Theatre
Maname
මනමේ
Ediriweera Sarachchandra · 1956
Synopsis
Trained in Taxila in the arts of war and peace, Prince Maname receives the title of royal archer and marries his master's daughter. On the road to his father's kingdom, the couple crosses a forest inhabited by savages, whose king, enamoured of the princess, accuses the prince of trespass and spares his life only on condition that he give up his wife to him. The prince then challenges him to single combat.
Context
Directed by the author, the play was first performed on 3 November 1956 at the Lionel Wendt Theatre in Colombo by the students of the university's Sinhala drama circle, with Ben Sirimanne as the prince and Edmund Wijesinghe as the Vedda king. Drawn from the Culla Dhanuggaha Jataka, it renews the nadagam, the popular verse opera, opening it to Japanese Noh and kabuki, and also owes something to Rashomon. Lakshmi de Silva translated it into English in the review Navasilu in 1984.
Who it is for
To discover the birth certificate of modern theatre in Sri Lanka, between Buddhist legend and folk song.
Prizes and reception
The critic Regi Siriwardena then considered it the finest thing seen on the Sinhala stage; it has since been performed hundreds of times.