Chintaka Pathirana (left) who plays the role of Honda Maama is seen during a rehearsal 

• There are five schoolchildren in the cast
• The drama, organised by the Writers’ and Readers’ Forum of the Colombo Public Library, will be shown free to the public

Journalist, author and drama director Sugath Shantha Moragahakumbura is all set to show his next drama ‘Akuru Hakuru’ on December 6 (Friday) to coincide with the 100 years celebration festivities of the Colombo Public Library. The drama, which is organised by the Writers’ and Readers’ Forum of the Colombo Public Library, will be shown free to the public. 

With the achievement of having produced many stage dramas under his belt, Moragahakumbura has focused on producing a children’s play this time around. The cast is small, according to him, but the team work is great and the drama is scripted in such a manner to give society a message on why people should retain the characteristic of being sensitive. “Most parents are insensitive and so are their children. We live in a society where you cannot ignore the need to respond to a person in need. We have to respond to what is happening around us. Otherwise there is no survival,” Moragahakumbura told ‘Daily Mirror’ in an interview done at ‘Sudharshi’ institute in Colombo during breaks in between rehearsals for his drama.

The plot for the drama revolves round a schoolgirl who is a little slow in mastering classroom work, but learns quickly about life’s lessons after befriending a shepherd, who is new to the area. The schoolgirl (Dewmini) encounters opposition from her mother (Grama sevaka in the area) for associating with people of low calibre, but later the mother finds out that her daughter is educating herself gainfully through her association with the shepherd. 

The shepherd is known in the area as ‘Honda Maama’ or Sundara Banda and is a leukemia patient, but little is known about his health condition. He teaches the villagers that animals also have the right to live in the environment. In one scene, in the play, he chooses to talk gently to a snake that moves around in the village, despite protests from villagers to kill it. He underscores the fact that even a fierce reptile will respond well to kind words as opposed to being treated with violence and hash words.

The schoolgirl later successfully completes her education and enters medical college; eventually qualifying as a doctor. Upon graduation, she returns to the village in search of Honda Mama to share the good news, but is heartbroken to encounter a procession taking the remains of the shepherd, who has lost his battle against leukemia. She is devastated, but from a distance she hears the voice of the shepherd’s soul teaching her another lesson about the harsh realities of life. This voice requests her to save 100 lives of leukemia patients and Dewmini readily agrees. 

This writer was surprised by the capacity shown by Rithuki Nimhara (a fourteen years old girls from Kegalle) when doing rehearsals for the role of ‘Dewmimi’ because the role demanded by her is very emotional. Given that this is an era where being emotional is not the fad, and because Nimhara belongs to a different generation (Gen Z) which doesn’t associate much with the phrase ‘being emotional’, we asked how she copes with this challenging role. There are five schoolchildren in the cast.

Most parents are insensitive and so are their children. We live in a society where you cannot ignore the need to respond to a person in need. We have to respond to what is happening around us. Otherwise there is no survival 
Sugath Moragahakumbura Drama Director

“I don’t believe in shedding the characteristic of being emotional. I’m naturally an emotional person, hence I can do roles which demands tears and sadness,” she said while wiping away tears after rehearsing the part where she has to get emotional when seeing the funeral procession of Honda Mama.

The character of Honda Mama is to receive equal importance in the play when compared to the role of Dewmini, according to Moragahakumbura. Honda Maama’s role is played by Chintaka Pathirana, a veteran stage actor, who has many years and dramas under his belt. “Both the young and experienced will be performing up to my expectations because I give the commands and instructions to ensure what I deem as a good job done,” said Moragahakumbura.

The others in the cast are Mahindi Sadithma, Sandali Wickremesinghe, Vinuli Punsisi, Kisandu Dias, Nadeeka Alahakoon and Jeevani Meegoda, who plays the role of the Grama Sevaka and also doubles up as the producer of the drama. Music is handled by Sameera Subasinghe while stage lighting is taken care of by the expertise of Jinadasa Hengoda. The  Stage manger is H.A. Sunil. 

The Chairman of the Writers’ and Readers’ Forum of the Colombo Public Library Keerthi Priyankara, a Senior attorney at Law, said that Moragahakumbura’s drama was chosen to be among the events celebrating 100 years of service by the Public Library because it revolves around a child growing up to be a leading personality in the society. “We cannot forget the fact that being sensitive as a society is so important and this drama gives that message in a strong way” said Priyankara.

Moragahakumbura said that initially he had plans to name the drama ‘A prince who has come from eternity’, but after failing to find a male artiste who’ll fit into this role, he was forced to change the name of the drama and look for options. Interestingly he had approached astrologer Janaka Ratnayake, a known face in drama and theatre circles who gives names for productions in keeping with auspicious letters, for a name for his production. Ratnayake had suggested to start the name of the drama with letter ‘A’ and the names Akuru and then Hakuru’ had come to Moragahakumbura’s mind in that very instant. 

Moragahakumbura has a challenge now. This is the maiden show of ‘Akuru Hakuru’, hence there is no guideline for the audience nor the ‘sponsor’ of the drama ‘The Colombo Library’ whether this would be a success or serve their purpose. How does Moragahakumbura negotiate the ‘unknown’ even though the challenge for him comes in a field he has invested so much time and money on? “I’m a journalist before anything else and I believe people who know me and my work will have faith that their hearts would be contend after seeing my new drama. My past successes in drama is the only yardstick which is available for a patron to decide whether he or she is going to invest time on seeing my drama,” said Moragahakumbura with confidence.