A Study of the Potentiality in the Usage of Docudrama for Development Communication in Sri Lanka

Abstract

A Docudrama is a type of drama that combines elements of documentary and drama. Docu-drama, drama- documentary, drama-doc or docu- fiction are some other names in introducing this Genre. It may entirely consist actors performing recreations of documented events, or may combine that with contemporaneous footage of the events themselves. Docudrama enriched with development communication characteristics such as a basic message, Literacy, Health, Social Change, Persuasion, A wareness .... etc. This Genre has the potential to change human attitudes and behavior with a message through the dramatic structure. Some docudramas in Sri Lanka in the resent past achieved this goal. Each of them target a special development message, either Health or Social modernization. Docudrama Message Producer Allalaga Walauwa Leprosy Dharmasena Pathiraja Maya Mandira Phobia Dharmasena Pathiraja Wannihamilage Kathandaraya social change Dharmasena Pathiraja Dolosmahe Gangawa social change Thissa Abesekara Iduru Dora AIDS Wasantha Obesekara Charulatha Epilepsy Wijayal_)ha_l21lashree Docudrama could be used for development programmes with a great deal of productivity yet the problem faced by Sri Lanka is that the usage of docudrama for this purpose at present is at its lowest. Though we can see some productions, those have not been used effectively for the purpose of development communication. Our major intention is to provide a thorough background by introducing the potential in this genre for the development sector in both Government and private sectors.