Portrayal of filth as drama
This week, we focus on Sri Lankan English theatre and the latest
trends in the theatre scene with reference to a play bearing the name of
moonshine. Moonshine or Kassippu is locally brewed cheap liquor.
Although it has been a cottage industry in a coastal area, moonshine has
not found its way into theatre, let alone into English theatre.
It is pertinent here to look at the evolution of English theatre in
Sri Lanka and its close interaction with the Sinhala theatre
particularly following the establishment of the University of Peradeniya.
In the 1940's the dominant figure in English theatre in Sri Lankan was
E. F. C Ludowyk. D. C. R. A. Goonetilleke summarised the English theatre
tradition established by E. F. C Ludowyk succinctly.
"The heyday of this trend was in the 1930s, the 1940s, and the early
1950s, when the Ceylon University Dramatic Society under the guidance of
Professor E. F. C. Ludowyk dominated the theatre scene. The Society was
the creation of Leigh Smith, Ludowyk's predecessor as Professor of
English at the University College (affiliated to the University of
London), and was founded in 1920; but when Smith retired in 1932 and
Ludowyk took over, the latter established the tradition of performing
plays 'in public for the benefit of an audience not confined to the
university.' "
Ludowyk's influence was widespread and extended up to academia. He
primarily, staged European plays and produced a couple of local farce
plays. From the very early stage of English theatre in Sri Lanka,
predominant characteristic that demarcates local English productions
from Europeans plays was the sheer gulf in terms of aesthetic qualities
and depth of the productions; if the European original productions were
stimulating theatre, local productions primarily offered zest of pure
entertainment to the very sense of the world. Renowned academic,
playwright and critic Regis Siriwardena described this as "If you wanted
to explore life deeply in the theatre, then you had to go to Shakespeare
or Ibsen or Brecht, but if you wanted to present the local life on the
stage, that could be material only for farce and caricature."
Ludowyk era in English theatre
Ludowyk's plays contributed to set stage for an English theatre in
Sri Lanka. His students, (some of whom subsequently became academics and
diplomats), contributed to the substantial growth of English theatre in
Sri Lanka. If Ludowyk dominated the English theatre in Sri Lanka in the
1940's, undoubtedly, Ernest MacIntyre dominated the next phase of the
growth and evolution of Sri Lankan theatre in English. Perhaps the
greatest contribution to theatre by MacIntyre was the change of
sensibilities of the theatre. MacIntyre stirred the course of drama
towards political and social themes. They were crowd-pulling plays,
sometimes, stayed for days in a stretch at the Lionel Wendt theatre. One
of the prominent aspects of this period in English theatre in Sri Lanka
was its intimate interaction with Sinhala theatre. The period between
Macintyre's migration to Australia and 1983 riots marked a temporary
pause in the dynamics of English theatre in Sri Lanka. Most of the
players migrated to other fields such as cinema. Prominent theatre
personality who dominated the English stage at the time was Richard de
Zoysa. Like a bright comet his emergence and exit from the theatre was
dramatic.
This period of inactivity came to an end with the staging of popular
farces such as "Well Mudaliyar" and "He comes from Jaffna". They were
popular plays during the 1930's and the 1940's. The principle zest of
these plays was nothing but mere entertainment often at the expense of
yokels and Queen's English. Mohammed Adamaly, Indu Dharmasena and Jerome
L. de Silva are some of the playwrights who emerged subsequent to this
phase.
It seems that over the years, English theatre has produced a popular
formula appealing to its exclusive audience. The plays are often in the
genre of Imported Theatre, Musical or Comedies. They are, perhaps, out
of touch with the socio-political realities and volatile political
atmosphere out of the proscenium stage. If political plays are produced
such as "widows", and "Julius Caesar: An Anatomy of an Assassination" by
Feroze Kamardeen, they are couched in highly revamped versions of
foreign productions. The only exception is the "Chaminda Pusweddila," a
political farce by Feroze Kamardeen. However, the latest trend in
English theatre in Sri Lanka seems have shifted from the founders work.
The rationale behind these new plays seems to be that they depict the
dormant cruelty of human soul. These dramas are marked for weird ideas,
blood curdling murders and sadistic pleasure derived from inflicting
pain either on oneself or on others. Though there is a big question mark
over the audience's appreciation of such plays inundated with raw filth
with apparently little or no purpose, it is certain that the panel of
judges who bestowed awards on such drama's thoroughly enjoying the raw
filth in the dramas, perhaps, thinking that they (filth) are devises
which playwright employed to explore into the recess of human mind in
search of that part which is responsible for cruelty and sadism.
Three Star K and Awards
Senaka Abeyratne's play "Three Star K" won both Gratiaen Prize and
the State Literary Award for the best English language play of the year.
The panel of judges who conferred the Gratiaen Prize of 2006 for the
play was made up of Vivimarie Vanderpoorten (Chairperson), Neil
Fernandopulle and Priyanthi Fernando. In the citation, the learned
judges stated: "Three Star K is not only universal in its appeal,
transcending issues of location, time and space but has its core, human
conflict. It is a work that forces us to take a look at the dark and
disturbing possibility of viciousness and greed within us and our
tendency to turn evil when faced with possibilities of annihilation. It
not only looks inward at the human psyche, but also outward at a very
temporary world of gun-running, bribery and corruption; reiterating very
convincingly the dialectical relationship between humans and the
disintegrating world they inhabit.
The female characters are strong and unfettered, articulating unusual
and un-cliché lines and no less capable of viciousness than men they
threatened. The effects of this brave, uncompromising drama are stark
and powerful, yet the setting is uncomfortably close to home, making
both its ambiguity and its resolution (or lack of it) disconcerting and
memorable." One indeed cannot help but agree with the learned judges in
reading the drama "Three Star K". The female characters are 'unfettered
and strong 'and 'resolution (or lack of it) disconcerting and
memorable."
The play is inundated with raw filth so much so that it seems that
the playwright's intention was to give vent to scores of filth on the
pretext of exploring the dark side of the humanity and innate craving
for cruelty and sadism. It is up to the readers to decide whether such
drama can ever be given awards or not. I am sure that the content of the
play matches well with Gratiaen citation and perhaps, with the kind of
literary flavours and zest on the part of the judges on both panels.
A sample of extracts from the script we examined contains a low level
of language containing words including the famous "F" word combined with
"menopause," "check my tampon the next time I use one," "wet right now?"
"Do you want me to lick you? " These words, in my view, are like faecal
matters floating on dirty waters added to the contemporary English
theatre in Sri Lanka. These words, in our view, are neither metaphoric
nor poetic for obvious reasons and do not contribute to the evolution of
the plot or characters in the play and can be described as raw filthy
words.
If Professor Ludowyk either see or read the script of Three Star K, I
am sure he would feel sad about the high standards he set for the
English theatre in Sri Lanka. |