RR no more
The
well known theatre man, essayist, novelist and short story writer R. R.
Samarakone is no more. I came to know of his death early morning and my
mind flashed back to about four decades of an association with him.
When he wrote his Sinhala novel Gekurullo I read it with great
interest and obtained his permission to write a film screenplay out of
it. I wrote the screenplay with much interest, but due to circumstances
beyond our grasp, both of us were not too fortunate to be worth of a
producer. Years passed by and we found that the script had been passing
from hand to hand. In the '70s RR was employed at the main branch of the
Cooperative Department in Union Place, as a translator.
Bilingual background
R. R. Samarakone |
Having had a good education in both English and Sinhala, RR was an
excellent translator. He had more time for his own writing than engaging
himself in routine office work in the capacity of a pen pusher. So he
took up to writing play scripts, mainly the realistic type where he
excelled.
His most popular debut Ahasin Vetunu Minissu was revolved round the
town-dwelling young man who comes from the rural sector. Followed by the
success of that play, he wrote Idama, which centred round a particular
socio political issue of the day, where the question of land and human
ownership remains challenged.
Idama was shown, if I remember correct, all round the country and in
places unimaginable too to a packed house. RR had a witty use of urban
language intermixed with a rural dialect which evoked roaring laughter
from the audience.
Influential environs
He had the habit of noting down bits of certain strange utterances,
witty sayings, wise cracks and even slang as found in day to day
conversation. Whenever the need arose he would fix them or fuse them to
his dialogues. This was observed quite well in his most popular Sinhala
play Kelani Palama.
Regarding the creative process of this particular play, RR once told
me that he had been on the site whenever floods surge and people
struggle to exist. He would sometimes be a part and parcel of their
experience. But one should not forget that he too had severe criticism
leveled against Kelani Palama.
Some opined that RR had only observed the superficial layer of the
victims and failed to see the depths of depravity of the victims. One
thing I noted in RR is his skill in the narrative form; may it be short
play, long play, short story or novel. He was too keen on the
craftsmanship. He was largely influenced by the politician and creative
writer T. B. Illangaratne.
Ilangaratne inspiration
As a student of Kingswood College - I remember him sharing his
experience - he had the habit of watching how Ilangaratne wrote and
rehearsed his plays like Handahana, Haramitiya and Manthri Hamuduruwo.
Coming to Colombo and working as a translator in CWE he had the chance
of meeting playwrights such as Henry Jayasena, Upali Wanasinghe,
Dharmasiri Gamage, Sugathapala de Silva and Premaranjith Tilakaratne.
During the early '70s he was often seen at a small restaurant Salaka
in Union Place, engaged in conversation fused with much merriment.
Three of his novels were acclaimed as well written and with a vision:
Gekurullo, Dehadaka Adaraya and Ek Sabhya Kathavak. He also wrote one or
two juvenile narratives, which passed without much notice.
Devotion for novels
I sincerely feel that he would have devoted more time for his short
story and novel writing than to other areas of creative writing. But
mine is not at all a judgment, but an observation, as I feel that his
play scripts too fall into the category of novelist's theatre than the
conventionally accepted playwriting, where more happens on the stage.
The creative works of R. R. Samarakone may not have had the chance
for a better discourse, as it is an area quite neglected. Perhaps a day
would come when RR will be rediscovered. He was also briefly engaged in
poetry. But I am not sure whether he had compiled them in to a single
anthology.
Like many other dramatists of our country he was never a trained
dramatist in the accepted manner. Nor was he blessed by the cultural
ministry for a special training in creative communication patterns. But
RR struggled hard to be with his well loved audience.
This lack of training perhaps paved the way for hasty productions
like Duvili and Ilandariya, both set in the urban sector, a human area
which RR knew intimately. But these played lacked the luster one
anticipated from a sensitive creative writer. But still the local
audience loved RR so much that they had promises which the death
inevitably wiped off.
Though the curtain of life had fallen on the final life episode of
RR, the trendsetting creative artiste would remain as an epitome of
remembrance.
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