Breaking through the fourth wall
Jayalath Manoratne Picture by Tennyson Edirisinghe |
Jayalath Manoratne muses on larger-than-life theatre
experience:
Sachitra MAHENDRA
He looks at the pieces of furniture, ranged against the fourth wall,
with an inventive enthusiasm. He is now a soft giant – his theatrical
splendour whizzing around the stage, above and beyond. He had the
opportunity to dine good and proper with giants on the stage: Ediriweera
Sarachchandra, Dayananda Gunawardena, Sugathapala de Silva, Gunasena
Galappatti and Henry Jayasena.
Mano, as he is fondly known in the performance scene, entered the
theatre at his school Poramadulla Central College, when Sunil Sriyananda
chose the lad for his Aspa Gudung. The play was among the shortlisted
eight at the annual inter-school drama competition and the performance
earned Mano a merit award.
He stepped into the University of Peradeniya and had the blessed
company of Professor Ediriweera Sarachchandra, the legend behind Maname
and Sinhabahu fame. Those were the days filled with eloquent surprises.
The professor was impressed with his voice when he sang Amaradeva’s
Vasanthaye Mal. He was offered a major role in Pemato Jayati Soko; he
could play diverse roles in Maname and Sinhabahu. They were slowly
approaching the 1970s then.
Even with the feet firmly set on other media – the small and the
silver screens – Manoratne was covetously in demand throughout the 60s
and 70s on the stage. Manoratne is not just a theatre performer, but he
is one of the few who have studied theatre and performance – from folk
to stylized mode - academically.
And now, he looks back in that fourth wall.
Scenes from Tala Mala Pipila and Andarela |
The fourth wall is an imaginary wall at the front of the stage in
theatre, with three walls around, through which the audience sees the
performance of the play. The stage plays Mano has been producing for
quarter of a century now come as ‘the Fourth Wall series’ from September
15 to 19 at the John de Silva Memorial Hall. The series follows a
free-of-charge course for theatre fans in the mornings of these days.
Fifty candidates will be selected for the course, which will issue a
certificate upon the completion. Tickets are available at Rs. 100 to
encourage a large audience. The Hall will be decorated with book fairs,
street plays, rare photos and scenes from yesteryear’s drama scene.
|
The Manoratne
memory lane: |
An incomplete glance |
Theatre |
Sunil
Sriyananda’s Asva Gudung
Ediriweera Sarachchandra’s
Sinhabahu, Maname, Mahasara
and Pemato Jayati Soko
Sugathapala de Silva’s
Dunna Dunu Gamuve
Henry Jayasena’s Makara,
Tavat Udesanak and Ahas Maliga
Lucien Bulathsinhala’s
Tharavo Igilethi and Ratu Hattakari
Sunanda Mahendra’s Socrates
Prasanna Vithanage’s Dvitva
Jayantha Chandrasiri’s Oththukaraya
His own Puthra Samagama and other plays featured in ‘Fourth
Wall’
|
FILM |
Tilaka saha
Tilaka
Handaya
Mangala Tegga
Sisila Gini Ganee
Umayangana
Saptha Kanya
Punchi Suranganavee
Sooriya Arana
Siri Raja Siri
|
TELEDRAMA |
Doo Daruwo
Hiruta Muvaven
Gamperaliya
Bumu Thurunu
Sanda Amawakai
Sekku Gedara
|
LITERATURE |
Dolos Mahe Pahana
(with Buddhadasa Galappatty and Sunil Ariyaratne)
Gal Vadurala
Davasa Tama Tarunai
Andarela
Guru Tharuwa
Talama Pipila
Sudu Redi Horu |
RADIO |
Sandella
Ranga Madala |
“I should be thankful to the Cultural Department to have given the
John de Silva Memorial Hall free of charge. That’s why we could reduce
the ticket prices too.”
Of all the plays in the festival, Talamala Pipila is the oldest,
which was first produced in 1988. Its script has now been prescribed for
O/Ls. His books Andarela and Guru Tharuwa have won the State Literary
Awards.
All these plays, Mano muses, have one theme: love the mankind without
difference.
Your September |
15 Tala Mala Pipila "
16 Guru Tharuwa
17 Sudu Redi Horu
18 Lokaya Tani Yayak
19 Andarela
At John de
Silva Memorial
Hall at 6.30 pm.
Tickets are
available only
at the John de Silva
Memorial Hall. |
Tala Mala Pipila brings out the generation gap. The traditional
musician’s son gets caught in the waves of modern trend, and becomes a
victim. Guru Tharuwa is about our fate when literature is wiped out of
the schools. Sudu Redi Horu is an attempt to introduce the age old
Sandesha poetry mode into the stage play. Lokaya Tani Yayak introduces
Mahagamasekara and his poetry into the stage. Andarela is set on the
19th Century Sri Lanka.
The cast of about 80 performers has Suminda Sirisena, Ratna Lalani
Jayakody, Sarath Chandrasiri, Rodney Warnakula, Ajith Lokuge, Sampath
Tennakoon, Chandrasoma Binduhewa and Madani Malwatta. Manoratna is now
seen on teledrama more than the stage.
“We had a goodwill attitude when we started off the teledrama
industry. But now it has become a vanishing trail. All teledrama
directors have to oblige with the sponsor-decided budgets and the
time-span.” Always going through the script before anything else,
Manoratne does not hesitate to turn down the drama if it is not up to
his satisfaction.
The stage response keeps on fluctuating from time to time. For the
past two years, however, the stage enjoyed a good audience. “They are
now hassle-free. They are not scared to step out of the threshold. More
audience for the stage means the bankruptcy of the tele industry. The
people are disappointed at teledramas. That’s why they flock together
with the stage.”
Bringing out a stage production – though people are ready to be in
the audience halls – is nevertheless a tough job. Manoratne lays down
the difficulties one by one.
Finding a good script is so much harder than gathering a good cast.
He doesn’t see anything bad in translated scripts – for it brings us to
the world-renowned works - but, says he, we should have our identity
too, at the same time.
“If you go to France, you can see they have their own theatre. If you
go to Germany, you can see their own theatre. All these countries are
relatively younger than ours. We have our own traditions. Sarachchandra
and others had been attempting to rediscover it.” Compared with the tele
industry, the stage has a zero percent assistance of a producer. It is
the next hurdle. Then comes the difficulty of getting a well-practised
senior cast.
“We keep on practising for two or three months without any financial
gains. Most of the seniors have sacrificed their time for the sake of
the stage play.”
Mano has been travelling throughout the country, since ours is a
mobile stage culture. The theatre fan in Thambuttegama obviously cannot
make a journey whole way to Colombo merely to see a stage play. The
Sinhala stage has a good audience even in rural areas. Many artistes
think their job is done, once a work of art is completed. It is not so
for the stage artiste in the calibre of Manoratne. He keeps on improving
their theatre work.
Manoratne has clinched many awards ranging from OCIC, Presidential,
Sarasavi and the State Literary and Drama awards. He was the best actor
back to back in 1991 and 1992 for his performance in Socrates and Dvitva.
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