Dharmasiri Bandaranayake

Dharmasiri Bandaranayake is an award winning Sri Lankan dramatist and film director. As an acclaimed dramatist, his plays the best that Sri Lankan theatre has seen. Eka-Adhipathi (The Dictator), Makarakshaya (The Dragon), Dhawala Bheeshana (Men without Shadows),Yakshagamanaya (The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui), and Trojan Kanthawo (Trojan Women) have all dealt with current issues of national and political importance. He is an artist who attempts to connect the socio-political environment with the civil society through art.

As a film director, Bandaranayake’s debut film, Hansa Vilak (Swan Lake) in 1980 dealt with facets of a society at odds with itself. His other films like Thunweni Yamaya (Third part of the night – 1983),Suddilage Kathawa (Woman in a whirlpool – 1984), Bavaduka and Bawakarma (The sorrow of existence part 1 & 2 – 1997) followed similar themes. Mr. Bandaranayake is the founder and the chief executive officer of the TrikonE Cultural Foundation. 

1994 production of Yakshagamanaya

Yakshagamanaya was first produced in year 1994 by Mr. Dharmasiri Bandaranayake. The translation was done by Mr. Sunil Wijesiriwardene, a well known theatre director and scholar in Sri Lanka. The production received a huge acknowledgment from both the public and theatre critics and was staged 87 times in various parts of the country. The play participated in the State Drama Festival 1994 and won 10 awards including best director of the year and the best production of the year.

Re-production of this play started in November 2011 and will be staged in year 2012. Mr. Bandaranayake expects to experiment in new theatrical aspects and use physical theatre to bring out the theme of the play.