Interaction between Kathakali and theatre
K. K. GOPALAKRISHNAN
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A three-day workshop on Kathakali and theatre was inspiring and educative.
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As part of its one-year-long Silver Jubilee celebrations, Rangachetana, a Thrissur-based theatre group, conducted a three-day workshop on Kathakali and theatre. It delved into the possibilities of obtaining inspiration from the rich tradition of Kathakali and its stylised theatrics. The workshop was in collaboration with Janabheri Kathakali Sangham, Shoranur.
Veteran teacher and former Principal of Kerala Kalamandalam, Kalamandalam Padmanabhan Nair, who inaugurated the workshop, emphasised the coordination and uniformity of all the mudras (hand gestures) used in the different styles of Kathakali for the betterment of the art form. Explaining the intricacies and importance of the basic training methodology of Kathakali , he discussed the rationale behind various exercises used for training artistes.
About 35 people, most of them theatre activists or Kathakali aficionados, participated in the workshop.
Kottakkal Nandakumar conducted lecture-demonstrations, assisted by Kalamandalam Abhimanyu. Levels of communication through hand gestures, transformation of a word into a mudra and the relevance of body movements, including facial expressions, was discussed and debated.
The aesthetics of `ilakiyattam' and `pakarnattam' and the look of different characters were some of the other topics that were examined.
Delivering one of the keynote speeches of the workshop, Natyashastra scholar C.P. Unnikrishnan, who is a trained Kathakali performer, stressed on the necessity of theatre actors undergoing some basic training in Kathakali acting. "The body language of Kathakali could provide them a scientific base to improvise kinetics," he said. His class on the `appearance and characters' was well structured.
Vayala Vasudevan Pillai also spoke on the occasion. Kalamandalam Balaraman (chenda), Iswara Warrier (maddalam), Sukumaran and Mohanakrishnan (vocalists) were among those who participated in the workshop as resource persons.
The workshop concluded with the staging of an episode from Nalacharitam, Randamdivasam, that deals with the interaction between the Kattalan (forest-dweller) and Damayanthi.
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