Poised for perfection

Sachitra Mahendra

Booruwa Mahattaya

He has never forgotten his roots on the stage. He took the first step in 1966 as an upcoming actor on stage, and slowly moved on to reign the small and silver screens. Keselgaspe Jayalath Manoratne – or Mano, as he is more known in the circles – is the ‘Encounter of the Week’ unfolding ideals of his times: modern times as well as his latest theatrical endeavour, Thevatha, a festival of three stage plays with different themes.

Q: You initiated the career under Professor Ediriweera Sarachchandra who is legendary for establishing a local theatre. How did that experience mould your 40-year old theatre life?

A: Even while schooling I was fond of theatre. Luckily Sarachchandra was our Sinhala lecturer. I had the chance of taking part in his plays. So he played two roles: teacher and play director. This was vital as a foundation in my theatre career, because of many reasons.

You mentioned one reason: Sarachchandra established a local theatre with Maname in 1956. Plays such as Sinhabahu followed course. Second reason lies in the next line of directors I had worked under. When I came to Colombo, I got an opportunity to take part in the plays by Sugathapala de Silva, Dayananda Gunawardene, Henry Jayasena and Gunasena Galappatty. Rehearsing a drama under one such personality is more than studying a university course. You can learn a lot.

In theatre we always look for perfection. Everything has to be just right. I feel the value of this experience today when I consider a script. We are groomed to go through literary aspects, language, music and other theatrical modes one by one.

It teaches us patience. Patience is the first step towards perfection.

Q: You have been known widely as an actor, though later you took the director’s role. A director’s role is much wider than an actor. What is the path open for an actor to become a director?

A: In the Lankan context it is experience. Rehearse under many directors, I say that is a proper training. There is a great deal you can study. You develop a slight idea about the director’s role. That is useful when you pick a script. The director’s instinct in you tells you how to breathe life into the words of the script. It improves over time. You get to read books. As a social animal, we too have a responsibility.

Q: You underscore the value of experience. How would you label ‘Mahagiri Damba’, your first directorial attempt: success or failure?

A: Failure. I’m saying that based on the responses. One thing is that it was in 1980s. It was one golden period of the stage play in general.

I directed the play, because I wanted to. I loved the job. But now I feel the theatre craft and script were not up to the standard. That is why I picked a translation for my second drama, ‘Puthra Samaga’. Prasanna Vithanage translated it. Then came ‘Thala Mala Pipila’, ‘Andarela’ and ‘Guru Tharuwa’.

Q: They had a positive response?

A: Yes, quite.

Q: Thewatha features three plays of different themes and styles, you claim. But they have one common theme: humour.

A: You can say so, but with reservation.

Humour is something you feel in daily life. You can see it wherever you go. You can see that even in the way some government officials behave. But that’s not the theatrical flavour. Our duty is to make these emotions beneficial. World’s best comedies let us think. We think over and over again. Who did we laugh at? Was it at ourselves?

But most local comedy directors do not think of that objective. They choose comedies for trivial reasons. It may be money, or may be because it is easy to do one. Sarachchandra employed a lot of humour in Mahasara. But that was not just humorous.

It offers something for you to think deeply. Humour is something more than letting an actor accidentally slip off a banana peel. It should have a layer beneath. Deep subtext.

Q: Do you think the general audience is concerned about any subtext or its depth?

A: That’s the challenge we face. We are torn between. Are we going to give what they demand, or give what they deserve? They deserve something precious. So what is our objective as a dramatist? We must understand the theatre and our capacity. If we are experienced… and if we have a good audience… then we must give them what they deserve, not what they demand. Then they won’t leave us.

Q: Common comedy plays usually draw a good audience because they are of lighter-vein. Guru Tharuwa, though a serious play, draws a good audience too. Does that mean even the serious dramas can draw a good crowd?

Suddek Oba Amathai

A: That’s the question we had initially too. We live in busy environs. Are we relaxed, or patient enough, to listen to some literary lessons? Will we be able to draw a good audience? The first production was in 1996, and still we draw a good number of viewers. Guru Tharuwa is the most discussed among my plays.

Take Ray Cooney for example. He produced farces. But they were not harmful. The farces were mostly popular and folk-type. Even the language is not used in an obscene way. A common man enjoys them. They don’t like to hear hair-splitting logics of life.

As far as I know we cannot win 100 percent audience. Only some portion. There are people fond of common comedies. There are some fond of serious plays. Then there are those fond of both types.

Q: The text of Suddek Oba Amathai changes quite often, doesn’t it?

A: Even I felt it recently. We can see some modifications on the script, may be because the speech always touches the modern issues. Sometimes the scripter stresses the importance of highlighting certain timely issues. Well, I still don’t know whether it is proper to change the text or not. I have even spoken about this with director Udayasiri. He thinks it catches attraction when we change the speech based on timely subjects.

Q: Suddek Oba Amathai is a one-actor speech-based drama - a type not many directors would risk adopting in the local theatre, not many actors would love to perform.

A: You must have seen political meetings especially in a place like Hyde Park. Some speeches drone on for hours and pretty boring, but people keep on listening. If they like to listen to politicians who mainly make use of voice, what about an actor? What about the theatre where the scope is wider?

We must scan the text first, then the structure.

Q: You scripted Booruwa Mahattaya based on an Indian novel.

Andarela

A: I was enthralled when I read the Sinhala translation ‘Sadgunawat Booruwa Mahatage Svayan Likhita Charitapadanaya’ of which the original is titled as ‘Mr Donkey’s Autobiography’ written by an Urdu author. The novel created vivid images. For me it sounded a good irony, especially in the words ‘Mr’ and ‘Donkey’

Q: Novel has influenced the television and cinema, but not much on the stage plays. Is this because of limitations on the stage?

A: Yes, that is true. Apart from Maxim Gorky’s Mother and Ignazio Silone’s Fontamara, only a few have been adapted into the stage. Limitation is one reason. You can create a wider scope in a novel. You can create heaven and earth in one place. You can do many things by the language. There can be 1000 elephants in a novel, but you cannot have them on a stage.

At the same time novels cannot be always adapted into other media such as cinema and television too. Best example is Viragaya. I have read it as a text over and over again. I had a total imagination of my own. It was changed when the text came on cinema. There are masterpieces that end with what it is. If it is a novel, then that ends where it is. You cannot take it any further. Only some works can be taken into other media.

Q: You claim that masterpieces cannot be taken off their medium. You scripted Lokaya Thani Yayak with Mahagama Sekara’s life and works as a theme. Does it mean he has not produced any masterpiece? Why did you pick Sekara among other artistes?

A: I love Sekara. He saw this world as one whole valley. Sekara is one rare poet whose poetry has a multi-dimensional versatility. He saw the world in a socialist viewpoint. Only a few poets can pen words in such a dramatic manner. He made use of all modes of poetry: folk rhythm, free verse, visual poetry, fictional poetry and some have his identity too. Poets such as Ariyawansa Ranaweera and Ratna Sri Wijesinghe have excelled in their own styles. That’s where their identity lies. But that is not multi-dimensional. They have not gone beyond their identical layers.

Q: You were among the first few teledrama actors. How would you analyze the contemporary teledrama industry?

A: Television emerged as an informative tool. It was not meant to be entertainment at first. But veterans like Dhamma Jagoda tried to give it an artistic touch. That’s how teledramas came to be. They achieved their goal more than enough. But today the situation is quite different.

The director has no say. The decision-makers are either the channel or the sponsors. What took days in our time is only a matter of half an hour today. The prominence is given to profit more than the skill or seniority of the artiste. They write a script in a hurry, choose some ad hoc location get someone to recite the words in the script.

Jayalath Manorathne. Picture by Nissanka Wijeratne

Q: Teledrama actors of your generation had a stage play experience. Is stage play experience really necessary for teledrama?

A: You need to be trained to act. Stage play offers that training. A stage play takes at least four months for rehearsal. You learn a lot during this session. This is quite important more than just acting before a camera. Anyone can act, but training makes things different and smoother.

Q: What is your opinion on Nelum Pokuna Mahinda Rajapaksa Theatre?

A: It is one superb creation. It is something we really need at the moment. Many developed countries have halls of this calibre, and we must be proud to have a similar venue in Sri Lanka.

It is an ideal venue for musical events, though I wonder how practical it is for theatre productions. We are used to small scale theatres, which have a good aesthetic impact. Of course we can show stage plays. But then how are we going to recover the expense? My problem is if the local dramatist can bear such a huge budget. The rent is far beyond the average dramatist’s reach.

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