Travel diaries of a touring critic, the Sri Lankan experience

by Dr Ajay Joshi

April saw me pack my bags to go to the Emerald Island, Sri Lanka. A neighbour much heard of but never visited! The occasion being the 2nd Edition of the Colombo International Theatre festival, hosted by the interactart club, spearheaded by its artistic director M.Safeer, for which I was invited as an international observer and facilitator to workshops.

On reaching Bandaranaike International Airport in the early hours of the morning, having nursed this anxiety over a sleepless night, I was whisked away by my hosts to the apartments where we were housed. The first thing that laid my qualms to rest was the warmth by which my hosts welcomed me with open arms. Secondly the sleepy landscape which seemed so much like India.

I was given to understand that this festival was an attempt to bring back the audiences to the theatres, something that they had patronised quite fervently before the war. Not that this was effectively accomplished, which was evident from the inadequate turnout for the shows, but the publicity that was generated did stir curiosity. This to my understanding was an important takeoff, to an effort still in its nascent stages. Further the post- production discussions impelled a dialogue that was enriching, not only as a response to the performance preceding it, but also an eye-opener to the theatre practices across the globe. However the fears of dwindling audience need to take a backseat, as this predicament is universal, and the struggle to find a breakthrough- an ongoing task.

My experiences on the visit to Sri Lanka were layered. What seemingly appeared disconnected was in fact part of a rich tapestry, which was to weave a bond with my newly found associations. Whether it was the touristy journeys snaking my way in the lanes and by-lanes of Colombo or a bus ride to Ambalangoda and the village of masks and puppets or the ongoing journey right up to Galle, to lecturing at Universities of Kelaniya and the Eastern University on theatres of India or then being part of the Festival rhetoric, were all ingredient of a puzzle that snugly fit in to complete my canvas of experience.

Festival

Turning to the main layout of the festival, it was divided into two segments - the actual performances and the workshops. But for a few hiccups the workshops were very well attended. What amazed me was the assortment of workshop attendees- from young theatre graduates to working professionals to school teachers. Unlike India there is a great demand for jobs as drama teachers in schools and Universities, which was a very encouraging happening. The involvement of the drama departments attached to the academic wing of the Universities was worth taking notice of. They not only catered to the academic curriculum, but are involved in society through their productions and the use of theatre as a tool for reform and opening dialogue with the masses. This inadvertently trained the students in community work using theatre as a tool.

I conducted workshops for them, but also for the medical fraternity at the Central Hospital, which was a first for me. It was enthralling to see medical practitioners, some more than 20 years into their practice along with their young colleagues and students, go about the theatric moves, understanding concepts of how theatre could be used to simulate patients and applying this knowledge for teaching and student evaluation. Also commendable were the efforts of the hospital to recognise this potential of applied theatre and encourage its use.

The selection of the plays to be showcased at the festival is normally on recommendations and referrals. DVD's of performances are sent to the selection board. However this poses problems, as it is extremely difficult to judge a live performance from such a source. This was confirmed when I saw some of the shows not only at this festival in Colombo but also others that I attended in India, Italy, Georgia and Ankara over the years. The Initial line up for this festival covered countries like India (Cafila, The Last Color), Egypt, Nepal, Azerbaijan (Contrabass), Saudi Arabia ( The other World), Austria ( Zheng He When the Dragon Ships came) and Sri Lanka (Disaster market). However for reasons best known to them, productions from Nepal and Egypt could not make it to the festival.

This was disheartening, as then I was left with little choice to watch. The ones from India I had seen before and also commented upon at various forums and through my writings. To substitute the missing groups a change in the schedule saw two short productions done by the students from Flame School of Performing Arts, India. Two characters each from the Indian epics, Mahabharata and Ramayana, were chosen by the students as part of their final year solo productions.

Research

Swati Simha researched the character of Princess Surpanakha and tried to see the happenings from her point of view. Devika Kamath took on researching Draupadi from the Mahabharata, the wife of the five Pandav Princes. Both the performances were intense and gave enough material for thought.

One production from India 'Knotted Ropes', was a workshop production conducted by M.Safeer with the students of the Flame School Of Performing Arts', when he was on a visit to the institute in India. It was an exercise where the actors explore themselves and their lives and expressing this journey through movements, music, physical theatre etc. It was experiment with a lot of innovativeness in set design where suspended ropes caged the performing space with the 'thrust' stage, illumination by candles held by the performers and music created through sounds made by the actors and wooded sticks, even as each actor went through their moves. It was highly symbolic and opened many possibilities for interpretation. However, the poor audience turnout could not do the required justice to this piece.

'Contrabass' performed by the group from Azerbaijan, saw an energetic and dazzling solo performance by its lead actor. Here the character is shown as one who has failed immensely, especially as a musician and is torn between the two most treasured possessions in his life- his music and his lady love. Unfortunately, the English translation was muddled up and botched, but the powerful presence of the actor on stage made up for this lacuna. The two-member troupe from Austria, where the lady performer used puppets and the multimedia most dramatically and artistically to tell the story of the Chinese philosopher, Zheng He and his travel exploits. The coordination and effective manoeuvring of the puppets partly created in paper mache and the long gowns draped around the performer, coupled with the well synchronised interjection of the multimedia, made engrossing viewing and listening. A play to applaud! Of the performance what bowled me was the production 'Disaster Market', by the dazzling actors of the 'Janakaraliya Mobile Theatre' group, spearheaded by its founder and artistic director Parakrama Niriella. The raw energy and meticulous characterisation set the stage on fire and made engaging viewing.

Language barrier

Played in Sinhalese, the language barrier was the least of the deterrent, as frame after frame of quick scene changes, zipping through the story, left me spellbound and yearning for more. As Parakrama says,' In this globalised society where art and culture, human thoughts, the sorrows and humanity including all impermanent things are sold, who is the lunatic who will not sell disaster? It has to be like that. It has to be like that where everything has an extraordinary value in the social context'. Truly then this play was the highlight of the festival. Running simultaneously to these festivities on stage was the honours conferred on local theatre activists. It was amazing to hear of their profile and the commendable work they were doing on the Sinhalese stage. Luminaries such as Priyankara Rathanayake, Saman Wikramasinghe, D.K. Atigala, Ruwanthie de Chikera and a host of others were honoured on this occasion. It is rare for a group to extend such a gesture in all its humility, which speaks volumes of the openness of the Interactart group and its attempt to recognise good work and take all under its wing and philosophy. Overall it was a refreshing journey and an eye-opener to the kind of work done on stage in Sri Lanka.