- Gunasena Galappatty
Gunasena Galappatty (born
Matara, Sri Lanka , 1927) is aSri Lanka ndramatist , 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 ProfessorEdiriweera Sarachchandra andCharles Silva and was involved in theatre work.His first production was a folk drama "Sandakinduru" in 1957 in which he blended
folk drama with modernSinhalese music . This was a success and he was awarded aFulbright Scholarship to study experimental theatre atUniversity 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 theStanislavsky approach to acting and stagecraft. He worked under two distinguished teachers,Herbert Berghoff andUta Hagen , both exponents of Europeanexperimental 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 andRussia to study various drama styles and methods. He admired Spain's FedricoGarcia Lorca and spent few weeks experiencing Lorca productions such as "Yerma". In Japan he studied traditionalkabuki 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]
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