Fusion of thespian and writing skills
 

by E.M.G. Edirisinghe

Question: You have excelled yourself on stage as well as on small screen. How do you evaluate your success as a main actor on wide screen?

Answer: Both at the Sarasaviya and OCIC film awards, I have won the award for the best supporting actor for my performance in Mangala Thegga. My contribution to cinema is much less than my life in theatre to which I am totally dedicated.

Acting in films for me is only a welcome diversion. However, I must admit that it is my practical experience in theatre which had enabled me to adjust myself to cinema so easily.

Q: You also have been recognized as an award-winning script-writer for television. Now your commitment to audio-visual art is all-embracing. How do you take in the newly found recognition?

A: What I love most is writing. I had this desire from my childhood. I have written several novels, short-stories and children’s plays. Moreover, I produced seven stage plays of which six plays were based on my own scripts.

I won the state literary awards for my script for Guru Tharuwa and Andarela. The script for Ramya Suramya is my work developed on an idea loaned by Ananda Abeynaike.

Q: Majority of our audience consider you as a stage actor. What is your reaction to it?

A: That is correct. It is because I was in theatre for quite a long time. To have achieved that status among a limited audience, I consider myself great.

Since all the characters that I gave life to were strong, I would have become more popular with the audience. My close association with Sarachchandra, Sugathapala de Silva, Galappaththi, Henry Jayasena and Dayananda Gunawardena is the main reason for my own success in theatre.

Performance

Q: You are one of the few artistes who could perform as a vocalist, actor and a dancer. We are yet to see you at your best in your three-in one performance. Do you agree?

A: Yes, I agree. However, I cannot say that I am well trained in all these areas. Physically I have some rhythm; but I have studied neither singing nor dancing, scientifically. Yet, now I can master it. I am better trained in acting because of my close association with actors since my childhood.

At present, I am concentrating on an original play Lokaya Thani Yayak the script of which is already written. It will be in poetic drama style (Kavya Ranga) which will be a literary work on stage, and a fresh experience for our audience.

Q: How do you differentiate between acting on stage, drama and cinema?

A: They are two different art forms. The stage is live while the screen is greatly influenced by technology. Continuity is the main feature in theatre.

Once in front of the camera action must be real and natural; but on stage one has to move a little beyond reality, but that should not be quite obvious. The stage actor must project himself to the entire auditorium.

In the absence of a theatre institute in our country, the stage itself has turned into an institution where acting is taught and actors are trained. Once they get sufficient training and experience on stage, they move on to television and cinema, more often never to return to the stage.

Supporting actor

Q: What is your opinion about the role of a supporting actor?

A: Generally, the attraction is to the main role. If the supporting actors do not perform well, the main actor will not be able to give his maximum acting capacity.

It is essential that special attention should be given to selecting the supporting actors. That affects the entire work. Under no condition a supporting role should be underestimated.

Q: What were your feelings when you were breathing life to the role of Madduma in the film Sudu Kaluwara?

A: Usually every family has a radical character,. Maddumaya in that film has gone beyond that. He wanted to fight exploitation as well as imperialism; but his pride did not allow him to rise against them. Drugs to which he was enslaved made matters worse for him. He lost himself in solitude and defeat.

Q: Have you had any formal training or education in the art of acting?

A: No, I did not have any formal training in acting. Every one of those whom I associated with had an education abroad and their learning and experience was effortlessly imbimbed by me.

Also, when I visit foreign countries, I see a lot of films and plays. That helps me to improve on my inborn talent which could be copied, replaced or removed.

Q: “The actor is a guy who if you aren’t talking about him, isn’t listening,” says Marlon Brando. What do you say about it?

A: Method of acting went on with him quite comfortably and effectively. I like to listen to matters which I need to improve on my existing talents. That is useful for developing one’s own progressive thinking.

Actor’s art

Q: What is your opinion about the statement that while cinema is a director’s art, stage is an actor’s art?

A: In the instance of both arts, it is the director who weaves all the features together into web to make it flower either on screen or stage. However, on stage the actor could emerge even beyond what the director expected from him.

Once Prof. Sarachchandra said that no director can expect 100% success on what he wished to communicate on stage. In television, the script is the most powerful feature.

Reaction

Q: How far do the awards you have won so far are going to influence your career in cinema, drama and television?

A: It is great to have one’s skill being recognized. The artist must accept and appreciate an award as a connoisseur of art. He should not think of the award as one of his creations. When one fails to win an award for a certain performance, he must view it in comparison with those who have won the award.

Q: You have taken several plays abroad, and what is the reaction of the foreign audience for our cinema and theatre?

A: During the past ten years, I have been taking plays to foreign countries, especially to Europe. We are gradually creating an audience for our theatre which is growing. We cannot take a big cast because of the heavy expenses. Therefore, we can take only the plays with a limited cast.

Q: Charlie Chaplin had said that works of art carry more facts than historical narratives. Can you enlighten this statement through your own productions like Andarela and Guru Tharuwa?

A: History is one already recorded and established. An artist dealing with a historical event, must concentrate on one aspect or period and reinterpret it through his chosen medium of expression. It travels to a wider audience, which itself is history.

However, reinterpretation is a new experience to the reader, listener or viewer. It should be justifiable and acceptable.

While Guru Tharuwa discusses the old educational system, Andarela goes on to expose how people had been paid and used to make other people laugh.

Creativity

Q: You agree with the well-known saying of Victor Cousin that art is for art’s sake?

A: Art should be for the society while maintaing itself as an art. When we notice that society is class-ridden, art should be mindful of that diversity.

Aesthetics, appreciation and the thinking that goes into formulate a work of art should be preserved with its beauty and quality.

Art should not be used for cleaning the society, but to create an honourable people. Its objective should remain one of moving from joy to wisdom.

Q: What prospects do you see for present Sinhala cinema and theatre?

critical appreciation

A: We notice a decline today in both cinema and theatre as against the 60s and 70s when creativity, production and critical appreciation was at its peak. But, once again we see a green light.

In cinema Kama rella (weve of sex films) is now over. Similarly, in theatre Sina rella (wave of slap-stack comedy) too, is over. This change for better is more noticeable in cinema than in theatre.

Q: What advice can you give to the youngsters who have entered the stage and theatre?

A: They must first identify the medium which they choose. They must then try to honestly understand its objectives. Dedication, commitment and discipline are three essentials if one is to succeed in one’s chosen field of art.

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