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by E.M.G. Edirisinghe

It is the seventh All-Island Children's Drama Festival held since inauguration in 1995. And, for the first time, the John de Silva Memorial Theatre was packed with children and agog with excitement each day the competition was held. Keeping with the Sri Lankan tradition of the adults accompanying children to any event which has a special significance to children. The parents, teachers, brothers and sisters were there in their hundreds. This has shaped our children's theatre into an art which invariably offers wisdom and entertainment to both children and adults.

There is a lesson, message or a moral to all of them, couched in dialogues, songs and theme. Children's drama has come to stay as a part of the school curriculum. The Sri Lankan child with limited opportunities for moulding its character and widening education, drama has become a convenient and useful belt for conveyance of knowledge.

Among a total of 25 plays lined up for presentation at the festival (11 in the limited section and 14 in the open section), there were productions from all over the country, which included those from such remote districts as Galle, Badulla, Anuradhapura, Matara, Ampara and Chilaw. The parents as well as the teachers show an enormous interest to spot and develop hidden talents of the individual child, and to foster them in group activity. This helps to re-establish the increasingly losing parental hold on the child who is often glued to the television with the parents away from home most of the time.

Today's theatre makes up for the void created by cinema which is either 'adults only' or black comedy. None for children or families. So we saw whole families at this drama festival organized by the Department of Cultural Affairs and the Children's Drama Panel.

Themewise, relationship among animals or their interaction with humans still appears to be the most popular and the motivating material base for children's theatre. The animals are friendly, innocent and they are real, which traits are evident in children as well. So, children easily and naturally find a friend in animal. The life of an animal is real and leaves nothing for imagination which brings it closer to child. Even toy animals have a tremendous appeal to children who love to play with them.

Another feature that marked the festival this year is that the majority of the playwrights have moved away from the repertory of folklore, fairy tales and other traditional literary and historical sources to draw material form. They have begun to concentrate on social themes to take up issues affecting the children and to the society as a whole. It is a wholesome development spurring a healthy future for children's drama in realising the specific goal of moulding the child into a person useful to himself and the society. For instance, Kiri Pussa of Medawachchiya National school delineates the story revolving on an attempt to sell a feeding cow to a butcher in retaliation to her refusal to exploit the milk that is rightly the food of her calf.

Tennyson Dissanayake's Kurumiti Purayata Rupa Pettiyak portrays the ill-effects of television on children who are in uncensored over-exposure to its programmes. These two plays reflect how different issues affect children in different backgrounds. The children are taught how to overcome the obstacles which are peculiar to them. Binduge Lokaya presented by Isipathana Vidyalaya, Colombo focusses on the evil influence of remorseless servants on children whose parents are busy away from home, leaving the children at the mercy of servants.

The animals themselves or their interrelationship with man is often taken as the model for developing morals and to inculcate good habits in children Thunveni Seenuwa (St. Mary's College, Chilaw) extracts the example of animal's love for freedom, to discipline a mischievous child. Tikiri Babbu a production of Asoka Vidyalaya, Horana is a lesson on how one should not discriminate against one's old friends, just because one has got a new distinguished friend.

What we saw in Diriya Ayayi (Ananda Balika, Colombo) is to caution the parents who leave their sick children orphans only only to find love and care in an orphanage where there is a horde of children with similar fate. Sukiri (St. Joseph's M. V., Kegalle) carries a message to children not to be mischievous, which however, by itself is no wrong. In Ane Ape Gembi Hamy presented by Hali Ela National School, the children come to the rescue of a little frog who strayed out of its habitat.

Extolling friendship and mutual help, Siling Biling from Kurunegala Maliyadeva College brings out a story of a child belling the cat, and not by the traditional rat. Bobo Saha Seebo easily the best play of the festival was directed by Aruna Gammuni.

In fascinating dramatic compositions it tells that the most beautiful and the sweetest flower in the world, which no other flower can match, is the child. Lassanai by Chanath Jayasinghe, through subtle and hilarious machinations, makes a lazy child to wake up early in the morning and to engage himself in studies.

It is altogether a play of a different format and a challenging and controversial theme that we witnessed in Shirley Amarasinghe's Bonikkai Thuwakkuwai where the audience was made to actively participate in the play by voting for the gun or the doll. Apparently the boys preferred the gun whereas the girls voted for the doll. Nandana Algewaththe's Pol Gediyata Jaramarayak was based on a good script but it suffered in the direction of the play. While it explained the advantages of unity, it conveyed how disunity could be exploited by others for their own personal benefit. It came alive through a joint effort of rats and cats who together were able to overcome difficulties which otherwise are insurmountable.

The old maxim of one falling into a pit dug by oneself for others, was given life in Peni Waraka by Dhanushika Nayana Kumari. A compact play with an abundance of humour and wit infused into Sarath Waduthantri's Dosi Vasi, it tells the importance of cleaning teeth after taking sweets. Similar to Sukiri, Sudu Baba Saha Kalu Poosi of Chula Dissanayake speaks in disfavour of mischievous children. However, mischief demonstrates vigour and growth, and the diversion of its oozing energy in the right direction is what matters most in chastening of such children.

An overall improvement in the technical quality of the plays was imprinted in areas such as make-up, costume designing, sets and props. Number of workshops conducted by the Children's Drama Panel during the past few years could have been instrumental in elevating the standard in this area. However, there is much room for improvement in writing drama scripts which generally lag far behind, demanding more imagination, talent and learning in this aspect of the art.

Noisy and live participation of children and their willingness to accommodate another child on a chair or to find space on the floor for him were signs of developing a children's theatre culture which could bring about an understanding and mutual love among them. It was an exhilarating encounter and a refreshing experience. The children in the audience had their own positive responses and reactions. There was hardly an negative response from them. Always they showed love and sympathy for animal characters.

All the plays that came on stage at the festival were originals, another salutary advancement on the past when foreign plays played a substantial role. To take the child within the environment peculiar to him, and to make him familiar with the social and domestic problems that confront him, is both realistic and educative. It is a development of children's theatre in the right direction. Anyway, the plays, lastly should appeal to the children in guiding them to mould their moral as well as student character to take to take them into the future both morally and intellectually. The winners at this drama competition held during the first week of October, received their cash and merit awards from the Minister of Human Resource Development, Education and Cultural Affairs Dr. Karunasena Kodithuwakku, at the same venue.

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