Ernest Thalayasingam MacIntyre, Rasanayagam's Last Riot

Neluka Silva (University of Colombo)

Ed. by John Thieme, University of East Anglia
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 10.3.4: Sri Lankan Writing and Culture.
Vol. editors: Claire Gallien (Université Paul Valéry Montpellier 3), Birte Heidemann (Technische Universität Dresden), Pavan Kumar Malreddy (J W Goethe University of Frankfurt), Delphine Munos (Université de Liège)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1990

Places

Sri Lanka (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Play

Resources

Ernest MacIntyre's reputation as Sri Lanka's most prominent playwright can be attributed to the sophisticated craftsmanship and thematic relevance of his plays. Rasanayagam's Last Riot takes place during the middle of the ethnic riots of 1983 in Sri Lanka and two thematic strands are interwoven. Sita, a middle-class Tamil, and her husband Philip Fernando, a Sinhalese, attempt to protect Philip's Tamil friend Rasanayagam from the anti-Tamil violence. After a few days in their house, Rasanayagam decides to go to a refugee camp because he feels that it is important to show his solidarity with the majority of the suffering Tamils. On his way there he encounters a Sinhalese mob and when he refuses to succumb to their intimidation and h…

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2849 words

Citation: Silva, Neluka. "Rasanayagam's Last Riot". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 01 July 2003 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=12386, accessed 22 November 2024.]

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