Review
Shanmugalingam Three Plays, trans. S. Pathmanathan. Kumaran Book House
It is often said that there are three levels at which one can enjoy a piece of theatre. First, in performance, where an audience member experiences the full emotional and intellectual force of a piece as it is played out live in front of them. Second, by reading the script and appreciating the quality of the writing, but with little knowledge of how the piece is transformed once on stage. And finally, through review – whereby the quality of the script or production is relayed through the words of others.
Until now my appreciation of the work of Shanmugalingam had been in this third category. I can remember vividly in my first visit to Jaffna in 2000, how actors from Theatre Action Group explained, with infectious enthusiasm, how the first production of Man Sumantha Meniyar was received across the peninsula. They outlined the plot, the style of the production and the reaction of the audiences. Later that year I was given another detailed account by Sithamparanatham, encouraging me to find out more about the play – but of course leaving me frustrated that there were no available English translation. Similarly I can remember discussions with Sopa Pathmanathan as he explained why Entayum Tayum was his favourite play by Shanmugaligam. I could only guess as to the quality of the play and wished I could understand the written Tamil. Finally, in conversations with Shanmugalingam himself, I remember hearing the stories about the reception of the play Velvithee and, like all significant theatre, the very real debates it stimulated. At the time I imagined it as a modern day version of Ibsen’s ‘A Doll’s House’ but had little way of testing my assumption.
This edition – beautifully translated by Sopa Pathmanathan – is thus a realisation of a strong desire for me to know Shanmugalingam’s plays at what I called above the second level of appreciation: at last I can read them. They now come alive for me as an English speaker – and their breadth and quality jumps from the page. What I have learned reading them for the first time is that each in its own way can be seen as embedded in an important historical moment in the history of Jaffna and Sri Lanka more broadly. The specifics of the conflict in the 1980s, the themes of migration and then the impact of sexual violence – each illustrate that Shanmugaligam was (and is) writing in a way that demonstrates his firm connection to his ‘soil’; in terms of history, culture and current pressing issues. In some ways the first two plays in the book speak to each other. The demand in Man Sumantha Meniyar for the people to resist the urge to flee is responded to in Entayum Tayum with the vision of those left behind once many have, in fact, left. Optimism, and perhaps idealism, becomes tempered by pragmatics as the elders of the community wait for their absent families to write. The poignancy of this latter piece speaks to an audience well beyond Sri Lanka and in many ways illustrates the importance of Shanmugalingam as a playwright speaking to audiences outside his particular geographical and historical context. The isolation of the elderly – and the international pressures on migration and communication – are intimately captured in this piece, and I believe mark it as an important work which should be performed by communities in many different contexts.
Velvithee repeats the themes in Man Sumantha Meniyar where the pressures of cultural practices meet the contingencies of the conflict in Sri Lanka. The women counsellor who works in the field of sexual violence, when victimised herself, is caught in the complex emotional and cultural demands that intellectually she has encouraged others to resist. This piece illustrates the dilemmas inherent in a community that is subject to external violence – cultural practices both sustain and protect, and also can prevent recovery. This is movingly revealed in this piece, where the lead role, Vasuhi, is, as I had anticipated, the modern day Nora, who is forced to confront the restrictions of her culture from a position of her deep respect for it practices. In Ibsen’s ‘A Doll’s House’ Nora leaves her husband Helmer at the end of the play – tantalisingly, and I think appropriately, Shanmugalingam, leaves the end of his powerful play open. We can only guess what the future for Vasuhi holds, and the playwright thus forces an audience to answer the question that the piece poses.
Of course the sense of enjoyment I have from reading these plays, is still only an appreciation at what I called the second level. For me to understand their texture and feel fully, I need to see them in production. The publication of this excellent edition now makes this all the more likely. I hope English speaking students take on the challenge this book presents and start to stage new productions – which I also hope I have the opportunity to see. The desire kindled by the infectious enthusiasm for Shanimgalingam’s work demonstrated by those young actors in Jaffna, will then be fully realised – and my appreciation will then come from a level one experience.
James Thompson
University of Manchester
Shanmugalingam Three Plays, trans. S. Pathmanathan. Kumaran Book House
It is often said that there are three levels at which one can enjoy a piece of theatre. First, in performance, where an audience member experiences the full emotional and intellectual force of a piece as it is played out live in front of them. Second, by reading the script and appreciating the quality of the writing, but with little knowledge of how the piece is transformed once on stage. And finally, through review – whereby the quality of the script or production is relayed through the words of others.
Until now my appreciation of the work of Shanmugalingam had been in this third category. I can remember vividly in my first visit to Jaffna in 2000, how actors from Theatre Action Group explained, with infectious enthusiasm, how the first production of Man Sumantha Meniyar was received across the peninsula. They outlined the plot, the style of the production and the reaction of the audiences. Later that year I was given another detailed account by Sithamparanatham, encouraging me to find out more about the play – but of course leaving me frustrated that there were no available English translation. Similarly I can remember discussions with Sopa Pathmanathan as he explained why Entayum Tayum was his favourite play by Shanmugaligam. I could only guess as to the quality of the play and wished I could understand the written Tamil. Finally, in conversations with Shanmugalingam himself, I remember hearing the stories about the reception of the play Velvithee and, like all significant theatre, the very real debates it stimulated. At the time I imagined it as a modern day version of Ibsen’s ‘A Doll’s House’ but had little way of testing my assumption.
This edition – beautifully translated by Sopa Pathmanathan – is thus a realisation of a strong desire for me to know Shanmugalingam’s plays at what I called above the second level of appreciation: at last I can read them. They now come alive for me as an English speaker – and their breadth and quality jumps from the page. What I have learned reading them for the first time is that each in its own way can be seen as embedded in an important historical moment in the history of Jaffna and Sri Lanka more broadly. The specifics of the conflict in the 1980s, the themes of migration and then the impact of sexual violence – each illustrate that Shanmugaligam was (and is) writing in a way that demonstrates his firm connection to his ‘soil’; in terms of history, culture and current pressing issues. In some ways the first two plays in the book speak to each other. The demand in Man Sumantha Meniyar for the people to resist the urge to flee is responded to in Entayum Tayum with the vision of those left behind once many have, in fact, left. Optimism, and perhaps idealism, becomes tempered by pragmatics as the elders of the community wait for their absent families to write. The poignancy of this latter piece speaks to an audience well beyond Sri Lanka and in many ways illustrates the importance of Shanmugalingam as a playwright speaking to audiences outside his particular geographical and historical context. The isolation of the elderly – and the international pressures on migration and communication – are intimately captured in this piece, and I believe mark it as an important work which should be performed by communities in many different contexts.
Velvithee repeats the themes in Man Sumantha Meniyar where the pressures of cultural practices meet the contingencies of the conflict in Sri Lanka. The women counsellor who works in the field of sexual violence, when victimised herself, is caught in the complex emotional and cultural demands that intellectually she has encouraged others to resist. This piece illustrates the dilemmas inherent in a community that is subject to external violence – cultural practices both sustain and protect, and also can prevent recovery. This is movingly revealed in this piece, where the lead role, Vasuhi, is, as I had anticipated, the modern day Nora, who is forced to confront the restrictions of her culture from a position of her deep respect for it practices. In Ibsen’s ‘A Doll’s House’ Nora leaves her husband Helmer at the end of the play – tantalisingly, and I think appropriately, Shanmugalingam, leaves the end of his powerful play open. We can only guess what the future for Vasuhi holds, and the playwright thus forces an audience to answer the question that the piece poses.
Of course the sense of enjoyment I have from reading these plays, is still only an appreciation at what I called the second level. For me to understand their texture and feel fully, I need to see them in production. The publication of this excellent edition now makes this all the more likely. I hope English speaking students take on the challenge this book presents and start to stage new productions – which I also hope I have the opportunity to see. The desire kindled by the infectious enthusiasm for Shanimgalingam’s work demonstrated by those young actors in Jaffna, will then be fully realised – and my appreciation will then come from a level one experience.
James Thompson
University of Manchester
