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| Wednesday, 11 February 2004 |
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Hunuwataye Kathawa revived: Henry back in the limelight by Chamitha Kuruppu A new production of Henry Jayasena's celebrated play 'Hunuwataye Kathawa' was performed at the Lionel Wendt theatre on February 9 and 10 and there will be three more performances at the John de Silva memorial theatre on February 13 to 15.
A young drama enthusiast who was amazed by Prof. Ediriweera Sarachchandra's eminent play 'Maname' watched it more than ten times to grasp the unique experience. Just after one year the same youth had the opportunity of playing the role of prince 'Maname'. Apart from his unforgettable performance as 'Maname' celebrated actor Henry Jayasena is still in the hearts of art lovers for his notable roles in Gamperaliya as 'Piyal' and in Doo Daruwo as 'sudu seeya'. Henry has broken new ground in Sinhala theatre while contributing immensely towards literature and song writing. Henry Jayasena first produced Hunuwataye Kathawa, a translation of Brecht's 'Chalk Circle' in Sri Lanka in 1967. The drama created a niche not only for Henry but also for local theatre at large. Giving an end to nearly a five years break this veteran dramatist is back in the limelight with his renowned play 'Hunuwataye Kathawa'. Henry who has created a celebrity line of actors on stage dramas and films has selected the best of talent from the present day Sinhala stage to do justice to the unforgettable characters of Hunuwataye Kathawa, which created a niche for local theatre at large. Scholarship In the 1950s young Henry through a scholarship got the opportunity to study further about drama in Russia. While in Russia he watched Bertolt Brecht's the 'Caucasian Chalk Circle'. In 1967, Henry baptized Brecht's 'Caucasian Chalk Circle' as 'Hunuwataye Kathawa' which was highly acclaimed as a superb piece of theatre by audiences and critics of Sinhala drama. The production received rave reviews both here and abroad. Hunuwate Kathawa has a long run of 32 years - the longest run of a production in this country - from 1967 to 1999 with sterling performances by Manel Jayasena as Grusha, Henry Jayasena as Azadak, Wijeratne Warakagoda as the Narrator and Santin Gunawardena as Simon Sashawa. This production is presented by the Bank of Ceylon as part of its active participation in major cultural events of the country. A special feature of the new production is the participation of young recruits of the 'Janakala Kendraya' of folk arts at Battaramulla by the Samurdhi Ministry. With the new production of 'Hunuwataye Kathawa' after half a century of tremendous effort, Henry will be able to leave behind one of the eminent pieces of theatre for the future generations. History Written in 1944, while Brecht was living in America the 'Caucasian Chalk Circle' was initially intended for Broadway. It never quite made it there, but was instead premiered by students at Carlton College in Northfield, Minnesota in 1948. Brecht's source for the play is most likely Klabund's 'Circle of Chalk', which was based on an ancient Chinese play written in 1300 AD with the same name. Brecht adapted this story into parable form and changed the setting to Soviet Georgian near the end of World War II. The play itself is unusual for Brecht because it has a relatively happy ending; everything works out for Grusha. At the same time, the 'Caucasian Chalk Circle' is clearly a communist play - whoever can make the best use of resources in order to provide for other deserves to get those resources. The play did not gain popularity in the United States until the 1950s. The first professional production took place at Hedgerow Theatre in Philadelphia in 1948 and was directed by Eric Bently. Soon thereafter the Caucasian Chalk Circle became Brecht's most popular parable in the United States. **** Back **** |
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