Tony meets the Bard

Reviewed by Kalakeerthi

Dr. Edwin Ariyadasa

"In a frenzy of transcendental hyperbole, Ralph Waldo Emerson once wrote: "I climes beyond the solar Road, this planet is probably not called Earth, but Shakespeare."

This handsome tribute was paid to William Shakespeare's immortality, by philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson, to reflect the universal adoration enjoyed by the Bard, in Emerson's day (1803-82).

This uninhibited homage is equally valid, even in our own times though dominated as they are by SMS, FB, Twitter and wearable media.

It has been authoritatively established, that hardly a day passes in the modern world, without Shakespeare being presented in some mode - stage, cinema, internet or live - somewhere.

The current work under review - the Sinhala rendering of the Bard's Othello by the extensively reputed thespian Tony Ranasinghe - is an unequivocal affirmation that Shakespeare is alive and kicking even in our own little corner of the world.

I would hesitate to characterise Tony's work as a 'rendering', 'adaptation' or a mere 'translation'. When one considers the strenuous effort, extensive research, unrelaxed concentration and the steady loyalty to the Bard's original that has enriched this version, Tony's creation could be described as an authentic replica of Shakespeare's Othello.

Tony Ranasinghe has succeeded in importing to his creative effort, several exclusive personality assets, which have almost effortlessly elevated his Othello to classical stature.

Years and decades in the legitimate theatre and the electronic media - cinema and television - have bred in him a built-in sensitiveness to the veering rhythms and the tonal refinements of dramatic dialogue.

This professional experience has quite effectively enabled Tony to capture in his Sinhala version the essential sound-values of the Bard's original blank verse and "blank prose".

The sustained quality of Tony's commitment to the creative task, he has decided to address is dramatically displayed by his 54-page-long preamble.

In these sections he traces the evolution of the Othello concept in the Bard's mind and the intricate processes through which Shakespeare pursued this notion.

For those who would wish to make a critical in - depth study of Othello, Tony Ranasinghe has garnered in his prefatory note an extensive supply of varying observations and analyses.

The Sinhala readers must consider themselves exceptionally privileged that Tony had imbibed a substantial store of information and knowledge about Othello, to be presented to his readers as a highly satisfying windfall.

As for the Shakespearean work Othello, it is among the Bard's exasperatingly complex dramatic compositions. Over the years, there have been some critical pronouncements that tended to rate Othello, even being a cut above the unassailed tragic edifice represented by Hamlet.

In the instance of Othello, the germinating virus of tragedy is harboured by his own personality.

Externally, in the elites society of city leaders, Othello could be limned by a virulent Iago, as inevitably doomed to be a tragic victim. Othello is black and lacks the dynastic lustre of the whites who determine the social gradations, not an aristocratic legatee of the ruling classes but only a public servant and a soldier, whose domain is the battlefield rather than the cosy mansions of the privileged nobility.

To cap it all, he has usurped the heart of a young girl endowed with stainless status.

These external defeats are negated by the character's personality realities. His public aplomb is flawless. In behavioural finesse he is exemplary.

His exquisite verbal mannerisms pack steady appeal. His martial victories are epic.

But, enters the game-changer, fawning Iago, who pulls down the character of Othello, into an ordinariness, that Othello himself cannot wriggle out of.

The sleek-tongued, slippery character Iago, succeeds in poisoning the tragic hero's soul, by instilling into it the venom of jealousy.

Tony has captured in rhythmic and alluring Sinhala lines, the tragic passage of the central character.

Tony is highly effective in rendering his dialogue lines - since, as an experienced thespian he is fully conversant with the needs of the actor on stage or the performer in front of the camera.

His Sihala verbalisms are apt. I was especially impressed by his adaptation of the word 'Kodikara' to denote the Bard's 'ancient' who is a standard bearer.

As befits its dramatic content. The book cover is illustrated with an elegant scene.

Othello has been translated earlier, under various circumstances. Great John de Silva of Tower Hall, brought out his version of Othello in 1909, in a prominent demotic version.

Tony's erudite translation is a high compliment to the Bard and an exquisite gift to his readers.

Contributing a briefnote to the back-page of Tony's book, the writer makes a concluding observation.

"Shakespeare's Othello presented to the Sinhala readers by erudite thespian Tony Ranasinghe, is an exquisite work that considerably expands the horizons of indigenous literary creations. I aver this emphatically, since it it the stark truth."