The Role of Traditional Communication in Sri Lankan Folk Theatre: A Cultural Perspective.

In pre-mass-media Sri Lanka, traditional performance served as a vital communal technology rather than mere recreational spectacle. This study investigates the mechanisms of indigenous communication in Sri Lanka across three theatrical lineages: Kolam, Sokari, and Nadagam. Employing primary field observations alongside secondary scholarly literature, the research examines how these traditions organized communal life, mediated societal tensions, and preserved intangible cultural heritage. Findings reveal that each genre engaged audiences through distinct communicative registers tailored to non-literate rural contexts. In southwestern coastal villages, ‘Kolam’ utilized the visual semiotics of carved ‘kaduru’ wood masks and satirical caricature to establish a sanctioned space for anti-feudal dissent, subverting oppressive colonial and local hierarchies through communal laughter. In the central highlands, ‘Sokari’ functioned as a participatory, post-harvest agrarian forum; staged on the threshing floor ‘kamatha’, it integrated fertility rituals, rustic verse, and domestic farce to process communal anxieties and reinforce agricultural solidarity. Meanwhile,‘Nadagam’ marked a structural evolution into secular, operatic theatre. Guided by the central narrator ‘Pothe Gura’, it combined stylized movement, rhythmic drumming, and sung verse to translate complex historical and moral narratives into accessible public discourse, ultimately providing the structural foundation for modern postcolonial drama. Rather than operating as passive relics, these multi-sensory, dialogic media actively dissolved the boundary between performer and spectator to maintain social equilibrium. Preserving these theatrical forms as living practices remains crucial for decolonized cultural education and safeguarding the participatory communicative frameworks central to Sri Lanka’s cultural consciousness.

Kolam, Nadagam, Sokari, Sri Lankan folk theatre, Traditional communication

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