Sarath Dikkumbura’s latest drama: ‘Katharagama Prema’ can give ‘oxygen’ to this depressed island

• Tickets are priced from Rs 500-2,000 and shows will be held on June 1st at 3.30 pm and 6.30 pm at Elphinstone Theatre 
• The drama, though sensitive in nature, can be witnessed by the whole family

During an era when an uprising by the people was squashed by the government, Drama Director Sarath Dikkumbura has decided to rekindle the past and give hope to the youth who are in the mindset to usher in ‘change’.
Dikkumbura is planning to stage another series of his drama ‘Katharagama Prema’, but he is careful to send a message that armed struggles don’t succeed. He says that the youth have to find a peaceful way to carry out a revolution. 

There have been many attempts in the past where filmmakers and drama producers have tried to tell the story of ‘Premawathi Manamperi’. Some of those theatrical productions were banned by state authorities. Dikkumbura in an interview with the ‘Daily Mirror’ said that the motive behind the making of a drama of this nature is to relate it to the present time where the country is struggling, politically, economically and socially. For the record, Dikkumbura has obtained the greenlight from the Public Performances Board (PPB) and even had to make a trip to the CID to obtain clearance to stage his drama. He said that he approached the PPB because the story of Premawathi Manamperi is so sensitive and that people who can relate to the death of the former beauty queen of Katharagama are still living.

The plot of the drama revolves around a depressing economy during that era, the powers vested in the Army and the Police to squash a revolution and how the lust of a police officer

destroyed the love affair between Katharagama Prema (the role is played by Shalika Edirisinghe) and Gamini Bass, who plays the role of a graduate forced to take up carpentry for a living.  The role of Gamini Bass is played by the upcoming artiste Yash Weerasinghe.

The director of the drama makes it a point to underscore that Premawathi (the character in real life) was never involved in the JVP movement; this was despite many attempts made by Gamini Bass and several prominent characters in society to do so. Premawathi had made it clear that she was only willing to join a movement or programme that would benefit the country as a whole and not any other entity smaller than that. “She was intelligent and had learned quickly in life about what was right and wrong and what was ethical and unethical when living as an individual in society,” said Dikkumbura. 

The drama commences with the scene where a court case is being conducted to give the verdict on the two people who are connected with the death of Prema. According to Dikkumbura, the court refers to section 100 of the Army Act where a military official must obey the command of a higher-up only to carry out lawful commands. In the real life story, where Manamperi was involved, she was allegedly shot by two subordinates attached to the forces purely due to a personal feud. These two subordinates in the real life incident were found guilty of not protecting Manamperi while she was in custody and not for committing any other crime. The drama, after the first scene in the courts, then takes the audience back in time to the incidents that led to Prema’s killing. There is talk that the real Manamperi was stripped naked and raped afterwards, but the drama director is careful not to distort history because there had been no investigation done at that point of time to confirm of such a horrendous act. 

Some of the other artistes playing key roles in the drama are Kumari Moonasinghe (Prema’s mother), Cletus Mendis (plays the roles of a lawyer and an Army officer), Rohan Wijesekare (SI Malawatte), Ajith Lokuge, Jeevan Handuneththi, Malisha Bandara, Wijesiri Menikpura, Sunil Premaratne, Samanthi Manage and Dikkumbura himself playing the role of Major Ranabahu. The music for the drama is handled by Wijesundara Weragoda while Sirinatha Wickremesinghe has undertaken the roles of art director and choreographer. Lyrics for the music are supplied by Chandraratne Mapitigama, Susantha Dandeniya and Magali Dissanayake. The duties of coordinating the drama have been entrusted to Pooja Rangama. The script writer and director of the drama is Sarath Dikkumbura.

The drama, though sensitive in nature, can be witnessed by the whole family, according to the director of the drama. The funds for the drama have been provided by Premadasa Jayakody who slots in as the producer.

Going down memory lane, the 1971 revolt by the insurgents was crushed and the JVP movement went underground. There were unsuccessful revolts by the same insurgents in 1988 and protests of a totally different nature by the public surfaced in 2022, but the latter was crushed as well. “As a drama director, I don’t intend to make this production lead to a revolution, but the public might revolt in the future,” said Dikkumbura. 
Tickets for the drama are priced from Rs 500-2,000 and shows will be held on June 1st at 3.30 pm and 6.30 pm at Elphinstone Theatre.

A still from the drama ‘Katharagama Prema’