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| Sunday, 22 February 2004 |
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Manel felicitated at 'Janakala Prasada Pranama Ulela'
Manel Jayasena's 40-years of dedication to the stage and 32 years of performance in 'Hunuwataye Kathawa' will be felicitated February 25 at the 'Janakala Prasada Pranama Ulela' organised by the Gramodaya Janakala Kendra at the John de Silva Memorial Theatre, Colombo at 6.30 pm. Along with her will be felicitated Henry Jayasena, the producer of the drama and its old cast including Wijeratne Warakagoda, Nimal Jayasinghe, Santin Gunewardana, Gunawathie Gunewardana, Yasawathie Abeyratne, Chula Kariyawasam, Y.D. Piyasekara, H.L.P. de Silva, Prits Roy de Mel and the musician Shelton Premaratne. The Chief Guest will be the Minister of Samurdhi, Agriculture and Livestock S.B. Dissanayake and the Guest of Honour will be the Minister of Education, Human Resources and Cultural Affairs Dr. Karunasena Kodithuwakku. by LAKMAL WELABADA I still remember the beautiful Grusha plodding along the stage uttering the lines of the songs in 'Hunuwataye Kathawa' (translation of Bertolt Brecht's `The Caucasian Chalk Circle'). Even after these many years I feel that she, Manel Jayasena, the original Grusha, still has the charisma I admired as a school girl. Manel is still adored as Grusha in 'Hunuwataye Kathawa', in which she plays the character of a young maid in a great king's palace, the girlfriend of a young soldier, a sister, and finally an unmarried foster mother.
In her Teles, she has been playing mainly the role of the 'mother'. In 'Nedeyo' (Relations) she was a mother of a lower middle class family. In 'Tikiri Nilame' she was a high caste Kandyan Kumarihamy. She portrayed a nasty rigid 'Wallawwe Hamu's' role in 'Senehewanthayo' (The Lovers). In 'Himakumari' (The Snow White) she was a strict yet loving high class mother. And in 'Sooriya Daruwo' (The Children of the Sun) which airs on Rupavahini at present, Manel plays a role of a upper middle class mother who faces the problems that are being encountered by her four children with broad and balanced mind. "To perform well you have to understand the depth of the particular role and live the character. When we read the whole script we visualize the intensity of the role that the writer is trying to convey to the performers," says Manel. She may have not encountered much difficulty in understanding the exact feelings of the script writers since she read the alphabet in acting under a well known script writer, producer and actor Henry Jayasena who changed her maiden surname Ilangakoon to his, Jayasena. Henry was the producer of the 'Hunuwataye Kathawa'. He played the main male role Azdak in the drama which also won high praise from drama enthusiasts. Henry drew Manel into his very next stage drama 'Kuweni' the year after their marriage. The lucky bride won the best actress award for her excellent performance at the State Drama Festival of the same year, in 1963. 'Kuweni' was the first public appearance of Manel as an actress as well as a singer. Since then Manel became one of the superb performers on the stage in Sri Lanka. Her exquisite appearance in the series of dramas produced by her husband won the hearts of the theatre lovers. 'Thawath Udasanak' (It's another dawn) in 1964, 'Manaranjana Vedawarjana' (The strikers) in 1965, 'Ahas Maliga' (the translation of Tennyse Williams' 'The Glass Menagerie) in 1966, 'Hunuwataye Kathawa' (The Caucasian Chalk) in 1967, 'Apata Puthe Magak Ethe' (Son, we have a way ahead) in 1968, 'Diriya Mava Saha Ege Daruwo' (The courageous mother and her children) in 1972 and 'Sarana Siyoth Se Puthuni Hamba Yana' (To my dear son who flies away like a bird) in 1975 were the stage dramas that portrayed the wonderful acting talents of Manel and both acting and producing skills of Henry. "I learnt Indian dancing under Shesha Palihakkara while a school girl at Holy Family Convent, Bambalapitiya," said Manel zooming back to her young days. She became a dancing teacher and taught dancing at Devi Balika Vidyalaya, Colombo; St.Pauls' Convent, Kelaniya; St.Mary's Convent, Kegalle and Holy Family Convent, Kurunegala. "My son Sudaraka acted as Prince Michael in 'Hunuwataye Kathawa' when he was a kid. My daughter-in-law Anoma was also a teledrama actress. Today Henry and I are proud grand parents of two grand sons. Nandira and Hansaja keep us going. We enjoy their company," rejoiced Manel. Manel Jayasena's continuous performance as Grusha in 'Hunuwataye Kathawa' for 32 years (from 1967 to 1999) and her 40 years of acting career is being felicitated. In the new production that was staged two weeks ago, Ruwani Manamperi and Nalin Pradeep Uduwela are the duo who have replaced the original couple. Along with the new Grusha and Azdak the rest of the 38 cast was also replaced. Under the kind patronage of the Bank of Ceylon the old drama with new faces was staged at the John de Silva Memorial Theatre, Colombo. After being in hospital bed for nearly a month from December 22, the 'original Grusha' who talked to the Sunday Observer made a special request, "Please do not forget to tell your readers not to compare the old and the new cast in 'Hunuwataye Kathawa''. The youngsters are also doing very well. Both Henry and I are really happy about it," she said. |
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