A study of how the stage dramas depicted the changes taken place in “family” during post war era (By analyzing ten staged dramas from 2010- 2020)

Abstract

Since the inception of dramas, dramatists around the world have used it as a medium of expression and a universal language to illustrate their socio-cultural and political experience in a pleasing manner. In the Post-war circumstances, the experience was so unique that the artist shared many of his experience to heal the society through creating social bonds through scatted life patterns. The hidden or untold discomforts, the disturbed family bonds, new trends in society, were the popular themes. Especially, Due to the devastating experience, the societies have always faced very unforeseen experience, being the victims of unfortunate happenings. In the case of Sri Lanka, after 30 years of destructive war, experienced a similar especially hindering the families as the central component of the society. The present study attempted identifying and examining how the family was represented by the post-war artists, and how they addressed the changes that has taken place in the family and the representation of them in the dramas staged during the post war era. The objective was to propagate how artists of stage drama grasped the societal experience to attract and appeal the audience in very sensitive and sensible manner so that to prepare them to be aware of the needs of the society to repair it to get rid of the post-war scatterings. The study was conducted based on randomly selected post-war dramas directed during decade of 2010-2020 to find out how the social changes had affected the organizational structure of the closely knitted family in Sri Lanka, and to find out how the contemporary dramas represent the significant changes taken place in the post war era. The research was conducted by using the qualitative research methodology. Conclusions were arrived by analyzing the data collected in the qualitative manner and the analysis was done by using the theory of social mobility. At the end of the research it was observed that the dramas can be applied as a clinical therapy to heal the tragically wounded society during the post war era by letting the society feel the post-war discomforts of society and helping out for needy families and societies when and where necessary. The notion of scattered family life due to post-war disturbances can be extended further by stating the fact that contemporary dramatists have identified and accomplished their fair share of the social responsibility during such transitional periods throughout the history. Finally it is apparent that the artists of the era have a great responsibility to pave the way to recover people and build a better society irrespective of the nature of the grave problems faced by the society.