|
|
 |
 |
| Sunday, 29 February 2004 |
 |
|
 |
Magazine |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
|
by Farah Macan Markar
Having arrived in the island on February 16th, he will be in the country for about five weeks, meeting veteran and amateur Sri Lankan actors and actresses, working with them, teaching them, sharing ideas and in the midst of all this touring the island as well. Professor Falk's workshops will be based on the production of a Columbian play, by well known Columbian playwright Enrique Buenaventura, "In The Right Hand Of God The Father". Being held from 5.30pm-9.00pm every evening on weekdays, the workshops will first explore the background of the play, which originated from Bertolt Brecht's "The good woman of Sezuan". Exploring how the play has been derived from it, the workshops will move on to improvisation and theatre games to understand the play in a deeper manner. "In The Right Hand Of God The Father" is about the difficulty of being a good person. "It shows the way in which goodness is sometimes taken advantage of, that goodness needs to protect itself to maintain itself" says Heinrich. With veterans such as Neeta Fernando, Anoma Janadari, Sriyantha Mendis and Kusum Renu, as well as school and university students of drama participating in the workshops, the play will finally go on stage somewhere around the 19th, 20th March, at the Punchi Theatre. The Californian Professor is here on the invitation of Namel Weeramuni, one of his former students. "Weeramuni graduated from my university some years ago. He studied a master of arts degree in theatre and I was one of his teachers" Heinrich recalls. Due to their closeness in age (Namel was 58 at the time) the two built a strong friendship and have kept in touch through the years. Heinrich Falk has been a professor since 1967, thus having upto today, 37 years in the job. His primary teaching area is on the history of theatre, having a speciality in the Latin American scene. Having lived in Latin America during his high school years, Heinrich developed a love for its theatre, becoming intrigued by its cultural, social and political issues. "Latin American Theatre, is political and socially engaging. A lot of interesting Latin American plays come from university student groups. They use theatre to raise awareness about social matters" he says. Travelling around the world for research and study in the field, he has had resident camps in countries such as Spain, China, Italy, Germany and Venezuela. A multilingual person, he can speak fluently in Spanish and German as well as being able to read French and Catalan. In recent years he has directed a couple of South American plays in Shanghai, China. The plays were done in Chinese by students of the Shanghai University. Having a word for word translation of the play in English Heinrich was able to direct the play even though he was speaking in one language and the students another. "One learns the play, even not knowing the language. It was a challenging experience" he says. Falk did his doctorate in the University of Southern California, Los Angeles. As an undergraduate student he became involved in theatrical production, which was what sparked his interest in the field. Once he graduated he went on to teach rather than go into professional performances. Explains Heinrich "I think it's true in most or rather all of the arts, students are very engaged, purposeful and interested in what they are doing. Thus teaching them is very satisfying. When teaching drama one builds a strong relationship with one's students, for theatre is in many ways about life itself. It's not like teaching a subject like chemistry. In theatre both student and teacher become involved in the play, which builds a strong connection between them". For the last 20 years Falk has been involved in international education, developing programmes for students of his university to study abroad, to get a multicultural theatrical education. With the idea of setting up institutes for short term theatre programmes in various countries, after leaving our isle he will be stopping at Gana to carry out the plans of building up such a course. "In the future I hope to have something like this in Sri Lanka too" he says. In the courses recently conducted in the department of theatre, California the Professor has taught among others, World Theatre and Drama I, II and III, Theatre and Drama of Greece and Rome, Theatre and Drama of the Middle Ages and Renaissance, Theatre and Drama of the 18th and 19th Centuries, Theatre and Drama of Latin America and Theatrical Theory and Criticism. Other than drama and theatre, Falk's other interests are travel, music and bullfights. |
|
News | Business | Features
| Editorial | Security
| Produced by Lake House |
Drama is a visual language. It's about performing. Expression"
says Theatre Professor Heinrich Richard Falk. Coming from the California,
State University, Northridge, being in the Department of Theatre, Heinrich
is in Sri Lanka to conduct drama workshops in the Punchi Theatre.
