Abstract:
Tamil dramaturgy gets very little attention in Sri Lanka. One example of this is the fact
that it is not included in University curricula. But more attention should be paid to this
genre as being part of Sri Lankan dramaturgy. This dramaturgy is referred to as “wadamodi
kuththu” in Tamil and is performed on the traditional stories familiar in Tamil
literature such as the “Ramayanaya” and the “Mahabarathaya” and also about saints in
Catholic stories. Wadamodi kuththu was performed for centuries in Sri Lanka’s north
and eastern provinces, in districts such as Batticaloa, Ampara, Trincomalee, Mullaitivu,
Vavuniya, Jaffna, and Mannar. From this we can see a curiosity among rural people in
the performance of “wadamodi kuththu”. Generally, kuththu drama was developed
close to Hindu kovils. This dramaturgy impacted heavily on the caste system. Jaffna
upper class/caste people’s reject “wadamodi kuththu . But Batticaloa high and low caste
people liked “wadamodi”. It too originated near Hindu temples. But we can identify a
difference here. Jaffna Brahmin caste priests did not patronize wadamodi kuththu. But
non brahmin priest and the ordinary priests patronize kuththu. High class people did
not come to see “Natta kuththu”. However, high caste ladies and provincial women had
a different auditorium. When selecting the stories for performance in “wadamodi dramas”
has many differences as rural and non-rural. Special attention here is on “Tamil
wadamodi drama because its growth and expansion in Sri Lanka is according to the
caste system and to capitalist development. I think “wadamodi dramaturgy” should be
included in university drama curriculum. If serious attention is not paid to this, Tamil
dramaturgy in Sri Lanka will die out (chandrasekaram, 2005).
