"Aswenna"
Jayanthi LIYANAGE
"We of the Eighties" (Asuve Api), uniting participants of theatre
workshops held in the eighties decade at the Soviet-Sri Lanka Friendship
League, will honour their four "gurus" at 6 pm on November 28, at the
Elphinstone Theatre in Colombo, in a ceremony named "Aswenna".
Veteran make-up artiste and actor Vasantha Vittachchi, award-winning
film, stage play and television director Parakrama Niriella, theatre
music director and actor H.A. Perera and Tower Hall Theatre Foundation
Director-General and lawyer Douglas Siriwardena will be presented with "Aduru
Harasara" awards on this occasion. Proceedings will be led by cinema and
stage personalities Sumithra Peries, Irangani Serasinghe, Somalatha
Subasinghe and Prof. Sunil Ariyaratne, interspersed with concert items
of songs and excerpts from stage plays. The special oration of the
"gurus" will be delivered by theatre personality Jayalath Manoratne.
Vasantha Vittachchi |
Douglas Siriwardena |
"The demise of respected people, heard over TV and radio, tormented
us that we were not treating our teachers well, the result of which was
Aswenna, 25 years after the workshops, " said stage actress Mali
Jayaweerage, Treasurer, Asuwe Api. Asuve Api souvenir will be a
collection of informative writing on the local history of theatre
workshops, street theatre and pioneers of the past years. Articles
contributed by Jayantha Chandrasiri, Kumara Siriwardhana and other
veterans in the arena, will make it ideal for school libraries, said
Jayaweerage.
Workshops
The workshops, held free of charge from 1984 to 1988, were the
launching pad for tele-drama, stage play and film directors and actors,
radio announcers, journalists, script-writers, make-up artistes,
doctors, engineers, lawyers and even politicians, numbering nearly 200
and now recognised for their individual ability. Dr. Sena Nanayakkara,
Jayalal Rohana, Jayantha Chandrasiri, Jayalath Manoratna, Ashoka
Handagama, Anoma Jinadari, Sudath Mahadivulwewa, Malcolm Machado, Udeni
Alwis, Mali Jayaweerage, Manohari Hewawasam, Channa Perera, Ajith Lokuge,
Nilmini Buwaneka and Central Provincial Council Chairman Saliya Bandara
Dissanayake are among them. "Of these, over 40 people work full-time in
the theatre field," said tele-drama and stage actor Ajith Lokuge.
Douglas Siriwardena, the initiator of the workshops, blossomed as a
playwright with "Ambu Semiyo" while working in Thulhiriya Textile Mills.
Earnings from theatre productions paid his way through Law College. "Suba
Sendevak" and "Hitler" were his other plays in the seventies. Involved
in the National Youth Council theatre workshops conducted all over the
island, he graduated to the Soviet-Sri Lanka Friendship League
workshops, assisted by Parakrama Niriella, H.A. Perera and Vasantha
Vittachchi as Instructors. Political violence in the later years called
a halt to the workshops.
H.A. Perera |
Parakrama Niriella |
Parakrama Niriella is credited for his contributions to the open-air
theatre in Sri Lanka. Through his Open Art Circle, he scripted and
directed the award-winning stage play "Sekkuwa" for which Perera
directed music. After producing stage plays "Galileo" and "Uttamavi", he
joined National Rupavahini and scripted and directed the tele-drama "La
Hiru Dahasak". Later, he became an independent artiste and directed the
award-winning film "Siri Medura." Niriella is the founder of "Jana
Karaliya" folk theatre troupe which produced the play "Charandas" in
both Sinhala and Tamil.
Stage plays
H.A. Perera, asked by a friend to join Ranga Shilpa Shalika conducted
by Dhamma Jagoda at Lionel Wendt, came in the hope of studying music but
found his vocation changed to acting. He acted in the stage plays "Raja
Dekma", "Bosath Dekma", the banned "Wedikkarayo", "Spartacus", "Julius
Caesar" and as Jesus in Niriella's first film direction "Palamuveniya
saha Anthimaya", Sumithra Peries' "Sagara Jalaya Madi Henduwa Oba Sanda"
and left an indelible mark as an actor in the film "Keli Madala". He
directed music in Niriella's stage plays and was the first instructor of
Jana Karaliya. On stage, he won the awards for Best Actor and Best Music
Direction. On cinema, He won the award for Best Supporting Actor. Though
Perera has not acquired a university degree, he is said to possess a
vast knowledge and practical experience in the theatre field.
Vasantha Vittachchi is the first local make-up artiste to win awards
in all three fields of theatre, cinema and television. He joined
Niriella's Open Art Circle in the seventies, studied under Dr. Solomon
Fonseka and acted in street theatre. He was the make-up artiste Ranjith
Wickramasinghe's assistant in Chandran Ratnam's film "Aadara Kathawa"
and continued being a make-up assistant in the films "Viragaya" and "Kristu
Charitaya". His first award in make-up was for the stage play "Abuddassa
Kolama" and the first film award was for Boodie"s "Sihina Deshaya."
(Profiles provided by Manohari Hewawasam, Secretary, Asuve Api.)
‘The demise of respected people, heard over TV
and radio, tormented us that we were not treating our teachers well, the
result of which was Aswenna, 25 years after the workshops, “ said stage
actress Mali Jayaweerage, Treasurer, Asuwe Api. Asuve Api souvenir will
be a collection of informative writing on the local history of theatre
workshops, street theatre and pioneers of the past years. Articles
contributed by Jayantha Chandrasiri, Kumara Siriwardhana and other
veterans in the arena, will make it ideal for school libraries, said
Jayaweerage’ |