A lonely flag bearer

In writing a review of the play to the Daily News, Prof. A.J Gunawardene stated “ Waguru Bima is not a bad effort for an absolute beginner. It possesses a basic requirement of any piece of theatre. That is, the ability to hold the attention of the audience.” Encouraged by the positive reviews and constructive criticism, Premaranjith produced Wahalak Nethi Geyak in 1964 for the State Drama Festival at which it was awarded the Best Script for the year. It was later adapted to television and telecast over the Rupavahini channel in 1982.

In this week’s column, we explore the pivotal role that dramatic Premaranjith Tilakaratne played in the evolution of the contemporary Sinhala theatre. Although Premaranjith is a gifted bilingual writer and translator, what I am going to explore in this column is his role as a playwright.

Premaranjith Thilakaratne, though born in Ratnapura, was educated at Sri Palin in Horana and Dharmapala College, Pannipitiya. What is noteworthy even at the early stage in his life is that he was fortunate to be educated in the English medium. His English education helped him to become a gifted translator and adapt many English and European plays to the Sinhala theatre.

Having watched the rehearsal of Sugathapala de Silva’s play Boarding Karayo with Wickrema Bogoda, Premaranjith made up his mind to write a script for a realistic drama. The interest in drama led him to study classical plays by famed dramatists such as, Tennessee Williams, Henrik Ibsen and August Strindberg.

In 1963, Premaranjith with his friend Dharmasiri Wickremaratne and his office colleagues L.B.W Seneviratne, Patrick Samaradivakara and Danston Jenasiri, founded what is now known as the ‘63 Group’. The principal difference between Ape Kattiya, a group founded by Sugathapala de Silva and the ’63 Group’ of Premaranjith Tilakaratne was that Ape Kattiya was primarily made up of actors while the ’63 Group’ was of dramatists.

The maiden production of the ’63 Group’ was Waguru Bima. The cast of Waguru Bima consisted Tony Ranasinghe, Wickrema Bogoda and Swarna Lalitha Perera. It was a realistic drama and quickly received critics’ acclaim.

In writing a review of the play to the Daily News, Prof. A.J Gunawardene stated “ Waguru Bima is not a bad effort for an absolute beginner. It possesses a basic requirement of any piece of theatre. That is, the ability to hold the attention of the audience.” Encouraged by the positive reviews and constructive criticism, Premaranjith produced Wahalak Nethi Geyak in 1964 for the State Drama Festival at which it was awarded the Best Script for the year.

It was later adapted to television and telecast over the Rupavahini channel in 1982.

Tissa Devendra observes, “Premaranjith Thilakaratne’s Wahalak Nethi Geyak is one of the strongest plays that appeared in the Sinhala theatre recent years. What is noteworthy is its simple and straightforward treatment of a theme that is both universal and contemporary. These conflicts of age ideals and expediency of father and son are of universal validity. Its action is really dramatic and its message is always relevant. ”

A significant aspect of Premaranjith’s productions is that they belonged to diverse genres although he developed a well-crafted unique style for himself and a vocabulary of drama. In 1965 Premaranjith produced Thoththa Baba, the Sinhalese adaptation of a controversial English production of Joe Orton’s Entertaining Mr. Sloan.

Though the original play won the award for the best British play in 1964, the Sinhalese adaptation was immediately banned for discussing controversial themes such as sexuality.

However, it was essentially a farce. After the appeal against the ban, the Minister of Education and Culture I.M.R.A Iriyagolle watched the drama and lifted the ban on it. But, owing to the controversy and strong opposition from cultural puritants, Premaranjith had to give up the drama after 20 performances.

In 1966, he produced Ammai-Appai, an adaptation of August Stringberg’s The Father followed by Kontare based on American musical West Side Story and in 1970, the satirical play Munu Sayaki; Rukadayaki ( based on The Mask and the Face) and Julie, an adaptation of August Strindberg’s Miss Julia.

In writing a review of the play Julie, Tissa Devendra observes, “Premaranjith Thilakaratne’s Sinhala adaptation of Strindberg’s Lady Julie is one of the most promising Sinhala plays of the last few months. The stage –setting is pleasantly simple and suggestive instead of being heavily realistic. Julie is an unusual production and one of the most interesting in the current season of Sinhala plays.”

Given the variety of selections and diverse production methodologies that Premaranjith Thilakaratne adapted in producing dramas, his career as a dramatist marked an important phase in the evolution of contemporary and modern Sinhala theatre. Apart from dealing with ‘controversial’ themes in his productions, Premaranjith also experimented with drama.

For instance, one of the noteworthy attempts is the re-production of Sri Wickrema based on the legendary John de Silva’s original production. Most of the Sinhala dramatists were reluctant to make new productions of old stage-plays. What he did was to adapt modern lighting and stage technology in the new production of Sri Wickrema.

Roland Perera observes, “He had adapted John de Silva’s play, first stage in 1905, to suit the modern audience and given a new interpretation. In his own words; I have treated the king with sympathy. Instead of condemning him as a royal monster (the image painted by the playwright of the nadagam period)”

His contribution to the Sinhala theatre should be studied in an objective light to get a glimpse into the remarkable playwright in Premaranjith Tilakaratne.