Maname and a glittering new moon

THEATRE: The Open Air Theatre at Peradeniya had just been prepared. A flat circular area had been dug out of the hill and prepared as a stage. The surrounding hill had been tiered to provide natural seating accommodation. The semi-circular audience space was provided with rows of steps at regular intervals for the spectators to make their way to their seats.

A temporary shed had been set up at the base as a make-shift dressing room for the players. The seat space cut into the hill side had sprung new grass making it inviting and comfortable for the spectator. All of Peradeniya campus and indeed even the surrounding villages were all agog with the historic event - the opening of the New Open Air Theatre.

We, the actors, actresses and all others involved in this epic event who climbed down those steps to the new stage and the make-shift dressing room felt as if we were making history. Our spirits were high and there was light banter and laughter to relieve the pleasant tension. As I said, it was a night to remember.

There were several helpers to dress and prepare the actors and actresses for the stage. If I remember right, even Dr. Siri Gunasinghe, who had originally designed the extremely effective costumes and created a special kind of make up for the various characters ranging from Prince to Queen, from 'Pothe Guru' to 'Disapaamok', from 'Vedi Raju' to 'Vedi Naayaka' and the roughy-gruffy 'Vedi Pirisa', helped with the make-up.

That was the first time I got into a 'dhoti' - the princely costume. Actually one does not 'get into it' so to say. It is draped around, quite unlike a saree - in a distinctly masculine fashion. I was given a gold-coloured 'dhoti'. You fold the dhoti to form two equal halves and get into the middle of it.

Then you tie a strong knot out of a fistful of cloth gathered at the middle of the two halves around your waist and pull the back portion through the knot over your underwear... anyway it is quite a complicated procedure. Those who have ever enacted a 'raja part' on stage or screen will know what I was trying to explain!

Princely sword

All dressed up and made up with head gear (jataa) and 'poonanoola' etc., I stepped out of the dressing room clutching the princely sword attached to the princely belt at the waist. I marvelled at the massive multi-coloured youthful audience seated right round the hill-crescent seething with enthusiasm and youthful exuberance.

My eyes shifted towards the surrounding balconies from where nymph-like damsels were surveying the scene below. It looked as if the entire 'Sakra Sabha' had descended upon earth to witness the legendary 'Guttila-Musila' Veena contest. I took a deep breath and got back to reality.

The performance started to continuous applause and Shyamon Jayasinghe as the resplendent 'Pothe Guru' appeared on stage to invoke the blessings of the Triple Gem and the Devas. He had stars in his eyes as he introduced the Princess to the audience and in came the inimitable Trilicia as the Princess in her enchantingly swinging gait.

Soon it was my turn to enter and I managed it with confidence. The high point of the evening was totally unrehearsed. The Prince and Princess are on their way to 'Baranes Pura' and they are walking through the picturesque wilderness singing the lilting duet 'Premayen mana Ranjithave' etc., keeping in step with the vibrating beat of the drum.

Of course the wilderness is 'imagined' by the audience with the mesmerising lyricism of the poetry. (Pushpayen Vana Sundara ve, Lankruta ve', 'Pipi Thambarana Nada Bambarana Piya Revdena Liya Kindurana' etc.)

Trilicia as Princess Maname and I were circling the stage with this song, when I suddenly noticed the glittering new moon in a spotless sky and my hand involuntarily stretched towards this beautiful spectacle. The princess looked up and so did the entire audience.

The audience drew a collective breath of joy and surprise and there was an instant round of applause. I believe that applause was for me! The performance ended to continuous applause. We congratulated each other in the dressing room and on our way up the steps. The cast was especially kind to me, exaggerating their praise of the New Prince. Although I knew it was exaggeration, I enjoyed the warmth of it.

Natural reaction

That night Dr. Sarachchandra too praised me for picking up so quickly and congratulated me on my performance. Much later in quiet conversation he let me know that my pointing at a 'natural' moon on a 'Natya Dharmi' stage was inappropriate. "You should not mix 'Loka Dharma' with 'Natya Dharma' he told me kindly - if a little sarcastically. I was sorry that the two could not be mixed. Mine was a natural reaction and I felt sorry it was unacceptable...

Anyway, my stint with Maname did not last long. Ben Sirimanne returned to the Maname fold and I knew my services were unnecessary. I was not at all sorry to leave, making way for the 'real' prince - Ben Sirimanne. I may have been a handsome Prince, but Ben was far more powerful and his 'crafting' of the role was insuperable.

I may have performed in perhaps fifty or sixty shows out of which I still remember with fondness the first night at the Open Air Theatre in the Peradeniya campus. There is another night too that I particularly remember and that was at the precincts of the Bogala mines.

Some of the Peradeniya men and women who formed the original cast of Maname left the fold with passing of their finals and finding employment etc. But Trilicia and Edmund Wijesinghe stuck around for a long time. I think Shyamon Jayasinghe too was around for some time. Most of the chorus and the Vedi Piris changed.

There were times when Edmund W. performed three major roles. Dr. Sarachchandra added a few new traditional characters such as 'Anaberakaru' (harbinger) Senapathi and 'Kolama' as a prelude ('Poorvaranga') to the play.

Maname by itself could be performed and closed within a hour and a half. As I had pointed out earlier, audiences were demanding more for their money. That, or other 'traditional' considerations may have motivated Dr. Sarachchandra to add some preluding items to Maname.

Fine

For quite some time, Edmund Wijesinghe started the preludes appearing as The Harbinger, and then he played 'Disapamok' in the play proper and finally as 'Vedi Raju' - the role that immortalized him. He was an indefatigable actor. It is a great pity that we lost such a fine actor so soon.

About the show at Bogala. I am not sure who invited us there. Perhaps the factory managers there wanted to give their miners and other workers a really good show. The performance was made in an open air space, at the entrance to the factory premises specially set up for this kind of thing. The audience sat around, on the floor.

We arrived there fairly early to acquaint ourselves with the place and to be ready on time for the evening show. Some of the audience had arrived even earlier and selected points of vantage, spread mats on the ground and was seated to witness the famous 'Maname Kathawa'.

We noticed that some of them had brought battery torches as well as other local torches (hulu atu). Some of them were equipped with food and drink items too.

Maname was performed without the 'Poorvaranga' (prelude) at that time and the show was over in one and a half hour's time. We sang the 'Mangalam' song but there was no applause. The audience just sat in their places.

We were surprised at their lack of enthusiasm and got back to the dressing rooms to change. Then we heard an announcement being made over the public address system that the show was over and it was time for the audience to go home. But for sometime nobody moved. It was later that we came to know the full details.

Apparently they, this rural audience had come to witness the 'Maname Kathawa' with all its trimmings such as the Vedda running away with all the royal jewellery of the Princess, she meeting with the jackal who was carrying a chunk of meat in his mouth, the jackal seeing its own shadow in the water when crossing the 'edanda' and jumping after it, losing his chunk of meat in the water, the dejected jackal coming dripping out of the water, the Princess laughing at his foolishness and the jackal laughing at her, in turn, at her own foolishness in betraying her princely husband and running away with the Vedda, etc. etc.

Dejected

Our Maname had none of it and to their chagrin even sympathized with the forlorn Princess. This was totally unacceptable to them. They may have accepted to a certain extent even, had we given them a performance that lasted at least half the night - giving them enough time to 'enjoy' the show, enough time to partake of the food and drink etc. they had brought along.

But this was a 'bibikkama' that had cheated them. According to them this was not the real 'Maname Kathawa'. This was some half-baked 'Kolamba Kolamak'!

And so, finally they had gone away dejected, castigating not only the 'Natyakaarayas' but also the 'Panditha' organizers. To my knowledge that was the only time that our Maname had failed to impress an audience.

Incidentally, the Golden Jubilee of Maname is due in November this year and I am told that Mrs. Lalitha Sarachchandra has big plans to celebrate the event. I have received a letter from the Ediriweera Sarachchandra Research and Activation Foundation, signed by Prof. K.N.O. Dharmadasa requesting me to submit an article on my impressions and experience with not only Maname, but my association with the great man. I have been writing about such things for a long time. I will be very glad to do so again.

Thought of the week

Readers may recall my writing about the huge loads of books and other material that our children have to carry on their double-shoulder bags. A reader from Brisbane, Australia, Ranawana Perera, has sent in a few comments which I would like to reproduce.

"For sure you have some valuable thoughts on this matter. In Australia when they design these bags first priority is given to minimizing the back injuries. And the schools have some racks and cupboards to keep the big books. Therefore children carry less weight..."

I am certainly no specialist on these matters. I wonder what weight a child could carry over a long time without the risk of injuring his or her back. In any case we are a poor country and may not be able to afford the luxury of all those racks and cupboards in school. But the 'bag makers', local or foreign, could certainly pay more attention in putting their product together and make it more safe for children.

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