Browsing by Author "Karunaharan, N."

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From Lament to Drama- Analysis of “The Laments on Ariyathi Wife of Vellappanikan”
(Centre for Asian Studies, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2016) Karunaharan, N.
It is believed that ‘The lament on Ariyaathai wife of Vellppnikan’ was composed during the Dutch period in the Vanni region. There is evidence to prove this. This story is based on the sufferings faced by the inhabitants of Vanni due to the tributes paid to the Dutch by Vanni chieftains. The hierarchical relationship among Dutch, Vanni chieftains and the inhabitants of Vanni mostly affected the inhabitants. This story is about one of the victims of the inhabitants during the colonial period. Vellappanikan belongs to the Pannikar caste. They had the skill of taming the elephants. One wife of Vellappanikan; Ariyaaththai was appointed to catch a tusker by the Chieftains. Then Ariyaathai went to the dark forest and used her psychic power and the tusker fell down. At the very end, Ariyaththai and the tusker died. It is an exceptional text that Vellappanikan – husband of Ariyaathai lamented for his wife Ariyaaththai. Earlier this story was composed in the elegiac form; written on the palm leaf. Then later lament was altered and edited in the various socio-cultural context and also it was composed in Koothu and other genres of theater forms. This research analyses and compares the different versions of this story. The structural method will be used to understand the changes in detail. The historical background, the lament – voice of the weak, reflecting the histories, politics of the story of Ariyaathai will be analyzed. It is one of the rare portrayals of woman characters with psychological depth. In this lament the trauma of the inhabitants is recorded and also later this story was used for socio-cultural politics of the Vanni region.
Text, Space and Visuals of the Tamil Historical Play Productions in Sri Lanka
(University of Kelaniya, 2012) Karunaharan, N.
This study concentrates on theater visuals of the Tamil historical play productions, of the colonial period in Sri Lanka. The Sri Lankan Tamils have a long tradition of theatre performances in a variety of genres and styles. There are more than sixty historical Tamil dramatic texts; published and unpublished texts are available. The theatre visuals played an eminent role and its scenography creates a space for effective communication in the productions of the historical plays. The texts and music also functioned to create the ‘physicality’ of the performances. The descriptive passages of the texts, the verses composed in different meters and the composition of ragas for appropriate moods also contributes towards visualization of the plays. The performance was basically composed of two different types of architectural designs of theatre spaces; arena and proscenium stages. Even though it seems to be different spaces, the utilization of the spaces is the same in the productions. Unlike the European proscenium arch, suggestive and symbolic theatre visuals were used for the performances. This paper analyzes how the stock scene, set and costume composed for the performances contribute to effective communication. Since the historical plays were not produced in period style, how the audiences got involved in the productions and the possibilities to create a‘fictional world’ through scenography of the productions is also examined. The photographs and the video clips of the theatre visuals are selected by a sampling method. The contemporary use of sceniography; the term moves away from design as decoration of the stage and locates scenography as an integral component of theatre performance or as mode of performance itself. In this study the historical theatre visuals will be understood in such ways to lead to create effective ways of visual compositions in the theatre productions in future.