Food of fantasy

By Madhubhashini Ratnayake

"We think of food for children - and clothes - and shelter. But we don't think about another vital need - entertainment," says Somalatha Subasinghe who is getting ready to fill that lack in her own way as she holds the Children's Theatre Festival at the Tower Hall from August 17-20. Six of her plays will be staged during the Festival - Punchi apata den tere, (We know it now) Ratmalie (Little Red Riding Hood), Toppi Velenda, (Hat Seller) Gamarala Divya Loketa (The Farmer goes to Heaven), Hima Kumariya (Snow White) and Vikurti (Distortion).

"Good entertainment for children is really as important as the basic necessities. An education is given to teach them how to get these things in a competitive world too. We look after their physical health carefully. But what about the mental health? No kind of exercise is given to make them relate to each other; to be sensitive; to value life; to value the environment. This is where art can come in and make a difference. Creative art imparts knowledge, experience and vision," Somalatha says.

She doesn't use the word "message" as she speaks, though we are used to assuming that a moral lesson is necessarily integrated into children's drama. " 'Message' is not a word I like," she emphasizes. "I need to communicate with children, but it should be established through some shared experience. Drama is the most powerful means of communicating with a child. They watch adults and learn from them. But I also believe that we don't have to talk down to them. Children are able to put two and two together and realize some kind of cause-effect sequence. The drama that I want to create will make them think, rationalize and learn something."

Somalatha who earlier had her own children to open their world of imagination and fantasy to her, now has a grand-daughter to make that world accessible. "When I work with children, I become one of them. But I know that I have to protect them too. What is normally given to children by those who love them is the best - the best food, the best clothes. Likewise, their theatre should be the most refined."

What worries this director is the fact that the entertainment mostly available to Sri Lankan children, like television, is not the best. "If all they see is mediocrity, how will they know that there are other art forms available? How can they ask for better? They won't know what it is."

There are ways of providing children with opportunities to have access to the world of art, Somalatha says. But it requires coordination within the various institutions of the country. For example, she points out, the Education Ministry could have a closer link with the Cultural Ministry. Drama could be part of the school curriculum. Children could be brought to the theatres during school time itself, saving their parents time and money. Or drama troupes can be sent to perform in schools. "Our troupe is willing to tour schools on any subsidized budget."

A scheme such as that would help the directors of children's plays, Somalatha says. "It is not that there are no children's directors around. There are. It is just that they need a helping hand to take their art further - or at least keep it alive. The Cultural Ministry does have a Children's Drama Festival - but more assistance would be possible if Ministries work together and continue helping the directors who win awards at this Festival." The reason that Children's Theatre needs more assistance is because it necessarily has to be a subsidized. "It would not be morally correct to charge children too much for the tickets."

Somalatha agrees that even mainstream theatre is going through difficult times. "But at least adults can begin to do something about it. But children cannot ask. It is up to us to perceive their need and provide for it."

Somalatha herself is an actress in mainstream theatre and she says that her 'university' for drama was created by the directors she worked under like Sarachchandra, Galappatti, Jayasena, Jayawardena and so on.

In 1971 she received a fellowship from UNESCO to observe children's theatre and travelled to London, Paris, Prague, Moscow, Leningrad, and East Berlin learning through all she saw. She now keeps children's theatre alive with her own troupe.

The Festival will indeed be a golden opportunity for children because as Somalatha says, "Good drama feeds the imagination and fantasy of children. They need to be creative. It gives them freedom. And children need to be free."

More Plus

Return to Plus Contents