Life is a kind of struggle, not only for social and physical needs such as hunger, thirst, social status, power, dignity, life achievements, money, and goods, but also for making decisions. Struggles exert their influence on us, pressuring us to make choices aligned with our preferences. However, many of these struggles manifest as inner conflicts, not necessarily observable in human behavior. Cultures, societies, beliefs, values, human experiences, and knowledge create boundaries or conditions for these inner struggles. Ultimately, reactions and behaviors are the outcomes of these internal battles. If someone can control or manage these inner struggles, they can become well-behaved individuals meeting society’s expectations. Everything depends on the ability to endure and manage our feelings and drives that arise from inner struggles.
The recently staged play ‘Illusion Net,’ produced by Kapila Gamini Jayasinghe, reflects the discourse above, illustrating how inner mind struggles impact human behavior. Nirodha Ranasinghe, a professionally well-known individual living alone after his divorce, faces two toxic relationships due to his current unstable situation. The play highlights some prominent features stemming from his inner struggles with loneliness, offering valuable insights.
The story begins with a scene of Nirodha engaging in a thoughtful conversation with his inner self. He attempts to manage and heal the pain from his divorce with his ex-wife, reflecting on his past at university where his relationship had flourished. He shares these thoughts not for others but for himself, alone in a calm place. His inner mind knows everything about him that he tries to hide from others. Singing his own song becomes a healing method, a form of communication with himself that helps him balance his mentality and overcome loneliness. Though this typically occurs without awareness, the story adeptly captures this emotional exchange in the artistic work.
The play employs two roles representing one person to depict the inner struggle of a human. Both roles aspire to be the best choice or advisor for Nirodha, creating a struggle between them to suppress the other.
Despite the story presenting two roles to showcase Nirodha’s inner struggle, only one character is physically visible. The hidden character, always concealed by Nirodha with extra effort, can be considered the ego according to Sigmund Freud’s theory. The id is the innermost part of the mind filled with drives and inhumane personalities, while the ego is the outer layer that controls the id through cultural values, beliefs, and expectations, shaping a cultured human. Nirodha’s introverted nature post-divorce leads to an addiction to intra-communication, causing his inner conversations to inadvertently surface when dealing with society.
Driven by Nirodha’s needs, the id makes him impatient to start another relationship. Inner struggles arise as he seeks someone to share his psychological needs, including feelings, ideas, love, care, and preferences. Additionally, he aims to fill the void left by his divorce, making him feel unfulfilled despite having everything. Desperate to fulfil his feelings, he changes his mind to find a new relationship, but this quest leads to more problems. The narrative sheds light on societal biases against divorced individuals seeking remarriage, challenging the idea that someone who has been married and divorced is unsuitable for a new partner. The story questions this notion, suggesting that a divorced person can have a successful second marriage and challenging those who view post-divorce remarriage as taboo.
People do everything for their prosperity. No one hopes to live or spend their life feeling unfulfilled. When someone has voids in their lives, it becomes a source of stress. That’s why people strive to overcome these voids, doing everything in their power. Falling in love is no exception; it should be without any voids. If someone encounters a setback or has to end a relationship abruptly, it can lead to an unimaginable breakdown. In such situations, the actions of an individual cannot be easily justified by any legal authority. The drama conveys these ideas to justify Nirodha’s character, even though he ends up getting arrested. The story unveils Nirodha with sympathy, delving deep into his character. Ultimately, it illustrates how much pain the voids left in life can bring to a person and how these voids can alter a person’s destiny.
Furthermore, the music used in the drama is emotive and heart-touching. The theatrical concept of using a minimum number of props to express more, as introduced by Pulitzer Prize-winning American dramatist Thornton Wilder, is employed in ‘Illusion Net’. At times, serious societal matters are softened with humor, though it doesn’t appear to be a significant flaw considering the overall plot. The most crucial aspect is the concept used to unveil the functionality of the human mind parallel to the incidents in life—a cross-section of the human mind showing how the voids in life can change a person’s destiny. This concept provides strong evidence to justify Nirodha’s role against social norms, echoing the words of Charles R. Swindoll, “Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it.”
Binu Dilara Gamage