National Drama Festival 2008

Reviewed by E.M.G. EDIRISINGHE

The National Drama Festival jointly organised by the Department of Cultural Affairs and the National Drama Panel of the Arts Council of Sri Lanka, held at the John de Silva Memorial Theatre was concluded with the presentation of awards at the BMICH. Incidentally, it was the 37th edition of this annual festival to be held since its inauguration in 1959.

The festival this year registered a significant departure from the hither to developing trend within the national theatre with more translations coming on stage, to enjoy flowering of more original plays (eight) with only five translations. Among the crop of originals one was a stylised play that added colour, song and dance to the festival.

Colombo District still dominates the theatre scene with eight plays while the balance was shared by Gampaha district with three plays and one each from the Matara and Kurunegala districts.

However, the commitment with which the National Drama Panel promotes theatre in the outstations is beginning to show signs of fruition.

The festival opened itself with Nimanthi Vithanage’s Api Dethenaka (We are in Two Places) which was an audio-visual attempt to reflect the life being drawn between reality and illusion and intends to portray that man does not make life a subject of study but an object to watch.

Aang Devpura of Jagath Muthukumarana is rather an experimental play using some traditional dance forms and tunes to bring life to a folk story based on a village headman who goes to heaven alive. It was an entertaining innovative musical but failed in the latter part of the play to infuse cohesion and vigour into the play.

Jana Mithura a translation of Henrik Ibsen’s The League of Youth by Sunil Chandrasiri came on stage with a heavy presence both in its thematic content and thespian performance. Janak Kumbukge as Henric was forceful.

The costumes were neat and impressive enough to bring out the best in the inherent characteristics in the characters.

Ananda Senaratne with his strongly knit stylised play Panchala Nadagama proved himself capable of breathing life back into a traditional that is fading into insignificance among the present-day crop of dramatists.

Every artists in this play displayed their acting and vocal talent with Anjali Eshanee portraying an imposing role. Set against an ancient Indian background it tells that renunciation of worldly life alone could bring happiness and solace. If it was pruned with more emphasis on its narrative aspect, it would have been a better production.

Gnanasena Pathirana brought Palamu Dadayama with its Kenyan background to recite how the poor is made to suffer within a corrupt social life. Punchi Palingu Renan is The Glass Menagerie of Tennessie Williams translated into Sinhala by Henry Jayasena. It was directed by Vijitha Bandara and Lakshmi Chandima.

A woman whose husband abandoned her finds her grown-up daughter who is disabled being given in marriage a difficult task. She in disgust and disdain lives in an imagination in which itself she becomes a victim.

The joint directors performing the two main roles would have been an obstacle to give a neat finish and finesse to the play. Anura Dahanayake brought Mama Thaama Panapitin (I am still alive) on stage for the festival.

Here also traditional forms of dance, songs and costumes have been freely used to make it appear to be enriched and inspired by our traditional folk theatre. Its choreography was well designed and added some colour to its traditional outfit.

WS Wijesinghe who translated Martin Husting’s Lee Harvy Oswald enlivened this play under the same title from American soil on our stage.

It won the award for the best direction on the strength of its overall performance which marked a clear directorial hand knitting the play into precision. It stood as a direction with not many subsidiary features for positive theatrical support. Woven around the assassination of John F. Kennedy, it was a mix of one’s domestic life with self-imposed social responsibilities the latter of which takes different turns depending on the issues one is confronted with.

The other outstation play Wariyapola Sumangala Hamuduruwo of Piyasena Jayawanth describes the anti-imperialist struggle carried. Single-handed by a Buddhist monk. It is a simple and direct narration. Buddhika Damayantha’s Wes Muhuna is a translation of Henrik Ibsen’s The Ghosts for which it won the award for the best translations.

In this festival there were two translations of two Ibsen plays which shows how the present generation of dramatists are enamoured by Ibsen, Wes Muhuna is a reflection of the false image the woman of today has to pose for her own survival.

Sehesi Danawwa (Terrorist Colony) scripted by Visakesha Chandrasekera and directed by M. Safeer deals with the ethnic issue in its true form. Its effect of fallout on those people living in the border villages was brought to light.

Thematically it is timely and objectively a sympathetic insight into the hazards and venomous effect of the war on the innocent people. Hari Apooru Dawasak (Quite a Wonderful Day) which won several main awards such as the awards for the best actor, best actress and the best original script, won the major award of the best play of the festival as well. It was directed by Chamika Hathlahawatte.

The director says that in writing its script he has drawn inspiration from Akira Kurosawa’s The Wonderful Sunday. Two lovers who are poor in resources but rich in imagination find the limited monetary possession an hinderance for them to seek joy.

Moving from place to place in search of pleasure and spiritual security which they eventually failed to realise. It was not only the thespian skill but also the technical talent that did earn it the awards for the play.

The festival concluded with Priyankara Rathnaike presenting Thatu Avith based on a translation of Garcia Lorika’s House of Bernada Alba. A presentation of the Academic players of the Kelaniya University was dominated women artistes. It is a reflections of the travails of household life with affluent feminine presence adding a degree of glamour to it. One of them won the award for the best supporting actress (Sandya Nawarathne).

The festival this year was marked by an unexpected audience presence both in numbers and appreciation. The audience by far the majority of whom were the young with a keen interest in drama and theatre.

It stands witness to the success of the persistent touch of the Department of Cultural Affairs. Despite a general decline in quality there was a significant variation in presentations, a new development we observed in this year.

However, the translations from world classical theatre had a greater impact on the audience than the originals most of which failed to create a powerful dramatic effect. This successful event is an example to many as to how to persist on art in an atmosphere of political and social uncertainty.

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