Performance in a Time of Terror: Five Sinhala Plays from Sri Lanka

Description

This volume is a collection of five Sinhala plays, translated into English, which were written and performed during the most violent phase of modern Sri Lankan history. Ranjini Obeyesekere’s translation of these five well-known and celebrated plays by K. B. Herath, Prasannajith Abeysuriya, Dhananjaya Karunarathne, Prasanna Jayakody and Rajitha Dissanayake highlights and explores the dynamic period of Sri Lankan theater and performance arts in the 1980s and 1990s. The plays in this collection offered a political space for criticism, introspection, discussion and protest during a time of suppression of voices, political violence and terror. Audiences flocked to the theater to watch plays produced by talented dramatists and artists who were experimenting with forms and themes under extremely challenging circumstances, shoe-string budgets and strict censorship. Kanchuka Dharmasiri’s introduction to the volume further details the history and socio-political contexts of the theater of this period, discussing themes such as dissent, identity and the brutal power of the state. She also looks at the unique formal elements employed in these plays as well as their influence and reach. This volume is a significant addition to the growing corpus of Sinhala literature in translation. It will be an essential read for scholars and researchers of literature, performance studies, cultural studies, and the politics and history of Sri Lanka. Cover Half Title Title Page Copyright Page Table of Contents List of Photographs Preface Introduction Guns, coffins and existence: Five Sinhala plays fromthe 1980s and 1990s Māyā Dēvi/The Goddess of Illusion by K.B. Herath (1984) Dukgannārāla/The Bearer of Woes (1989) by PrasannajithAbeysuriya Jūriya/The Jury by Dhananjaya Karunarathne Sevanäli saha Minissu/Shadows and Men by Prasanna Jayakody Mata Veḍitiyannädda?/Aren’t You Going to Shoot Me? A note on gender Stage settings and other elements About the translator Notes Goddess of Illusion (Māyā Dēvi 1984) The characters Prologue Act one Act two Act three Act four Notes The Bearer of Woes (Dukgannārāla 1989) Characters Act 1 Interval Notes The Jury (Jūriya 1993) Characters Act 1 Scene 1: A wall beside a road Scene 2: The security post Scene 3: The wall at the edge of the road Scene 4 Scene 5 Interval Scene 6 Scene 7 Alternate Ending11 Alternate Ending13 Notes Shadows and Men (Sevanäli saha Minissu 1993) Characters Scene 1 Scene 2 Scene 3 Scene 4 Scene 5 Scene 6 Notes Aren’t You Going to Shoot Me? (Mata Veḍitiyannädda? 1999) Characters Notes