The Plays of Girish Karnad and Tradition

Though the book explores ‘Girish Karnad and tradition of theatre in India and world over’ yet it examines the nature of human relationship in his plays. Because from his first play Yoyati to The fire and the rain, he continuously explores, examines and analyses the shifting paradigm of human relationship. Myth, folkore, classical tradition and other tools help him in exploration of the unintelligibility of human relationship. First three chapters explores the stream of tradition of theatre in India and world over and try to recognize Karnad’s location in that stream. Tradition is relocated, redefined and reshaped by an emerging Author, this fact is also taken in cognizance. Later chapters analyze his plays individually and try to ‘locate’ them in tradition through comparisons and contrasts. The tradition of theatre from Shakespeare towards is in continuous dynamics of change yet something continues.