Dr. Pathiraja presents three books on theatre
View(s):The veteran film maker Dr. Dharmasena Pathiraja is hardly known to the present day generations as a dramatist but today it is revealed that the early stage of his career as an artiste was committed to the stage theatre of Sri Lanka. Why we say this is that he has produced several theatrical texts in the 1970s and today the stage has been set to launch some of those early works by him on the Sinhalese theatre very soon.
Pathiraja who also worked as a University don earned his Master’s degree (MA) from the University of Peradeniya on a study titled “Sinhala Naatye Aakruthiyahaa Anthargathayaathara Aragalaya” (roughly in English as “the struggle between the form and the content of Sinhalese theatre”).
Including this academic study and three other books related to the stage theatre by Dharmasena Pathiraja, namely, “Kora Saha Andaya” which was scripted by him as an original play and directed by veteran dramatist Dhamma Jagoda, “Putu”, a Sinhala translation of a play by Eugene Ionesco directed by himself for State Drama festival 1971 and it was won best translation script in the festival and another original play script titled “Vangagiriya” will be launched on Thursday August 31 at 4.00.p.m. at the auditorium of the Mahaweli Centre, Colombo.
At this event, Professor Carlo Fonseka, Kapila Kuamara Kalinga and Dr. Saumya Liyanage will make short comments on these works on the contribution made by the veteran film maker Dharmasena Pathiraja to the Sri Lankan theatre and the organizers kindly invite the admirers of Pathiraja’s cinema to participate at this event and pay their tributes to the lesser known playwright as a veteran cinema personality in Sri Lanka today.
