Sri Lankan theatre

SRI LANKAN THEATRE IN THE TIME OF TERROR: Dr. Ranjani Obeyesekera; Sage Publications India Pvt. Ltd., M-32 Market, Greater Kailash I, New Delhi-110048. Rs. 225.

THE AUTHOR of the book under review believes that the period 1980-90 will be remembered as one of the most violent decades in Sri Lankan history, owing to the ethnic war in the North and the violent activities of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna in the South. He has attempted to analyse the Sinhala theatre during this period of turmoil. Since strict censorship was imposed by the authoritarian government, the plays were loaded with satire, innuendo and humour, so that the Sinhala audience saw and heard indirect criticism of the Government on the stage.

The cost of production of films in Sinhala became exorbitant, and even otherwise it was not profitable to produce feature films for a population of 12 million Sinhalese when Hindi, Tamil and English films were readily available. Hence the theatre became popular, with the cost of production of a play being Rs. 15,000 or a little above. In 1984, about 200 new plays were staged. An annual festival of plays with ranking and awards for them, also encouraged Sinhala theatre besides sponsorship by businessmen and other individuals, the author says. Drama was also introduced in the school curriculum. In order to avoid censorship, world famous authors' plays were adapted into Sinhala. A number of original plays, with political satire packed in the permitted space, also became very popular. Even Buddhist monks formed a fair part of the audience. Street plays too became popular.

The author wonders why audiences experiencing violence and terror in their daily lives could sit through scenes of similar violence enacted on stage in the version of Sartre's ``Men without Shadows'' adapted by Dharmasiri Bandaranayake with the title ``White Terror'' and in ``Black and White'' by Simon. The book will be of interest to students of theatre, sociologists and political scientists.

Se. GANESALINGAN

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