'I am a writer and an entertainer - Indu Dharmasena

by Sajitha Prematunge

Indu Dharmasena, a trancegender person - this is what most people focus on, but the passionate pen wanted to examine the artistic aspect of his life.

He is one of Sri Lanka's best playwrights, directors as well as actors, who went on to do great plays like the Tommiya series, Sky is the limit, Lading Man, Oh! Colombo, Money makes the world go round, Here for a fit-on, It's all for nothing, All because of Sam, A room to let and The way to the top.

He is also serving in the panel of judges of the Inter-school Shakespearean Drama Competition for several years.

Q: Why have you chosen drama instead of another literary form?
 

A: I've always liked drama. It's my hobby. I wrote my first play, acted in it as well as directed it. Most people would focus on just one aspect of theatre - acting, producing or directing.

I like drama so much I like all its aspects. Besides, unless it's a one man show, drama means working with different people, collaborating as a team and motivating them.

Q: You said, you had acted as well as produce and direct which one do you like best and why?

A: I like all three. But the producing part of it is a bit stressful. It comes with a lot of responsibility unlike directing or acting. Producing involves work which is not so interesting.

Q: What's your opinion of satire and why have you chosen it as a major technique in theatre?

A: I like writing comedies to show the funny side of things, while getting the message across as well, without being wicked and cruel or outright rude. I don't think of myself as a writer, but an entertainer.

Comedy actually make people laugh, but different people rarely laugh on the same line. Sometimes the timing is all wrong or the way a certain line is delivered is wrong. It actually takes a lot of work to make a person laugh than cry.

Q: You use a hybridized language in your dramas. What challenges have you encountered by doing so?

A: Right at the start I was criticised by the English scholars. But I want my plays to be realistic and if I knew Tamil I would have mixed it in, as well. When some people request for a certain drama for special functions they are usually repelled by Sinhala names, names like 'Madei Tommiya Naththal kewa'.

But what I've realised through the Tommiya series is that the so-called high class Colombo people actually prefer Sinhala mixed plays to the high-flown English plays.

What are the other obstacles have you encountered?

A: You can't make much money out of drama these days. Especially the English drama. Theatre in Sri Lanka is not professional. All dramatists do other jobs. In Sri Lanka, putting a play together is tough enough because everyone comes for rehearsals after work.

We don't have sponsors and the technology of Sri Lankan theatre is well behind other countries. I am sure more people would get involved in theatre if they were paid better.

Q: Why is the Tommiya series seemed to be your favourite?

A: It's not my favourite. But I think overall the people like it more. Probably because the characters are funny. I never meant it to be a series. But the feedback was so great I decided to go for another one another and another....

Q: Were you inspired by Mr. Bean by any chance?

A: No, actually Mr. Bean came later on. The first of the Tommiya series was written way back in 1989.

Q: How do you take criticism?

A: Constructive criticism I think we should always welcome. I am willing to take advice even from a kid. Drama is a subjective thing. There isn't anyone qualified enough to correct us. But on the other hand theatre can be very creative. You can't write something and say that is what's right.

There are no hard and fast rules. When you are criticised what you have to consider is the person's taste. Certain people may criticise what you do because it may not suit his taste.

But you should admit it if certain alterations should be made on your part as well. Criticism can be very productive. If not for criticism you wouldn't try to improve yourself.

Q: What are your thoughts on the future of Sri Lankan drama?

A: Sri Lankan theatre definitely requires state patronage. Money is very vital when trying to do a good production, something innovative. There is a lot of blossoming talent in Sri Lanka.

Even when it comes to taboo subjects like sex, our people can be very innovative. Now with the Internet in the picture we are more exposed to the rest of the world. We have the right talent but what we lack is funds.

[email protected]

Great storytelling capacity and characterisation - Charles Dickens

Charles Dickens is acclaimed as one of the history's greatest novelists. Born on 7th February, 1812 in Portsmouth, England, he influenced great writers such as Thomas Hardy, John Irving, Edgar Allan Poe, Tom Wolfe and George Orwell.
His works include great novels like The Pickwick Papers, Oliver Twist, The Old Curiosity Shop, A Christmas Carol, The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit, David Copperfield, Hard Times, A Tale of Two Cities, Great Expectations and Our Mutual Friend.

As a child he spent his time outdoors, reading, with a particular fondness for the picaresque novels of Tobias Smollett and Henry Fielding. He received some sort of an education at a private institution, William Giles' School in Chatham.

He came from a family with a moderate income, but their luck ran out when his father, after spending far too much money entertaining and trying to secure his social position, was imprisoned at Marshalsea debtors' prison.

Twelve year-old Dickens was forced to work ten hour days at a Warren's boot-blacking factory. The conditions of the factory became fuel for his creativity and conditions under which working class people lived, became a major themes of his works.

In May 1827, Dickens began work in the office of Ellis and Blackmore as a law clerk and what he witnessed here and the contempt he felt for the profession was well brought out in his later novels.

In 1834 he became a political journalist and worked mostly under the penname "Boz", he reported on parliamentary debate and covered election campaigns for the "Morning Chronicle". His excursions published as "Sketches by Boz" in 1836, led to the serialisation of his first novel, The Pickwick Papers, 1836.

In 1830, Dickens met his first love, Maria Beadnell. But her parents disapproved of the relationship and Maria was sent to school in Paris. Maria is believed to have been the model for Dora in "David Copperfield".

On 2nd April, 1836, he married Catherine Thompson Hogarth, set up home in Bloomsbury, where they produced ten children. Catherine's sister Mary entered Dickens's household to offer support to her newly married sister and brother-in-law. He got very attached to her and she died in his arms after being ill for a brief period of time. Her death was fictionalised in many of his novels later on.

Unlike some other great novelists he achieved fame during his lifetime, for his storytelling capacity and unforgettable characters. None of his novels have, to date, gone out of print.

Most of his novels were interconnected, as was the trend back then, and people would wait eagerly for his next novel. His success as a novelist continued, however, producing novels like "Oliver Twist" (1837-39), "Nicholas Nickleby" (1838-39), "The Old Curiosity Shop" and, finally, "Barnaby Rudge" as part of the Master Humphrey's Clock series (1840-41) and "A Christmas Carol" in 1843 and many other novels.

Dickens's style of writing is flowery and poetic, with a strong touch of comedy. His satire is obvious when he compares orphans to stocks and shares, people to tug boats, or dinner-party guests to furniture.

Dickens is often described as using 'idealised' characters and highly sentimental scenes to contrast with his caricatures and the ugly social truths he reveals. However fellow writers such as George Henry Lewes, Henry James and Virginia Woolf criticised his work for over sentimentality, implausible occurrence and grotesque characters.

But many of his novels are believed to be concerned with social realism, focusing on mechanisms of social control that direct people's lives.

Where are you, Oh! God?

Dear God,
I have been searching for you,
All over,
In the houses of prayer,
Of all the religions,
On the land and in the sea,
In the open space above,
In the jungles and everywhere,
But I have not seen you anywhere,
Neither have you revealed yourself to me,
In anyway,
Where are you, oh! God?
Are you a non-existing being?

Suddenly I heard a voice,
"I am standing before you,
Can't you see me",
I said "No, my Lord",
"I am beside you,
I am behind you,
I am above you,
I am underneath you,
Can't you see me in any of these places"?
Said the voice.
"No. my Lord" I said,
"Then look at everyone,
And everything you see
If you can't yet see me
Look within yourself
I am residing there"

Arul

***

Strange simplicity, so profound!

It was a choice so strange,
A simple peasant maiden of humble birth,
Betrothed to be wedded to a carpenter,
Yet chosen to Mother the God made man,
Biological impossibility, A thing unheard of,
Since she knew not any man!
A moment of brief despair,
A slight thought of refusal!
The angel reassured,
"Nothing is impossible with God"!
"Let it be done unto me,
According to God's word"!
The hand maid bowed to this choice so strange,
It was an event so strange!
The king was born,
In a manger forlorn!
Bethlehem brimmed with festivity,
No room there for his Nativity!
Night was dark, the wind was cold,
Wrapped in swaddled ragged and old,
Warmed by manger's hay,
In silent stillness he lay,
The beasts of Bethlehem's stable,
Meekly ceased their moving,
They bowed to this event so strange,
It was a folly so absurd, so strange,
God came down to earth,
In utter obscurity!
Angels-led shepherds adored,
This Divine Folly!
Star-led kings worshipped,
This heaven's absurdity.
They knew, they understood;
Wrapped in that earthly human simplicity slept,
The heavenly Divinity so profound,
They bowed to this folly,
So absurd so strange.

Stella Johnpillai

***

God's creation or joy of living

Bright blue skies and sunlit days,
Cotton wool clouds that float and race,
Trees full of flowers, bees humming by,
Dew drops like diamonds,
Glisten and shine.

A silver coloured plane, flying very high,
Birds circling above butterflies are nigh,
A cool breeze caresses my tired brow,
The weariness I was feeling,
Leaves me somehow.

Mountains I love, in the distance I see,
A sunset of red is painted for me,
Slowly night falls and in the gathering dusk,
One solitary star shines
Which gives me hope and delight.

A golden moon and a starlit night,
Beautiful scenery, what a sight,
Perfect peace and joy are mine,
What more could I ask
But praise my saviour on high!

Iranganie Jayatunge

***

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