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Saturday, 1 November 2014 00:43 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
Prince Ben Sirimanne faces the Veddah King
I had bought a ticket for Rs. 2 (given in a neat little envelope, both of which I still treasure after 58 years) and was among just a handful – possibly around 50 – to watch a ‘nadagama’ – an opera in traditional style, as the program said.
The Lionel Wendt Theatre had opened its doors to a Sinhala drama produced by Professor Ediriwee
ra Sarachchandra with Peradeniya University students. He had just returned after visiting several countries including India, Japan and America on a Rockefeller Foundation grant and was keen to try something different to the dialogue drama that was in vogue at the time. The result was ‘Maname’ based on traditional ‘nadagam’ style.
Having left the Peradeniya campus just a few months earlier, I was quite excited in being able to watch a Sinhala play from there. More so because of the respect and regard we had for Dr. Sarachchandra. Due to his foreign tour we had missed a production by him during our stay at Peradeniya.
Meeting the narrator, Shyamon Jayasinghe, in Melbourne recently, both of us went down memory lane discussing how Dr. Sarachchandra set about producing ‘Maname’.
“I saw a notice by the University Drama Circle asking those who could sing to come for an audition. We were freshers at the time, having entered in May 1956. A friend and I decided to try our luck and I got selected. Why they wanted those who could sing was because it was going to be more verse than prose,” he said.
Professor Ediriweera Sarachchandra
Ben Sirimanne, who was fairly mature and was reading for the Diploma in Education, fitted into the role of Prince Maname. He had some experience in singing and playing an instrument. Trilicia Abeykoon (later Gunawardena) had sung as a school girl in the popular Siri Aiya’s children’s radio programs and she was chosen as the princess. He also picked Hemamali Gunasekera (later Gunasinghe) to play the role on alternative nights.
The other key role was the Veddah King. “Dr. Sarachchandra was not happy with any of the contenders for the role. He threatened to stop the play if he couldn’t get the right actor he was looking for. We were faced with a huge challenge,” Shyamon reminisced.
The Drama Circle office-bearers started hunting high and low for a suitable guy. They went to all the students’ halls and tried their best but failed. It happened to be the Kandy perahera season and the university students invariably went to see the perahera. There were other attractions too like the carnival at the E.L. Senanayake grounds in the city. One night they heard a voice at the carnival grounds – a voice which they felt would please Dr. Sarachchandra. For their luck, the singer was a Marrs Hall undergrad.
Shyamon Jayasinghe
“Dr. Sarachchandra liked the voice and also the personality of Edmund (Wijesinghe). He was picked for the crucial role. He had the height and the looks he wanted. Thereafter rehearsals started in earnest,” Shyamon recollected. Charles Gunasinghe Gurunnanse from Ambalangoda who knew much about folk drama and whose guidance and advice Dr. Sarachchandra sought in the production was there playing the ‘maddala’ drum and was always by his side. He did not object whenever Dr. Sarachchandra suggested changes to the traditional ‘nadagam’ style because he accepted that change was necessary to suit the times. 
He was equally fluent in singing and dancing. At the show itself one could see him joining in to sing from his corner while playing the drum. Dr. Sarachchandra played the ‘tamura’ and was could be seen with the other members of the orchestra.
Dr. Sarachchandra had a fine and dedicated team to work with. Fellow lecturer Dr. Siri Gunasinghe designed the stage settings and costumes. Renowned dancer Vasantha Kumar created the dances. The dances of the foresters and the war dance created by him had the desired impact.
Eileen Sarachchandra was in charge of make-up, which had much to do to bring out the features of the different characters. The one and only expert on stage lighting at the time and for many more years, Mahinda Dias did the needful along with Peter Lasha, an American student who also helped in stage sets.
Shyamon remembers how nervous he was on the first night: “For a novice who had never acted, it was a very nervous moment. Here I was facing an audience for the first time in a dark hall with just one spot falling on me, the cynosure of all eyes and ears. Even before coming to the Lionel Wendt that day, I had no clue about the role I was to play. I must say thanks to the audience who listened so attentively, I gained confidence and soon I was at ease.”Dr. Sarachchandra himself has written in his book ‘Piing Athisarasavivaramakdenne…’ that before the opening night he was quite pleased with the performances of the actors, but he was rather sceptical as to how Shyamon was going to perform.
“A miracle happened on stage. He just did a fantastic narrator’s role before the audience. As the play progressed, they waited with expectancy. Once he appeared they kept gazing at him and listening to what he was reciting. With his facial impressions, he very cleverly conveyed the tempo of the drama.”
He further said that ‘pothe guras’ in the subsequent stylised dramas could only imitate Shyamon.
“I felt honoured with Dr. Sarachchandra’s comments,” was Shyamon’s reaction. He admitted he became a public figure after his performance. “I became very popular. I even won the election for the Students’ Council,” he quipped.
He also remembers the fun they had in going to distant places to stage ‘Maname’. “Joining us for the bus ride was Dr. Sarachchandra, who was excellent company.”
It was tragic to see Ben Sirimanne leaving the scene with his untimely death. Henry Jayasena took over.
Commenting on the cast, Dr. Sarachchandra confessed that he was most fortunate to get such a talented set of players for ‘Maname’. “Not only I, but the audiences were also very fortunate.”
A big problem faced by Dr. Sarachchandra was to find a hall with proper facilities to stage ‘Maname’. The only place where Sinhala plays were staged was the YMBA hall at Borella. But to him even the basic facilities were not available there. Lionel Wend Theatre was the only place where the acoustics were good. So were the other facilities. But the big problem was that it was “a strange place” for Sinhala theatregoers.
However, he wrote to Harold Peiris who was managing the Theatre along with Lionel Wendt’s other assets, booking the hall for four days but reminding him that the Theatre was not a popular place for Sinhala playgoers. Insisting that he saw no reason why Sinhala theatregoers should not come there, Harold P offered the hall free on two days. This was a big bonus for the Drama Circle, which had meagre funds. Yet Dr. Sarachchandra was nervous about staging a play with a folk touch there. Moreover, the university students who were doing publicity and trying to sell tickets reported that the response to a Sinhala play by the Colombo 7 types was not at all encouraging. During their house-to-house campaign, they virtually got thrown out.
He once again wrote to Harold P. The latter was keen to prove that it was not true to say that Sinhala theatregoers would not come to the Wendt. He was determined to stage the play and offered the hall free on all days. It was a total loss for the theatre management.
When only a handful was present on the opening night, the boys got active. The following morning Gunasena Galappaati (he was soon to become a renowned playwright himself) led a team of undergrads to go to schools and get students to come for the play. It worked to an extent. Gradually the word got round that a high class Sinhala drama had arrived and people began to come.
While the Sinhala newspapers virtually ignored the play, the English papers had favourable reviews. “‘Maname’ is not only without question the finest thing I have seen on the Sinhalese stage, it is also one of the three or four most impressive dramatic performances in any language which I have been privileged to attend in Ceylon,” wrote the much-respected critic Regi Siriwardena.
After 58 years and many changes in the cast and presentation, ‘Maname’ still draws crowds.
