Olivia (Twelfth Night)
 

BY GWEN Herat

RICH with many imposing characters, dotted with many incredible incidents and catchy dialogue, Twelfth Night moves with speed and vigour to an 'all's well that ends well' theme.

William Shakespeare wrote this play in 1601-2 at a time he was being accepted as a great playwright, overcoming humiliation and catty remarks from his Oxford-educated contemporaries who saw him as a rival to their literary works.

The story is set in the shores of Illiriya where Viola, one of the twins believed her brother Sebastian would have died in their shipwreck. She takes on the guise of a male, Sebastian, and ends up being a page to Orsinio, the Duke of Illiriya.

Viola (now Sebastian) takes love letters from the Duke to the young countess, Olivia who is presently mourning for her dead brother. She rejects the duke's hand in marriage but falls in love with Viola. This is natured by Olivia's uncle who is more of a parasite on the countess.

He is one of Shakespeare's most acted characters, Sir Toby who encourages Sir Andrew to seek her hand in marriage. Olivia would have nothing of the kind because she is so possessed by the young page, Viola.

Sir Toby who has designs on Maria, a gentlewoman who attends on Olivia along with two others, Feste and Fabian. All these people have one common enemy in Malvolio who is also in Olivia's household but is arrogant.

They plot to get him into trouble by sending him forged letters, imploring him to dress in cross-garted yellow stockings, a colour Olivia detests. Thus dressed, Malvolio appears before the countess. She finds him absured and thinking him to be out of his mind, orders him to a dark cell.

Olivia: 'How, now: Malvolio?

Malvolio: 'Sweet lady, ho ho.

Olivia: Smil'st thou; I sent for thee upon a sad occasion

Malvolio: Sad lady? I could be sad. This dost make some obstructions in the blood, this cross-gartering. But what of that? If it pleases the eye of one. It is with me as the very true sonnet is, Please one and please all.

Olivia: Why, how dost thou, man? What is the matter with you.

Malvolio: Not black in my mind, though yellow in my legs. It did come to his hands, and commands shall be executed. I think we do know the sweet Roman hand.

Olivia: Wilt thou go to bed, Malvolio?

Malvolio: To bed? ay, sweetheart, and I'll come to thee.

Olivia: God comfort thee. Why dost thou smile so and kiss thy hand so oft?

ACT. III Scene II.

In the meantime, Sebastian who has been saved, believes his sister Viola to have drowned. He reaches the town with piratical captain called Antonio who had rescued him.

Antonio had fought against Orsino's ships before being shipwrecked. In Olivia's house, Andrew becomes jealous of her obvious love for Cesario (Viola) and challenge the page for a duet.

While this is happening, Antonio arrives and .mistakes the page for Sebastian (he and viola look alike) Antonio draws the sword to help the mistaken Sebastian. He is arrested by the Duke's officers. This vexes Sir Toby who thinking Sebastian to be Cesario, gets hold of him:

Sir Toby: 'Hold, Sir, or I'll throw your dagger over the house

Clown: This will I tell my lady straight. I would not be in some of your coasts for two pence (exit)

Toby: Come on, Sir; hold.

Sir Andrew: Nay, let him alone. I'll go another way to work with him. I'll have an action of buttery against him. If there is any law in Illiriya. Though I struck him first, yet it is no matter for that

Sebastian: Let go my hand.

Toby: Come sir, I will not let you go. Come my young soldier, put up your iron. You are well fleshed. Come on

Seb: I will be free from thee. What would'st thou now ? If thou dar'st tempt me further, draw thy sword

Toby: To, What. what? Nay; then I must have an ounce or two of this malapert blood from you

During the scuffle, Olivia walks in and rebukes Sir Toby for his behaviour. She too mistakes Sebastian for Cesario and pledges her love for him. The bewildered Sebastian, however, follows a priest for the ceremony when Viola (Cesario) appears.

Finally the confusion is unwrangled as Viola reveals herself of her true identity to the joy of her long-lost brother, Sebastian. As everything falls into place, Viola becomes the Duchess of Illiriya. She had been secretly in love with him and as his page, could not say she was a girl. Toby marries Maria while Malvolio is released from him cell.

For drama and film versions, Twelfth-Night became one of the Bard's favourite plays. An operatic version was mounted at Covent Garden as far back as 1820 with emphasise on Olivia. In the United States Twelfth Night was staged in Boston in 1794 while New york produced it in 1894.

More recently the Shakespeare Stage Company revived a version in 1988. A stratford/Connecticut in 1960 featured the famous Hollywood star, Katerene Hepburn as Olivia. There were other notable versions with the full play and in limited scenes, staged in the West.

Among the main characters, Sir Toby Belch has the longest role to- play. He is Olivia's uncle and a boisterous one at that but remains a gentleman in whatever he does.

Viola and Sebastian are twins and are identical. It is their presence in the play that keeps it moving. Viola finds herself (as Cesario) in an awkward position when she discovers that the rich countess Olivia is in love with her.

She is also in love with the Duke and this makes it more difficult to maintain her identity. Olivia of course ends up having her man because Sebastian is a replica of the page, Viola and Malvolio uttering a famous quote of Shakespeare from this play. 'Some are born great. Some achieve greatness and some have greatness thrust upon them'

She danced her way to school
 

BY KINGSLEY Heendeniya

ABOUT 25 years ago, a science and mathematics graduate father, who is also a Sangeeth Visharad took his five-year-old daughter to admit her to a primary school. As they entered the premises, a children's song on the piano floated into the garden.

At once, the girl let go the father's gentle hand - and danced her way to school! Now married with children of her own, that sweet girl, Rupashika Ranatunga, today is an exponent in Kathak dancing and vocal ragadhari music is also the Music Teacher of the Museaus College in Colombo. She recently gave an enchanting evening of classical entertainment at the ICCR in Colombo with her students. That is when I met her.

This article is a short piece I learnt about her from her parents, Dr. Visharad Dayaratna Ranatunga and Amara Ranatunga, professor of music at the University of Kelaniya.

Dr. Dayaratna and Prof. Amara Ranatunga share a career of nearly 50 years in ragadhari and Sinhala music structured on North Indian and traditional melody and rhythm. And they are both very unassuming persons, a charming trait of the truly talented, in whatever field, unfortunately uncommon among our so-called Pundits.

Though both have doctorates in music from Benares University and USA, they spent time listening to a selection of my albums and told me the story of their only daughter, re-united with them after 10 years in Rome.

In her early twenties, Rupashika won an ICCR scholarship to Benares University - and immediately got a double promotion on admission because her mother had mostly taught her. Her father, a pupil from the first batch of students of the Government College of Music under legendary maestro Dr. Lionel Edirisinghe was then full-time Director of Music and Research at Radio Ceylon.

Just as her father remembered his daughter, and the lines 'trip it as you go, on the light fantastic toe' Rupashika naturally took to Kathak dancing as her first choice and became the loving pupil of Srimathee Dr. Ranjana Sriwastawa, when, after three years of intensive training in this dance form to the complicated rhythm of the tabla, she received a First Division Diploma and Gold Medal additionally in Bharata Natyam where movements, steps and grace are guided by the different style of the miridangam. Summarizing those years of hard work, her father told me of a moment he cherishes.

A famous Kathak dancer was about to start a public performance when to his amazement, she called Rupashika to the stage, removed her ankle gejji strings of bells, got Rupashika to put them on and invited her to begin! It was thus that Rupashika was selected to teach dancing for one year at a school in the vicinity of her university because she was also fluent in Hindi.

Rupashika now teaches mainly vocal music because there is hardly anybody who can play the tabla for the Kathak. I heard her group of small girls sing three popular bajans that evening at the ICCR after she opened the evening's entertainment with a duet in Rag Miyaki Malhar with her sister-in-law Sangeeth Visharada Sadhana Ranatunga suggesting Kishori Amonkar in harmony with Begum Abida, Sadhana on a lower pitch.

Lovers of North Indian Classical music should be grateful to the Indian High Commission and the ICCR for promoting and encouraging the appreciation of an art form tied to more than 2000 years of Asian history. We should also be thankful that they are able to fund training and endowing persons such as Rupashika Ranatunga and her parents.

All art shall perish as the proverbial flower wasting its sweetness in the desert air, if there is no patronage. Rupashika is young, and as her parents told me, they all want to learn more than they now know.

Let us wish them joy in their studies so more will join to appreciate their worth.

Sarath Chandrajeewa's Path of Visual Art

VETERAN artist Dr. Sarath Chandrajeewa will hold his fifth solo exhibition titled 'Path of Visual Art' at the Barefoot Gallery from June 7 to 19. The exhibition will consist of drawings, paintings, sculpture and pottery which he has done over a period of time.

This exhibition reflects his creativity and energy in different fields of visual art while these works can also be interpreted as retrospective of his artistic career.

It will be a remarkable experience for art lovers to see that he has used a wide variety of materials for his creations including bronze, glass, iron, resin and terracotta. 50 pieces of work done between 1976 to 2005 will be on display.

The book 'Path of Visual Art - Sarath Chandrajeewa' published by Maxies which coincides with the exhibition will also be on sale.

Chandrajeewa revolutionized the art of pottery through his first exhibition 'Creations in Terracotta' held at the National Art Gallery in 1990 and Art in Pottery held at the Lionel Wendt in 1997. A fresh and innovative approach was given to this age old and almost forgotten art form.

He also made a stunning impact on the contemporary art scene in Sri Lanka with his sensational 'Hundred Impressions on Bronze' an exhibition of a hundred portrait sculptures which was held at the National Art Gallery in April 1994. An artistic appreciation was shown to prominent personalities of our society through this massive endeavour.

His pervious exhibition held in November 2000 comprised of seven bronze sculptures which were done under the Mahapurisa concept and 17 paintings depicting his inner emotions and spiritual mentality. This exhibition titled 'Form and Feeling' was held at the Artrum Gallery of Hotel Lanka Oberoi.

Chandrajeewa held the position of Head of the Department of Art and Sculpture of the Institute of Aesthetic Studies of the University of Kelaniya from 2000 to 2001 and was appointed Director of the same institute in 2001.

After resigning from his post in late 2002 he founded his private art school. 'The Colombo Academy of Arts' which is situated at Barnes Place Colombo 07. Sarath Chandrajeewa who is a master of sculpture, painting and pottery has shown a steady growth since he first revealed his work to the general public in December 1990.

This massive exhibition will be a one of a kind experience for Sri Lankan viewers as they will get to see his mastery in the above three categories of visual art presented in one gigantic exhibition.

- Namal Jayasinghe.

Moratuwa Arts Forum new President

DENVER Brian Cooray was unanimously elected as the new president of the Moratuwa Arts Forum (MAF) at their 11th Annual General Meeting held on 20th March at the Sri Palee Reception Hall, Moratuwa.

Having graduated with a bachelor's degree in science at the Sri Jayewardenepura University, Brian counts over 20 years experience at senior management level both at private and public sector institutions. He is well-known in music circles as a left hand bass guitarist and vocalist.

In the past he had performed in four musical bands such as 'Talk of the Town', 'Gaylord Revival' and 'Pink and Purple'.

He began his musical career as a twelve-year-old kid with the 'Bambaras' which emerged as winner of a popular talent contest performing on a tiny Ukulele and singing original compositions.

Brian's priorities for MAF this year include membership recruitment and training while executing programmes in both musical and corporate fields to raise funds and carry out development projects in the artistic field to uplift the quality of the multi-talented youth of Moratuwa. Having had his primary education at Prince of Wales and St. Sebastian's Colleges, Brain joined Wesley College where he excelled in hockey and other sports.

He was a leading chorister who performed in musical operas singing bass. An ex-president of the Rotary Club of Moratuwa and the Moratuwa YMCA, he has organised and lectured in many seminars and workshops in the business field.

Content with his achievements in both corporate and business fields, Brain is the son of the late Justin Cooray and Charlotte Cooray of Moratuwa.