New Dragon - අලුත් මකරා

By: Bhagya Senaratne 

“What is drama but life with the dull bits cut out.”
Alfred Hitchcock

Makaraakshaya (The Dragon), a highly anticipated theatre production was restaged after a lapse of 25 years! Staged recently to a full house at the Lionel Wendt, I, for one, certainly forgot where I was during the entirety of the play.

Recommended by a friend to watch this, I was eager to see what the hype was all about! My enthusiasm was well worth it!

The story is woven around Elisa, an ordinary girl who is soon to be taken away as a bride by the city’s guardian, The Dragon. She is the ‘chosen one’ for the year, The Dragon’s choice, merely because of her beauty. She reluctantly accepts her plight and tries to prepare herself mentally for the unforgettable day. It’s a public secret that, once chosen, a girl will never return. A handsome young worrier, Lancelot, without the shinning armour, walks in to this city. He sees the depression amongst a certain section in society. He wants to help change the plight of young Elisa. The story then moves on to depict the means deployed by Lancelot in his efforts.

What intrigued me most about this play is its relevance to the present times. Besides depicting the plight of a young girl, this play also draws on a number of other important issues. One such is the corruption in governance. This is an issue that is seen in many countries around the world, and an issue that is been pressed to remedy, calling for transparency in governance. Another, is simply power. How this tool is utilised by the one who has access to it, to get their work done and mostly to achieve their selfish goals.

There are certain similarities and also many differences to be seen in this second production that can be mentioned. Dharmasiri Bandaranayake himself is seen acting Lancelot, just like he did, so many years prior to this. Whilst the character of Elisa is played by Yashoda Wimaladarma, in this time’s staging.

I found a note Bandaranayake has written way back in 1985, for the first production of this drama interesting. In this note, he stated that he is staging this drama due to the disgust and sympathy he felt thereafter, towards the people of society in seeing them turning a blind eye to injustice, whilst knowing the truth.

What was most interesting for me, to have observed is that that issues that were relevant to a certain era are over time, relevant to another place and time in history. The issues discussed in this play and the portrayals of character, I feel, are universal.

Directed by Dharmasiri Bandaranayake for the second time, Makaraakshaya known as The Dragon in English is a play written by Soviet playwright Yevgeny Shvarts.