3rd August 1997

Common conflict gets novel touch

By Jennifer Paldano

The English Drama Society of the University of Colombo in its endeavor to encourage amateur playwrights and a mature Sri Lankan English theatre will host this year’s Inter University Drama Festival at the Lionel Wendt on August 15 and 16.

Breaking away from the tradition of staging scripts written by foreigners DramSoc since last year opted for local original scripts.

This year three one act plays will be presented at the festival by the Colombo, Peradeniya, and Sri Jayawardenapura universities.

"Spare Ribs" is the title of the Colombo University’ production. The script is written by Neil Fernandopulle an undergraduate of the Faculty of Science who says the title is open to the interpretation of the audience.

"May be it’s a dinner party and probably they are having ribs for dinner," he says.

Watching the three actors on stage, one tends to be confused at the end of the play.

"It is meant to be ambiguous," insists Vinodh Senadeera, the director of the play.

The plot is a common situation. A wife, Rochelle, invites her husband’s 22-year-old secretary to dinner. She suspects her husband of having an affair with the young secretary. Although it may be a common situation, there are subtle undercurrents that run throughout the play.

"Here is a man who has tried to live according to social expectations. Our patriarchal society demands that a man prove himself. In proving himself, the man pursues an aggressive stance. But he is not satisfied in proving himself a ‘man’ through mere career success. The implication of his affair with the secretary is another means of proving his ‘manhood’," explained Neil.

The wife also lives upto the expectations of society. She has fulfilled her expected role of motherhood . Yet she gets hysterical and almost out of her mind each time her husband gets a new secretary.

"I see a woman who wants her marriage to work , yet has no proper communication with her husband. She is a woman who is conventional, but wants to do a great deal. She is unable to fulfil her desires because of social constraints," explained Rochelle Hakel Ranasinghe who plays the role of the wife. Michelle Perera is the 22-year-old secretary around whom the conflict unfolds. She plays a subdued role.

Michael De Soysa , playing the ambitious husband says he understands the mentality of the man.

"A man who has suppressed his wife’s ambitions, justifies his actions because he provides well for the family. He is insecure and thus suppresses the woman’s abilities. Ultimately it is the woman who has achieved stability in life. He is the tragedy."

"As the plot is common we intend making it theatrically novel and more stylised, with emphasis on new techniques, lighting, prologue, and dance . Such stylisation makes the play more abstract," pointed out Vinodh.

T.Prasad of the Sri Jayawardanapura University has written the script for their play titled "War and Peace," while Izara Huzair and Thilini Rajapakse of the Peradeniya University have written the script for "Windmills."

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