Gunasena Galappatty

Gunasena Galappatty (born Matara, Sri Lanka, 1927) is a Sri Lankan dramatist, regarded as the pioneer of suspense drama in Sri Lanka.

Education

He attended Dikwella Central College and Matara Rahula College. In 1950, he entered University of Ceylon, Peradeniya campus to study for a bachelors degree in Economics. At Peradeniya, he started associating with Professor Ediriweera Sarachchandra and Charles Silva and was involved in theatre work.

His first production was a folk drama "Sandakinduru" in 1957 in which he blended folk drama with modern Sinhalese music. This was a success and he was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to study experimental theatre at University of Yale, USA.

Career

From Yale, he went to Broadway in 1959, the first Sri Lankan to work there as well as in off-Broadway productions. During this time, he came under influence of the Method school, the American offshoot of the Stanislavsky approach to acting and stagecraft. He worked under two distinguished teachers, Herbert Berghoff and Uta Hagen, both exponents of European experimental theatre. He acted in and co-produced two Broadway dramas, "Tea House of the August Moon" and "Marriage-go-round".

He then traveled to many countries including Spain, Japan and Russia to study various drama styles and methods. He admired Spain's Fedrico Garcia Lorca and spent few weeks experiencing Lorca productions such as "Yerma". In Japan he studied traditional kabuki drama and was involved in a popular production: "The Father".

Returning to Sri Lanka in 1961, Galappatty resumed his theatre work. Abandonning the operatic form modelled on Charles Silva and Sarachhandra crystallization of the "Nadagam", he branched out on a new line which tried to fuse the inner-directed acting style that he had imbibed in Broadway with the non-naturalistic native tradition. In 1962, he produced a milestone in Sri Lankan theatre, "Muduputtu" (Sons of the Seas), showing that the traditional stylistic theatre could be blended very effectively with western realistic technique. Following this he was at the forefront of Sri Lankan theatre and his productions launchd the careers of many talented actors. He was called upon to represent Sri Lanka at United Nations conferences and other international activities.

External links

* [http://www.galappatty.org Official Galappatty site]