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| Saturday, 14 February 2004 |
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Emerging playwright's efforts win US hearts : Global spotlight for local drama Emerging dramatist Prasannajith Abeysuriya firmly believes that local dramas could compete in the international arena if necessary support is extended to those engaged in the field. "We have good original plays which are up to international standards. They need to be recognised and given necessary support," Prasannajith stresses. Last year, Prasannajith turned a new leaf in the local drama field when his maiden drama Dukgannarala (The Bearer of Woes) became the first American production of a Sri Lankan play (by an American director casting only American actors).
"It was a unique achievement for me personally and as well for the Sri Lankan drama," Prasannajith says. He emphasised that there are other quality and original Sri Lankan plays which require international recognition. "At least, one local drama should be translated into English once a year and then we can penetrate the international drama field," he added. So far only a few dramas like Sinha Bahu, Gajaman Puwatha, Kuweni, Vikurthi and Premathi Jayo Soko have been translated into English. Out of them, only Sinha Bahu was staged in the US by the veteran dramatist Namel Weeramuni. Already, another American university - Princeton has requested permission from Prasannajith to make a new production of the drama. Dukgannarala is set in a Sri Lankan theatre in 1990. The play starts and the audience is treated to a dance performance which is abruptly ended when a nameless woman appears among the audience and begins to make a scene. This turn of events is a complete surprise and does something interesting by making the audience almost feel as if it is a part of the production. The woman fears for her life and is hiding inside the theatre to escape the wrath of her husband who is outside the theatre doors. The man is soon allowed in and the story is made much more complicated as the audience is exposed to more and more details about the history and the current situation of the troubled couple. The husband has lost his job and can no longer support his family, but he spends his time writing books which are censored and not published. The root of the disagreement between husband and wife is that in order to support herself and her child, the wife has been forced into an immoral profession. The story is woven around a humane, unpractical man who preaches humanity to the world but never thinks of his family affairs. Prasannajith started his dramatic career in 1976 and now works as an external lecturer at the Kelaniya University and pursues post graduate studies in theatre and drama at the University of Sri Jayawardenapura. So far, he had played various characters in the plays of prominent dramatists such as Prof. Sarath Chandra, Henry Jayasena, Somalatha Subasinghe, Ranjith Dharmakeerthi, K.B.Herath, Parakrama Niriella, R.R.Samarakoon, Jayalath Manoratne and Siritunga Perera. Dukgannarala which was first staged in 1989 went onto win awards at the State Drama Festival and as well as Youth Drama Festival. His other creation "Dhordanda" (in 1995) won six awards at the State Drama festival and 11 awards at the Youth drama festival. These days, Prsannajit is preparing the groundwork to produce his latest drama which he expects to stage later this year. "I am planning rehearsals in June," he added. Prasannajith said that media institutions specially the electronic media should extend assistance to the dramatist to establish an improved theatre culture in Sri Lanka. " It's a competition. Media institutions should extend to drama the same support they extend to other forms of entertainment," he added. |
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Produced by Lake House |
Directed by Chris Van Houten, it was presented in the US by the Drew
University Dramatic Society. Dukgannarala, translated into English by
Prof.Ranjini Obeysekere, is now being staged in the Theatre Arts
Department of the Drew University.
