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MALAYALAM

THEATRE ARTS in Kerala have always had their devoted audience, in spite of the threat from cinema and television. This study on performing arts, a detailed and encyclopaedic analysis, clears the usual doubts of a layman interested in theatre. Eighteen articles, divided into three segments, deal with every aspect of acting and the performing arts. The first part deals with the concept of theatre, dance, and the theatre-language. The ups and downs of Malayalam drama, epic theatre and drama festivals are examined in the second section. The third part handles dance forms such as Kathakali, Mohiniattam, Thiruvathirakkali and Sarppam thullal. The author studies in depth inter alia, the literary and the performing texts, presentational and representational acting, and aesthetic experience. He also examines the various aspects of the proscenium, arena, folk, epic and dialectical theatres, and of course, the thrust and environmental stages. The book does scrutinise the fourth wall concept, ‘physicalisation’, identification, and stylisation (which is important in classical theatre). It also endeavours to give an orientation to the future of performing arts in Kerala. RajaVarier’s study, a comprehensive treatment on performing theatre, should be accessible to a wide range of readers, novice and specialist alike.

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