My latest play, Adara Wasthuwa which premiered a year ago at the same venue will be staged on August 2 celebrating its first year anniversary and also the tenth anniversary of Sihina Horu Aran,” he added. Adara Wasthuwa is a well-crafted drama that explores the ins and outs of human relationships in a society where political and economic gains override ethical concerns. “I think that the warmest wishes I received were for this drama Adara Wasthuwa. The audience loved it better than they liked the others. However, we plan to take a small break after a limited number of runs,” he mentioned.

Reminiscing ups and downs along his path, he said that he has tried his best to give the best and he still believes that the drama is the strongest medium he can use to convey his messages to society. Speaking about his future goals he said that he will make an effort to enhance the aesthetic quality in his plays and will try to find a way and provide the experience of stage plays to a larger audience. “Theater should be improved so that it becomes a better place to experience life, to become more content,” he concluded saying that he will continue to write better scripts as long as there is an audience to appreciate his work.