Gunasena Galappatty (born June 7, 1927, in Dikwella in

Matara, Sri Lanka Matara ( si, මාතර, translit=Māthara, ta, மாத்தறை, translit=Māttaṟai) is a major city in Sri Lanka, on the southern coast of Southern Province. It is the second largest city in Southern Province. It is from Colombo. ...

) was a

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

dramatist A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

, director, producer, and Sinhala radio play writer regarded as the pioneer of suspense drama in Sri Lanka.

Education

Galappatty attended

Dikwella Dikwella, also known as Dickwella and as Dikwella South, is a small coastal market town in the Matara district in Southern province of Sri Lanka. It is located east of the city of Matara. Dikwella is noted for its long sandy beach which is pr ...

Central College and Matara Rahula College. In 1952, he entered

University of Ceylon, Peradeniya The University of Ceylon was the only university in Sri Lanka (earlier Ceylon) from 1942 until 1972. It had several constituent campuses at various locations around Sri Lanka. The University of Ceylon Act No. 1 of 1972, replaced it with the Univ ...

campus, to study for a bachelor's degree in economics. At Peradeniya, he started associating with Professor

Ediriweera Sarachchandra Dr. Veditantirige Eustace Reginold de Silva (later became Veditantirige Ediriweera Ranjitha Sarachchandra) (3 June 1914 – 16 August 1996; Sinhala: මහාචාර්ය එදිරිවීර සරච්චන්ද්‍ර), popularly ...

and Charles Silva and was involved in theatre work. His first production was a

folk drama Folk plays such as Hoodening, Guising, Mummers Play and Soul Caking are generally verse sketches performed in countryside pubs in European countries, private houses or the open air, at set times of the year such as the Winter or Summer solstices ...

''Sandakinduru'' in 1957 in which he blended folk drama with modern Sinhalese music. This was a success and he was awarded a

Fulbright Scholarship The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States Cultural Exchange Programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people of ...

to study experimental theatre at

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

, United States. He was a teacher at Kotte

Ananda Sastralaya ''Appamaththā Namiyanthi''(Buddhist quote from the Apramadha Vagga in the Dhammapada. , established = , type = National , affiliation = Buddhist , principal = Upul Jayarathne , grades ...

in 1955 and next joined for a while the State Language Department as a translator, again continuing as a teacher.

Career

From Yale, he went to

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

in 1959, the first Sri Lankan to work there as well as in

off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...

productions. During this time, he came under the influence of the

Method Method ( grc, μέθοδος, methodos) literally means a pursuit of knowledge, investigation, mode of prosecuting such inquiry, or system. In recent centuries it more often means a prescribed process for completing a task. It may refer to: *Scien ...

school, the American offshoot of

Konstantin Stanislavski Konstantin Sergeyevich Stanislavski ( Alekseyev; russian: Константин Сергеевич Станиславский, p=kənstɐnʲˈtʲin sʲɪrˈgʲejɪvʲɪtɕ stənʲɪˈslafskʲɪj; 7 August 1938) was a seminal Russian Soviet Fe ...

's approach to acting and stagecraft. He worked under two distinguished teachers, Herbert Berghoff and

Uta Hagen Uta Thyra Hagen (12 June 1919 – 14 January 2004) was a German-American actress and theatre practitioner. She originated the role of Martha in the 1962 Broadway premiere of ''Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?'' by Edward Albee, who called her "a p ...

. He acted in and co-produced two Broadway dramas, ''Tea House of the August Moon'' and ''

The Marriage-Go-Round ''The Marriage-Go-Round'' is a 1958 play written by Leslie Stevens. The 1961 film adaptation of the same name, written and produced by Stevens, stars Susan Hayward, James Mason and Julie Newmar, who reprised her role from the play. The play was ...

''. He then traveled to many countries, including Spain, Japan and Russia, to study various drama styles and methods. He admired Spain's

Federico García Lorca Federico del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús García Lorca (5 June 1898 – 19 August 1936), known as Federico García Lorca ( ), was a Spanish poet, playwright, and theatre director. García Lorca achieved international recognition as an emblemat ...

and spent a few weeks experiencing Lorca productions such as ''Yerma''. In Japan, he studied traditional ''

kabuki is a classical form of Japanese dance-drama. Kabuki theatre is known for its heavily-stylised performances, the often-glamorous costumes worn by performers, and for the elaborate make-up worn by some of its performers. Kabuki is thought to ...

'' drama and was involved in a popular production, ''The Father''. Returning to Sri Lanka in 1961, Galappatty resumed his theatre work. Abandoning 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 launched the careers of many talented actors. He was called upon to represent Sri Lanka at United Nations conferences and other international activities.

Produced plays

Screen play

* 1972 ''

Desa Nisa ''Desa Nisa'' (English: ''A Certain Look'') is a 1975 Sri Lankan drama film directed by Lester James Peries. The film stars Joe Abeywickrema as Nirudaka, an ugly man who worries that his blind wife will leave him if she regains her sight. Peries m ...

Radio play

* 1963 ''Kali Yakinna''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Galappaty, Gunasena Alumni of Rahula College 1927 births 1984 deaths Sri Lankan dramatists and playwrights Alumni of the University of Ceylon (Peradeniya) Yale University alumni Sri Lankan radio writers 20th-century dramatists and playwrights