DRAMA: 'Purawara Ranga Madala':

Breaking out of the box of conformity

Purawara Ranga Madala' a unique drama festival, conducted by veteran theatre practitioner Kaushalya Fernando was held at the Moratuwa University premises last week. The festival is an annual event organized by the Town and Country Planning Department of the University of Moratuwa, to mark the end of a successful drama workshop series offered to the University freshers.

Although theatre and drama is not part of the curriculum of the Engineering Department, it is intended to encourage students to express themselves through drama and step out of the traditional setting of the classroom in a more creative manner. During the process, students get the opportunity to work hand in hand with veteran theatre practitioners, actors and directors and more importantly they get the opportunity to enhance their creativity through drama.

Showcased at this year's 'Purawara RangaMadala' were four original short plays produced by the first and second year students of Town and Country Planning Department of the University of Moratuwa. This included two drama productions namely 'Nihao' and 'FB' by the first year students and 'Divya Gamana' and 'Falling in Love' by the second year students.

Timely themes

The story lines of all four productions were based on timely themes - such as Chinization, media manipulation, social media mania and social prejudices over lovers. Although these issues are much talked about, the undergrads were able to portray them with subtle brilliance, displaying the effect of the macro political situation on the microcosm of a relationship and in the process making it relatable for the audience.

Kafka may have said, "Youth is happy because it has the capacity to see beauty", but when the bubble of youth bursts, we begin to question why the world is the way it is. 'Purawara Ranga Madala' was a great attempt to highlight the vital role theatre can play within this question.

Explaining the reasoning behind 'Purawara Ranga Madala' veteran theatre practitioner, Kaushalya Fernando, said, "Considering the world trends, theatre and drama today is not just another subject, only taught in aesthetic and performing art universities. This has become a part of many other subject streams. The main intention of these theatre and drama workshops in the Engineering faculty is to create a balanced human being who can see the world in a balanced mindset. It helps to upgrade the creativity and balance in life."

Human lens

Explaining that the basic strength of theatre is the personal audience-performer relationship, she said, "The audience sees a human being, not a headline or a number. When asking questions about politics or any other themes, theatre is a brilliant tool to convey this. Although these students did not have prior training in threatre and drama, the themes and acting styles they portrayed are quite brilliant," thanking Nilanka Dahanayake and Prasanna Mahagamage for the training and support given for the students to enhance their aesthetic skills.

The story lines of all the performances of the festival were viewed through the human lens and the dramatic elements were excellently blended. At the end of each play, it questioned human insensitivity and made the audience use their intelligence for better understanding.

'Purawara RangaMadala' did a wonderful job of representing the resentment young people feel about the lack of attention given to their concerns. The raw anger and intensity were well captured in what were essentially plays rooted in modern reality.