A praiseworthy trio of short plays Laughter and introspection in every line

by Dilshan Boange

Young playwright, director, and actor, Krishantha Jayabahu, presented, to the delight of theatregoers a trio of Sinhala short plays on the boards of the Punchi Theatre, on June 10. The titles of the plays, in the order they were staged that evening, are - Chaplin, Ai Aulda? (Why, Are You Upset?) and Mama Bahinne Nehe (I Will Not Come Down). It was heartening to see a commendable mettle of originality forming the substance of the short plays in respect of what they offered as story lines and scenarios, and the deeper vein of thought that lies within the base of creativity of the works.

In Chaplin, the predicament of two aspiring young actors commissioned to put on a puppet show at a village temple is brought out in a scenario that brings about laughter and moments of introspection, when the two young men improvise as best they can, with a robot that looks like Charlie Chaplin, that repeats what is spoken to it, except that it does not utter a lie. The short play brought out the theme, how youth pursue dreams of stardom through acting, but face harsh penury, and realize that the path to stardom is paved with anything but rose petals.

The grievances of the young man from a village in the hill country, were that he had risked much of his family’s reputation in the venture of the puppet show, while to his colleague, who is of a lesser privileged segment in the city, the stakes don’t seem that high on the loss of personal reputation, if the show goes awry. A striking note of contemporary social criticism in the text was, how one of the characters expresses frustration over how the acting course they followed at the Tower Hall theatre seems to have duped them, since none of their teachers ever told them how poor the prospects would be to earn a living as an actor. The price of pursuing dreams of celebrity status and stardom in Sri Lanka, the predicaments dogging youth who venture into finding their fortune as artistes, thus come out in Chaplin.

When grappling with the robot that utters various statements of sound political realities affecting people today, one of the striking remarks made by one of the two is, ‘what is needed to talk politics is not allegiance to a party but a conscience’. Ironically, the character that was not meant to be ‘live’ or ‘real’ seemed to possess the boldness of speaking conscientiously within that context. The second play, provided a highly imaginative scenario, where at the core of the performance was the proposition that the primacy of man’s consciousness is the power that defines ‘reality’. The Buddha in the Samyutta Nikaya has stated, “Perception is a mirage”. And, when one sees how the scenario in Ai Aulda? plays out a notion that when we live in a world of make believe, we cannot help but wonder how ‘real’ is our perception of what we believe to be our ‘world’?

Mime artiste

At first, I thought the play was something akin to a mime show, or a story about the life of a mime artiste. The unnamed man who ‘imagines’ he possesses a house full of valuable household appliances and facilities, is not revealed specifically in respect of his profession or any other factors related to his ‘identity’. The burglar who at first is indignant over the lack of physical objects to steal, finally, becomes convinced over the power of human imagination to the extent that he overpowers the house owner by killing him with an ‘imaginary gun’ after his actual pistol is taken away by the house owner.

It is in a certain sense, an abstract concept that goes into play in Ai Aulda? Could it be a play of the genre called, the Theatre of the Absurd, one may ask. Given the scenario brought to life in this play, the ‘illogicality’ met at first may suggest Ai Aulda? as possibly of an Absurdist vein. However, given the nature of the story which doesn’t appear to deal with the existential inquiry over what ‘meaning’ there is in life, I hesitate to say it may be seen as an Absurdist play. Ai Aulda? perhaps presents a novelty of concept that merits investigation with regard to genre classification in the Sri Lankan theatre.

Playing the role of the obdurate son, who has taken abode atop the water tank in Mama Bahinne Nehe, Krishantha Jayabahu presents a state of events that seem comical, although what belies the surface hilarity is a profound criticism about the present society which has given way to hypocrisy, exploitation, opportunism and undoing moral well being. Within the text of this short play, one finds that the angst of unemployed graduates has gripped the rural youth of the country in no small way. Dire disenchantment can lead sensitive youth to either rebel against the system or renounce all association with it, and seek refuge elsewhere.

Exact predicament

At present, Sri Lanka’s brain drain is massive. Many educated youth take wings to greener pastures (mostly the choice being Australia) and it can in certain practical ways, seem like a renunciation of Sri Lanka from their lives. Although the scenario presented in Mama Bahinne Nehe does not create a metaphor to the exact predicament, the play presents much food for thought in its vein of social criticism.

The young man who has made a spectacle of himself to the whole village, and the sensation hawking the person refusing to come down from the water tank (except to relieve himself when nature calls, as admitted by him to his friend), is carrying out a protest against the system. His indifference to the pains he is causing his parents, through speaks of how youth rebellion tends to insensitively disregard parental generation and the anxiety they undergo. But, what the protesting young man reveals to the amazement of his friend, who tries to talk him to come down, is that the new altitude he has gained has made him a seer of all the misdeeds that happen in the village and beyond. It’s as though the vista from atop the water tank gives one an omniscient view to become an ‘all seeing eye’.

What finally transpires states that once a person begins to see the world for what it is, sees all its ignominy, the desire or need to come back down to ‘normalcy’ seems to drift away. I would say the level of acting talent seen on the boards was most commendable. The performance by Samil Yaapa who played the role of the robot Chaplin, must be applauded. Maintaining bodily rigidness and absolute stillness while being handled as an inanimate object, he showed his discipline as an actor who was convincing, as a non-living object. Rohan Wijethunga who played the role of Herath Banda, the pastoral father in Mama Bahinne Nehe and also the role of one of the actors in Chaplin, must be noted for his skill as an actor whose performance proved persuasive, with the quickness of mood switching and vocal modulation.

Jayabahu and his cast of actors consisting of, Namal Bandara, Rohan Wijeethungha, Malith Ruwan Peiris, Pradeep Ramawickrama, Jenath Dulanjala, and Samil Yaapa together with the production team must be applauded wholeheartedly for the appreciable theatre show they presented in the form of three short plays, which speak of how the young generation of theatre practitioners has much to offer the contemporary Sri Lankan theatre.