At Peradeniya, he started associating with Professor Ediriweera Sarachchandra and Charles Silva and was involved in theatre work.

This was a success and he was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to study experimental theatre at Yale University, United States.

During this time, he came under the influence of the Method school, the American offshoot of Konstantin Stanislavski's approach to acting and stagecraft.

He then traveled to many countries, including Spain, Japan and Russia, to study various drama styles and methods.

Abandoning the operatic form modelled on Charles Silva and Sarachhandra crystallization of the Nadagam, he branched out on a new line which tried to fuse the inner-directed acting style that he had imbibed in Broadway with the non-naturalistic native tradition.