Early life De Silva was born on 13 January 1857 in
Kotte. He worked as a teacher and a lawyer before entering theater. His first drama
Parabhava Natakaya was a satire on the
upper class.
Playwright De Silva was influenced by the work of C. Don Bastian (1852-1921), the creator of the ‘Nurthi’, who was also the editor of the first daily Sinhala news paper. De Silva wrote and produced several
historical and
religious plays drawing from nurti and nadagam traditions. These include
Siri Sangabo (1903),
Sri Vickrama Rajasingha (1906),
Devanampiya Tissa (1914),
Vihara Maha Devi (1916) and
Dutugemunu. He also scripted
Ramayana,
Sakuntala,
Vessanatara,
Uttara Ramacharitaya,
Ratnavali and
Nagananda. A
commemorative stamp was also issued on January 31, 1987. ==References==