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Lest we overlook ...

As the curtain falls on another keenly-contested Inter Schools' Shakespeare Drama Competition, the time seems right to ponder long and deep on some essential aspects of Shakespearean theatre which are, most often than not, forgotten in the overwhelming zeal of some of these producers and directors to create razzle-dazzle effects rather than capture on stage the soul essence of Shakespearean drama.

It's best to remember that what we are confronted with in Shakespeare is poetic drama and not cinematic grandioseness. This is a point which all judges and evaluators of these plays need to constantly bear in mind. Whereas creative innovation, within limits, is perfectly permissible in a Shakespearean production, it should be borne in mind that Shakespearean theatre is, essentially, non-naturalistic and appeals more to the mind's eye and the creative imagination of the audience; for, Shakespearean theatre is poetic in nature and has greater affinities with stylized modes of production, rather than with the realistic theatre.

Accordingly, what should be valued most in Shakespearean theatre is the clear and expressive enunciation of lines given to each character, the conveying of their poetic essence and the effective reliving of the characters on stage combined with cohesion and unity in action. Any "Shakespearean production" that deviates from these fundamental principles of dramatization could be considered crude theatrical spectacles and little else.

We are compelled to recall these "first principles" because quite a few local school productions of this kind display a marked tendency to rely on what is crudely theatrical and sensational rather than on what is truly dramatic. "The play", which is "the thing," is swallowed up in a maze of prolonged and blatantly melodramatic action, such as "blood and thunder" battle scenes, attempts at creating superfluous and inessential natural settings - dazzling palanquins bearing Egyptian queens and colourful battle ships "putting out to sea", being just two of these. Some of these productions were cluttered with props and visuals which had little bearing on the central action.

However, Shakespearean drama in the real sense has more to do with conflict among characters and their development; with the revelation of human nature and the eternal spiritual conflicts of mankind.

When the essence of Shakespearean drama is forgotten in the scramble to appeal to the crudely sensuous and the sensational and these win approval, the pressure intensifies on even schools which cannot afford it, to give their productions the same inessential but expensive garb or drop out of the race. This, of course, wouldn't do the study of Shakespeare or the development of Shakespearean drama in local schools, any good.

There are lessons here for the future which should be learnt if our lively interest in Shakespeare is to be enriched and prolonged. I warmly congratulate the Central YMCA Colombo, the Rotary Club of Colombo North and the Ceylon Thespians for their strong commitment to the perpetuation of Shakespearean drama and for unfailingly organising and conducting the Inter Schools Shakespeare Drama Contest over the years. Please keep up the good work.

- Lynn Ockersz

Concert performance by "Les Six"

The concert presented recently at the Oberoi by six Fellows of Trinity College London's Sri Lanka Centre promised to be different. This was not just a showcasing of the latest prizewinners. Here were six who had attained privileged membership of the College and gone on to achieve individual distinction as musicians. Now they were teaming up for a special project - that of expressing their appreciation, in the way they could best do, of the institution that had encouraged and measured their musical progress over the years.

Tanya Ekanayaka, in her rendition of the popular but difficult Chopin Ballade, proved herself equal to its technical challenge with a flawless execution. She captured, too, the theatrical brilliance of the piece. One felt that its dramatic intensity, however, was insufficiently plumbed, an ability that will surely come with experience.

In the beautifully sonorous Faure Elegie and the complex Popper Hungarian Rhapsody, where she was accompanied by Kamalinie Samarakoon and Soundarie David respectively, Tamara Holsinger proved that in skilled and sensitive hands the cello is the loveliest of the stringed instruments. She produced a breadth and richness of tone that were well beyond her years. Her bowing and fingerwork left little to be desired. As she performed, especially in the Faure, one could literally see her becoming one with her instrument.

Kamalinie Samarakoon was quietly expressive and supportive where the cello was to the fore in the Faure. One felt that she would impress as a soloist, and she did not disappoint. When she sat down to the Brahms Ballade one was struck by the power and control with which she executed this harmonically dense and rhythmically vigorous work. The powerfully invigorating quality of the music was aptly matched by her playing.

I am no lover of the electronic organ, but was won over by Shyama Perera's devotion to her instrument of choice by the skill and imagination with which she displayed its versatility. These reached their peaks, I thought, in the duet where she and Soundarie David played selections from Delibes' Coppelia. In her hands the organ proved a worthy partner to the pianoforte, and the two performers displayed a degree of rapport which was itself a pleasure to watch. I do wish, however, that Shyama had not chosen Gershwin's "I Got Rhythm" as her second solo item.

Here I could not help but notice what has been observed in some classically trained keyboard artistes undertaking jazz, namely that while technically impressive they seem to lack confidence and imagination enough to improvise to the extent needed to bring out the potential of the music.

Menaka de Fonseka Sahabandu sang twice with the piano alone and twice with piano, cello and organ. Her renditions were given with much expressiveness and richness of tone.

However complex the song lines, these were delivered with ease and a complete lack of affection. There was a happy relaxedness about her style that enhanced our enjoyment of the music because it seemed to be rooted in her personality.

Finally to Soundarie David, I have left her for the last because she was clearly the anchor of the programme. She appeared in no less than six of the twelve items as accompanist, duo and quartet member, where her playing was variously restrained and supportive, expressively cantabile and boldly dynamic. One could sense that there were further depths here, and these were fully revealed in her seventh appearance as soloist in the Rachmaninov Elegie. One could not but respond with gratitude for the impressive technique and the imaginative gusto with which she conveyed the dreaminess as well as the brooding majesty of this piece. As much as she is the most supportive of accompanists, I hope she will come out more often as a soloist so as to realise, and to benefit audiences with, her full potential.

"Les Six" clearly enjoyed teaming up for this occasion. One could sense the team spirit and rapport that prevailed throughout. The mutually complimentary and complimentary performances alongside the displays of individual brilliance provided the complete musical experience one had anticipated.

The concert took me back some fifty years to the time when I used to be entered for the Trinity London elocution examinations held at Bagatelle Road. The representative then was a Mrs. Bleakley, a name that in retrospect seems highly inappropriate since she exuded a warmth and kindliness that did much to put us anxious candidates at ease before being led up to the examiner. Observing the mutual regard and affection that were evident between the six Fellows and the present representative, Ramola Sivasundaram, and her mother and predecessor, Mano Candappa, at the conclusion of the concert, one could see that the same high standards of caring support obtained in the much larger context in which Trinity's Sri Lanka Centre operates today.

- Priya David

Creating many colours with ballpoint

The 12th coloured Ballpoint Art Exhibition by Mangala Madanayake will be held at Public Library Auditorium, Colombo on 30th June and 01st July from 9.00 a.m. to 6.00 p.m.

Titled "Ballpoint Viskam 2002" the exhibition consists of around 40 colour drawings by the artist. Themes of drawings are mostly rural landscape, wildlife and forest.

He has captured some scenes from Sinharaja forest and Yala as well - sketches done when he visited those forest environments.

By drawing over the colours of blue, green, red, black and brown ballpoint lines he has succeeded creating about forty colours.

"In order to use the ballpoint in painting one should be dextrous in handling the pen' says Madanayake. And he adds: "One needs a lot of patience and discipline to master this art. It is like meditation."

Swaba - an afterthought

On 23rd June 2002, Indralal Manjula Karunathilaka closed shop for this year. Does his name ring a bell? If you had seen Swaba at the Lionel Wendt, it should. Manjula's exhibition of over fifty-five water colors evoked emotions, triggered the mind and rejuvenated the weary soul. The titles he had given to the pictures added momentum. A pair of black shoes and two worn out slippers carried the name - paratharaya (The gap) A picture of a woman with a load of bricks on her head was called viriya (courage). It is nice to have the Creator himself walk beside me as I study his work.

He is obviously trying to note my reactions. I keep a stone face, thinking this is how a professional critic should behave. This is easy with one or two of the paintings (i.e "Shadows" and "Ruins") But when I come across forbidden love I find myself gazing and gazing into the two faces in front of me. The emotional turbulence the man and the woman are experiencing become mine. I have to make an effort to free myself, to move on to the next picture - Panchaskandaya (The Five senses) which drags me into deep meditation. Minutes pass... I walk to the next... till finally Manjula's voice breaks into my thoughts and drags me back to reality.

"Do you like them?" he asks with a gentle sparkle in his eyes. "They are..." I grope for the right word and come up with "fascinating". Manjula rubs his palms together in satisfaction and says " Nothing pleases me more than the knowledge that the expressions of joy and beauty created through my paintings has been a source of enjoyment and beauty for others".

I try to floor him with a fatal question. "The girls in all the paintings look the same. Could this be because they are created from a model in real life". He blushes furiously but says point blank "I don't have a girlfriend". Then, changes the subject. Pointing to a picture of a bullock cart, Manjula describes how he had painted it at six in the morning three days ago, when he had woken up with the image already formed in his mind.

Thus sits an umbrella maker on the pavement, thus smiles a girl boiling a kettle of water on a hearth, thus asks the painter from one of his own creations (a young girl baring her naked body to the world) "cover your self"... Thus ends Swaba for this year. Next year too Manjula hopes to have another Swaba, and the year after that, and the year after that, every year till he can hold a paint brush in his hands. "I am dreaming" he says with a wistful look in his eyes. May they be dreams that come true.

- Aditha Dissanayake

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