Kutiyattam: The Heritage Theatre of India

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Kutiyattam: The Heritage Theatre of India, is the first major book on this vibrant theatre tradition that existed in India from the times of the Natya Sastra. It traces the history and evolution of Kutiyattam through different ages, its aesthetics and theatre grammar as well as the challenges in its transmission to a new generation of artists and viewers. Kutiyattam is widely acknowledged as the only living link to India’s ancient theatrical tradition. While its origins are hazy, it is said to have an unbroken history of around two thousand years, combining old Sankrit theatre with the regional forms of Kerala. It has its own distinctive theatrical conventions and improvisations, with highly sophisticated facial expressions and a fluent vocabulary of gestures. Kutiyattam elaborates action by extending the performance score to heights of imaginative fancy. Ever since it ventured outside Kerala’s temple-theatres in the 1950s, it has been appreciated by a wider circle of connoisseurs, and challenged by shifting systems of patronage. 
This book discusses the theory and practice of the art form and aims to introduce Kutiyattam to a larger readership. It includes the translation of the performance manual of ‘Asokavanikanakam’, from Saktibhadra’s play Ascharyachudamani, as an illustrative example.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Sudha Gopalakrishnan

Dr, Sudha Gopalakrishnan (b. 1954), a Ph.D from the University of Kerala, has worked extensively in the areas of comparative drama, classical Indian theatre, and Indian and English literature. She is also a trained dancer in Kathakali. dr. Gopalakrishnan is currently working in Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts as Project Officer, Encyclopaedia of the Arts. Earlier she was in Sahitya Akademi as Assistant Editor, Encyclopaedia of Indian Literature.

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Bibliographic information

Title
Kutiyattam: The Heritage Theatre of India
Author
Edition
1st ed.
Publisher
ISBN
9788189738822
Length
196p., Col. Illustrations; Glossary; Bibliography; Index; 31cm.
Subjects