Ernest MacIntyre

Ernest MacIntyre
Born Ernest Thalayasingam MacIntyre
26 Sep 1934
Sri Lanka
Nationality Sri Lankan/Australian
Education Peradeniya University[1]
Alma mater Aquinas University College (as director)
Information
Magnum opus He Still Comes From Jaffna
Rasanayagam's Last Riot
Works with E. F. C. Ludowyk

Ernest Thalayasingam MacIntyre, (a.k.a. Macintyre, Ernest Thalayasingam),[2] (26 Sep 1934 - ) is a Sri Lankan playwright of the English language, who has been active in the Sri Lankan English theatre for the last 50 years.[3]

Contents

Early years

MacIntyre was born in Sri Lanka on the 26 September 1934.[4]

Career

MacIntyre attended Peradeniya University where he was a Dramsoc member.[1] During the 1960s, MacIntyre was hailed as the most prolific and successful of Sri Lankan playwrights in English. He was a member of the performing group 'Stage and Set', which presented established international plays as well as those written by him.[4][5]

MacIntyre is known for his absurd style, although Rasanayagam's Last Riot is written in a realistic mode.[6] His plays were usually performed at the Lionel Wendt theatre in Colombo. During this time there was cross-pollination between the English and Sinhala theatres, primarily due to MacIntyre.

MacIntyre served in the Sri Lankan Air Force from 1961 to 1967, acted as the Director of the drama school at Aquinas University College in 1968 and 1969. From 1969 to 1973, he worked as UNESCO project officer.[1][4]

In 2005, MacIntyre revived E.F.C. Ludowyk's He Comes from Jaffna in a production in Sydney, Australia, updating the script to reflect changes in social values.[3] His version of this play, together with the scripts of Rasanayagam's Last Riot and He Still Comes From Jaffna, was published in the anthology Jaffna and Colombo.[3]

Emigration

MacIntyre's emigration in 1973 brought a lull in creativity in the English theatre in Sri Lanka.

Works

References

  1. ^ a b c d Ekanayake, C.. "An asian comedy". Sunday Observer (Sri Lanka). http://www.sundayobserver.lk/2007/01/28/mag06.asp. 
  2. ^ http://ariel.synergiesprairies.ca/ariel/index.php/ariel/article/viewFile/3010/2955
  3. ^ a b c d e Sriskanthadas, Bhagavadas (2007-05-20). "Jaffna and Colombo". The Nation. http://www.nation.lk/2007/05/20/eyefea4.htm. 
  4. ^ a b c d e "Macintyre, Ernest". The Australia Literature Resource. http://www.austlit.edu.au/run?ex=ShowAgent&agentId=A%23h;. Retrieved 4 October 2010. 
  5. ^ Chandrarathne, Ranga (2008-07-27). "Impressions on the sand of time". Sunday Observer. http://www.sundayobserver.lk/2008/07/27/imp03.asp. 
  6. ^ Marasinghe, Walter (2006-04-02). "Review of Sri Lankan English Literature and the Sri Lankan People 1917-2003". Sunday Observer. http://www.sundayobserver.lk/2006/04/02/fea30.html. 
  7. ^ Migration, Dispossession, Exile, and the Diasporic Consciousness by Nandan, Satendra in Mohanram, Radhika. Shifting continents - colliding cultures. p. 19. ISBN 9042012714. http://books.google.com/books?id=on1uZNcdsScC&pg=PA19&lpg=PA19&dq=Let%27s+Give+Them+Curry&source=bl&ots=U4NjLnTEXp&sig=wP1YAPyDedZ8VLc46psGzrjKOIU&hl=en&ei=hkmuTP2HHsSclgfZjMHnDw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=5&ved=0CCQQ6AEwBA#v=onepage&q=Let%27s%20Give%20Them%20Curry&f=false. 
  8. ^ The Don (1997-06-22). "Where subtlety, stagecraft held sway". Sunday Times. http://www.sundaytimes.lk/970622/plus7.html. 
  9. ^ Dissanayake, Aditha (2007-10-19). "Mirror of a changing nation: Review of An Anthology of Sri Lankan English Literature". Asian Tribune. http://www.asiantribune.com/index.php?q=node/7868. 

External links