Artscope | Online edition of Daily News

---- “Wonders are many on earth, and the greatest of these Is man, who rides the ocean and takes his way through the deeps, through wind swept valleys of perilous seas that surge and sway……”

Jith Peiris. Picture by Saman Sri Wedage

Ah those names of a time gone by ! Those names of gold ! Plautus , Aeschylus, Sophocles, Virgil and Aristophanes! Those masters of theatre! Those lions of tragedy and comedy ! What a legacy they have spawned.

This week’s ‘Encounter’ features a light bearer of that era. That Mark Antony of Sri Lankan theatre- Anthony Jithendra Suresh Peiris. Better known as Jith, he is a famous theatrical personality renowned in Sri Lanka. His dramas are eagerly anticipated by Colombo crowds, in fact one can imagine Jith being carried on the shoulders of his admirers. Beloved son of Sri Lankan theatre.

A: Not recently but later on in the year, there will be two musicals, one is a modern one, the other one is an older production ,time wise. One is called an “Evening in Vienna”, that is about Johann Strauss and his great waltzes . There will be German songs of that period. The costumes will very much suit the period. Strauss is the focus of attention. It is wonderfully danced all over the world. I have of course done this before – An Evening in Vienna, but of course this time the title may be different. But it will carry songs of that period. There will be two orchestras, the other Musical is excerpts of other small musicals.

I’m doing this to give a lot of the new singers an opportunity. Most of the people you see on stage will not be known voices. But they are wonderful. You see Sri Lanka is full of talent. I mean it is almost overflowing with talent. And because of finances we have no opportunities to give them a chance. That is really sad because the talent is in abundance. In every production I try to introduce at least one new player. I will be repeating old things like “He Comes to Jaffna” and I’m thinking of more comedies and so on.

A: No really because there are so much productions that I did, drama wise and musicals. But some of the Shakespeare things I did, which I acted in, also linger in my mind and I love doing Shakespeare. I’ve directed so many schools and won with so many schools, I can’t really pin point one as such.

Jith Peiris directing Royal College for the Shakespeare Drama Competition for the production of Hamlet

Production of Antony and Cleopatra. Jith Peiris playing the part of Mark Antony

A: No not at all. But I try to do things in lighter vein. That means musicals and comedies. But I love serious theatre. When I go abroad I always watch serious theater than musicals. But here I produce those only because I feel there is a bigger audience and because of the trouble we take. But still there is a lot of room for good serious theater which is being done by a lot of new directors which is very good. But I’d rather stick to my musicals and comedies.

A: Actually my mother pushed me to it. I was always involved in the arts at S.Thomas’ Mount Lavinia, in the boarding, so we did a lot of theater. Because that was our Thomian heritage. So that pushed me onto it. And when I went abroad in London, I started working in theaters and all that, so my enthusiasm for theater stuck from them till now. Drama was encouraged. I am indebted to one of my great masters called Mr. Arndt. He dramatized every subject in class. He used to say how important drama is to life. Lots of young people who have gone through me hold very high positions today. And they are able to express themselves so plainly. We have people with an abundance in qualifications today but very few people can express themselves. That is why we must encourage drama. Extracurricular activity is important.

A: They are all pretty well known but there are a lot of new singers. That is the idea in it. Because there is a very well known orchestra. What I would like to say is there is no help from the government or the private sector. This is very unfortunate. Because there are a lot of new directors. A lot of them who want to do experimental theater. But we are stuck with no finances. This is not so in India. There the state government helps the theater. But here in Sri Lanka we don’t get any kind of help. So I have the Creative Arts Foundation, so through that we are trying to work out something . I will be discussing this matter with the hierarchy of the government. Because the talent is enormous during the last ten years. Immense talent.

A: You see drama is a subject that gives you enormous personality, courage and strength to speak publicly. You can have any amount of qualifications but if you can’t express yourself it is useless. Any person who takes part in a little drama at school, their approach to life is different. This is why I encourage young people to do drama. The self confidence they gain by this is tremendous.

Q: How do you assess the theater scene in Sri Lanka with the rest of the world? The Drama Culture?

A: We have a history of 2500 years and in it cultural events were in the forefront of everything. All our various kingdoms from Anuradhapura, Pollonnaruwa, Yapahuwa to Kotte used to have great dramatic events throughout. Culture is something Sri Lanka has always had and encouraged. Even during the foreign occupations Sinhala drama flourished. So we had a cultural tradition. We have had a great tradition of the Arts. Specially the street drama for example. Now we talk of street theater. Street theater was not only in Greece. It was in Sri Lanka, all over the country. Sri Lanka is a country which has a culture of theater. The Arts is a thing that should be enjoyed by everybody. That’s why I hate to put my prices up in theater tickets. I want people.

Rolling back in time