Two scintillating plays for children

By Anuradha Kodagoda

Somalatha Subasinghe is a dramatist in the children’s, youth’s and the mainstream theatre of Sri Lanka. Gamini Haththotuwegama, the veteran street theatre artiste, once referred to her as ‘the leading versatile female in the theatre – actress, playwright, directress and the theatre educationist - in the post-colonial era.’

Subasinghe obtained her Bachelor of Arts Degree from the University of Peradeniya in 1961 and Master of Arts in Drama and Theatre in 1983. Participating in Prof.Sarachchandra’s experimental productions as a young undergraduate marked the beginnings of her illustrious career.

“Prof. Ediriweera Sarachchandra was my guru and there’s no doubt that he’s a legend in Sinhala theatre. Whatever the success that I have achieved so far in my artistic career, I must be grateful for his generousity of sharing his knowledge and skills without reservations.

He really moulded and shaped my thinking and knowledge. Besides everything, it’s a great pleasure and honour to know and work with such a humble person in my life,” she said.

She was one of the first female stage artistes of Sri Lanka. She then honed her performing skills under many acclaimed directors. She put forth an explosive performance playing the character of Sara in Mudu Puththu, Gunasena Galappaththi’s adaptation of Garcia Lorca’s Yerma.

She also made her mark in the Sinhala cinema, displaying outstanding talent and winning many awards. She was honoured for her role in Viragaya. She wrote and directed many stage plays and won the Best Director and Best Translated Production awards for the Yadam and best director award for the play Antegone, at State drama festivals. Antegone was nominated for the Best Play.

Subasinghe is best known for her involvement in children’s and youth theatre, which, sadly, is an area casually overlooked by many artistes.

She, with her productions such as Hat Seller, We Know It Now, Rathmalee, Ottooi, Hima Kumariya and Walas Pawula has created many plays for children.

Her creations have redefined the children’s and youth theatre in the country.

They have showcased our culture at a number of international children’s theatre festivals in Europe and Asia.

Most of her plays were based on Sri Lankan folk tales. Even though she creates them for children the folk tales had political undertones. “I love Sri Lankan folk tales and they give me a lot of inspiration for my creations. Even though the folk tales carry simple ideas, most of them have deeper meanings. For example, Gamarala Divyaloketa story tells how people can complicate problems due to their immaturity and intolerance. So I like to use them in my plays for children,” she said.

She has also brought fame to the country by representing Sri Lanka at a number of international conferences on theatre for children and youth. She was the Sri Lankan representative at the first ever Women’s Playwright Conference held in New York in 1988.

She continued to represent Sri Lanka in Women’s Playwright Conferences thereafter. In her capacity as the president of International Association of Theatre for Children and Youth in Sri Lanka (ASSITEJ Sri Lanka), Subasinghe has given several young and promising artistes a much-needed international exposure.

Subasinghe’s best bequest to the children of the country is the Children’s and Youth Theatre Foundation (LCYTF), better known as the Play House – Kotte, which was established in 1981. Over the years, LCYTF has produced a repertoire of internationally acclaimed, mainly musical theatre for children and youth, and award-winning mainstream theatre productions.

Her maiden direction in LYCTF, Vikurthi (Distortion), introduced new trends to the Sinhala theatre and at the same time effectively delivered a socio-political critique on the inadequacies of the education system to bring about a generation of balanced humans. Vikurthi has been acclaimed as a landmark of the modern Sinhala theatre.

Today LCYTF is the leading producer of theatre for children and youth, and one of the major training and skills development centres for actors and other creative professionals. It won the Bunka Award presented by the Embassy of Japan for the Best Achievement in Performing Arts in 1997.

Her success in the field of children’s and youth theatre is due to her understanding of the magic of childhood. Her plays invite children to explore their imagination, while gently reminding adults that they too were once small, and urge them to be more compassionate. She is a firm believer in letting children bloom in their own time, easily, gently and freely and is disappointed in the mechanical and comatose educational methods adopted in today’s schools. Her vision is to educate and nurture the children and youth through the medium of theatre to be humane and compassionate.

Subasinghe was conferred the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Honoris Causa) in 2013 by the University of the Visual and Performing Arts, Colombo in appreciation of her continuous contribution to the Sri Lankan theatre since 1959. She was also conferred the title of Kalasoori and later the Kalakeerthi by President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

The two plays are semi-musicals, produced with the objective to instil a sense of basic art forms and a pride in our own culture in children. The lessons of love, humanity and harmony between all living beings are refreshingly presented in them. In the adaptations, new characters and situations have been incorporated to facilitate an intellectual and entertaining discourse with Sri Lankan children. The production style of the plays guarantees the young audiences, as well as the whole family, an aesthetic journey of entertainment.

It’s possible that we grew up with Subasinghe’s plays. So now it’s time to introduce our children to them.

Music composition and direction are by M.R. Chulasinghe. The cast includes Rohan Wijethunga, Kumudini Wickramathanthri, Yashodha Rasanduni Thilakshini Ratnayake, Poojana Dandeniya, Dilum Buddhika, Chamara Gamethige, Saviour Kanishka, , Geetha Alahakoon, Renuka Liyanage, Mihiri Priyadharshini, Vimukthi Kiriella, Sameera Lakmal, Buddhika Edirisinghe and Rumali Chamathka. Stage sets and props are designed by Namal Jayasinghe and Pradeep Ramawickrama. Stage lighting and choreography are by Chandana Aluthge. Costumes are designed by Kaushalya Fernando.