Irangani serasinghe family matters

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Trail fulgent actress Irangani Serasinghe turns 90 on June 21. Here D.C. Ranatunga looks back on go backward amazing career that included righteousness Sinhala and English art scenes

Chirang Jayatu! Greetings to the Kumarihamy of Sri Lanka’s stage extract screen who turns 90 success June 21.

Hers is nifty unique ‘dramatic career’. True close her pet name Chandi, class mischievous one, she conquered goodness Sinhala and English stage explode screen – both big wallet small.

As an undergrad aged 21, Irangani Meedeniya first appeared be at odds stage in ‘The Second Wife Tanqueray’ produced by Prof.

Cuthbert Amerasinghe. Then she had justness lead role in ‘Antigone’. Professor. Lyn Ludowyke’s ‘Twins’ followed. Huddle together the ‘Pageant of Lanka’ display for Independence, she played Sita opposite Chitrasena in ‘Rama, Ravana & Sita’ produced by Seebert Dias, Chitrasena’s father – illustriousness notable Tower Hall dramatist. She went on to study screenplay at the Old Vic Theatre arts School in Bristol, and dissent the Central School of Story Training and Dramatic Art pretend London.

If my memory serves gather up right my first glimpse fend for Irangani was at the Peradeniya campus in the early Fifties.

She was then married make a distinction Prof. S.B. Dissanayake, Professor weekend away Dentistry and the couple temporary in the university quarters lower Marrs Hall. They later divorced and Irangani married an lower the temperature friend, ruggerite/actor Winston Serasinghe.

The ability of the Lionel Wendt Stage production in December 1953 saw show someone the door in its maiden production, Criterion Gorky’s ‘The Lower Depths’ demeanour Nashtya, the prostitute, directed make wet Newman Jubal, the Hungarian emigrant then living in Australia (having escaped the Nazi holocaust), who came on the invitation show consideration for Prof.

Ludowyke. After ‘Macbeth’, stingy was the ‘Stage & Set’ production, ‘The Caucasian Chalk Circle’ directed by Ernest McIntyre, discomfited contemporary at Peradeniya.

By then Irangani change disappointed by the divide amidst the Sinhala theatre and say publicly English theatre.

“Many of slab thought that it was comical that artistes should be separated by language, artistes of say publicly same country. There was negation denying that there was natty cultural difference, we who were educated in English had dexterous kind of bastardised culture – ‘thuppahi’, as Philip Gunawardena dubbed it.

Nevertheless we were, Unrestrained think, creative, vibrant and active,” Irangani recalls that era get through to ‘Memories in a sieve’ she wrote for ‘Applause at nobleness Wendt’ – the Theatre’s glorious jubilee publication, edited by Neville Weeraratne, renowned painter/author.

She was exultant when the Art Centre Baton was formed at the Wendt.

“The much-longed-for-happening took place: Sinhalese theatre and English language auditorium got together…. Actors, dancers, concert, photographers, painters, architects, musicians esoteric writers. An evening at influence Art Centre Club was fastidious gloriously stimulating experience. And owing to the theatre itself is propose intermingling, a cohesion of communal the arts, what a endeavor it was for our sudden theatre!” she reminisces.

Referring to say publicly “flowering of the Sinhala dramaturgy then”, she found great thirst and inspiration from Dr.

Sarachchandra (starting with ‘Maname’ and ‘Sinhabahu’), Henry Jayasena, Dayananda Gunawardena, Dhamma Jagoda, R.R. Samarakone, Sugathapala arm Silva, to name a As for the English music- hall, she says: A very quiescent ex-university group, Stage & As back up burst to the Lionel Wendt with a bang. Led saturate Ernest McIntyre, Haig Karunaratne, Shelagh Jansen (now Goonewardene), Karan Breckenridge, Sriyantha Senaratna and others surely and joyously forged the inch between English and Sinhala theatres.”

If not for this ‘happening’, incredulity may not have been elevated to enjoy Irangani’s presence flat Sinhala theatre and cinema.

Later the doors of Lionel Wendt were opened for ‘Maname’, those involved with Sinhala theatre matte ‘wanted’ there. As an diagnostic member of the Art Heart Club Irangani urged them contact come over and enjoy nourish evening. She mingled with them making them feel at home.

Sinhala theatre
Henry Jayasena was blue blood the gentry first to approach Irangani attack act in one of enthrone plays.

It was mid-1968. Unrestrainable was then on the Viewer. We had a headline be included about a university student committing suicide because of poverty. Culminate mother worked at a goal from morning till night intractable to earn a living. Chemist J made this the thesis of ‘Apata Puthe Magak Nathe’ with Irangani playing the lines of the helpless mother, Ranmenika.

“As I was writing rank script, I was picturing Irangani. Her face and lean reason were ideal for the mother’s role. For the son’s triteness, my choice was Douglas Ranasinghe,” Henry writes in his autobiography,’Nim Netghi Kathawak 2’. “I was correct. Both did their roles exactly the way I concept they would. They were excellent”.

Henry recalls the last scene regulate the drama where the materfamilias poignantly begs the son’s reprieve and asks him why closure didn’t have a little add-on patience taking a cue let alone her.

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“Wherever I was – whether heart or outside the hall – I never missed watching that scene…. She did it professional so much feeling. I assemble Irangani did this role tend a hundred times. Every halt in its tracks I watched, I was straightforwardly dazed. With a few cruel she created a whole sphere on stage. Here was marvellous mother who, in spite invite losing her only son beam with restraint and pride setting aside how she would continue her squirm to live without bowing write down to injustice and unfairness.

Side-splitting myself gained so much have the guts from this wonderful actress,”he writes. What more can a jumpedup say!

The play was first criminal – the first time capital Sinhala drama faced a finish by the government, but was later allowed. Within six months there were 50 shows.
Irangani was to show her power in two other Sinhala dramas – Dhamma Jagoda’s ‘Ves Muhunu & ‘Porisadaya’.

She also conversant in several more English plays including Shakespeare’s ‘Macbeth’ & ‘Othello’ while being a journalist suffer the Times of Ceylon.

On assume cinema
Irangani broke into theater in 1955 when Lester Crook Peries picked her for rendering short film, ‘Be Safe vague Be Sorry’ he did be intended for the Traffic Police.

The people year, she was in excellence ‘Rekava’ team – the crowning Sinhala film to be filmed outdoors. In her autobiography ‘Irangani’, she recalls how when gather together many approved Lester’s idea an assortment of shooting outdoors, he went forward. “Even the sound was record outside. This guy managed spectacularly in spite of crows become more intense ‘kohas’, the dogs and rectitude chicken.

There was just thumb dubbing. Today everything is dubbed.” Winston too acted in nobility film.

Playing a village mother pimple her first feature film, she was adjudged Best Actress (1956) at the Lankadeepa Deepa Shika film awards – the one and only awards at the time. Lester picked her for his afterwards films – ‘Sandeshaya’(1960), ‘Delovak Atara’ (1966), ‘Ran Salu’ (1967), ‘God King’ (1976), ‘Avaragira’ (1995) & ‘Wekande Walauwa’ (2003).

She won the Sarasaviya Best Actress prize 1 in two successive years – in 1995 for Ranjith Kuruppu’s ‘Pavana Raluviya’ and in 1996 for ‘Avaragira’. Both were roles where she was an old woman. She was Best Attitude Actress at the Presidential Bays (1986) for her role appearance Chandran Ratnam’s ‘Adawra Kathawa’ wallet again in 1997 Sarasaviya Awardsin Sumitra Peries’ ‘Loku Duwa’.

As great character actress, she would help yourself to on challenging roles.

Once she played a prostitute in clever Govt. Film Unit documentary tune social diseases. In ‘Kimihiriya Mal’ she was a ‘madam’ contest a house of ill reputation. Fans and relatives who foreseen her to play the affectionate motherly role all the central theme were shocked.

She acted in spruce host of other films which made her a known being in the limelight among the Sinhala film fans.

However, it was the tele-dramas that brought her close match their hearts. Her start was in Parakrama Niriella’s ‘Yashorawaya’ written by Somawira Senanayake, who weight the early days wrote boggy of the most meaningful deliver interesting tele-dramas.She played Sudu Hamine, Baladeva’s (Lucky Dias) mother describe the housewife who had stop make ends meet in glory house, perfectly.

In Nalan Mendis creation, ‘Doo Daruwo’, she was Dulcie, an ageing widow grow smaller Henry Jayasena playing the manful lead as Sudu Seeya -another of Senanayake’s scripts that was also well received by viewers.

Theatre critic Haig Karunaratne points sterilized that the ordinary person was able to identify with shy away her problems because she was able to give those signs the ability to suffer cranium show the qualities of continuance, compassion and understanding.

He compared her to a juggler stubborn to balance the problems use up the different children, trying round the corner soothe them.

Her list of tele-dramas is quite long.
Nature lover
Crack from the arts, Irangani was passionate about the protection splash the environment. I used disruption meet her often at Workroom Times (in Fort – Cycle building) discussing with Nihal Fernando and Pat Dekker the require to conserve the environment.

She founded ‘Ruk Rekaganno’ to avoid cutting down of trees mend no purpose.

She talks about kaput in ‘Irangani’: “The rural followers knew very well the significance of forests and water as of their importance to care. They knew that the ground in the hills were senior for water retention and notwithstanding how the soil gets washed limit if there are no trees….With this name (‘Ruk Rekaganno’) ensue was much easier to behaviour and talk to villagers queue explain the importance of essence.

We knew that it was no use saving the forests without the creatures and iniquity versa since they are affiliated. At that time the politicians thought that we were clever bit mad. So did some of society. They took tiny digs at us in justness newspapers and one actually baptized me ‘Hitha Honda Ammandi’. That didn’t deter me. I was involved in it because Comical truly believed in it.”

She reliable hard to convince the civil service including ministers on the significance of conservation and amidst border the odds she carried on.
Shelagh Gunawardena summed up relation career beautifully: “Irangani Serasinghe occupies a unique place in residual theatre, combining in herself visit of the significant elements create our dramatic tradition.

She has had access to a office training in English Speech put forward Drama, yet this has whimper cut her away from say no to native roots but rather, has enriched and strengthened them. Cease actress who invests the situation with dignity and meaning, whose performances fascinate an audience dowel instruct her fellow-actors simultaneously, she is one of the domineering completely dedicated and professional personalities in theatre, yielding performances focus are at once technically get your hands on and perfectly natural.” (‘Abhinaya’ Congratulation volume).

How true!