Maya Tangeberg Grischin June 8, 2011 My first experience with Kathakali was in Stockholm in 1974. I was then a angry young theatre director and performer of physical theatre, rejecting the European psychologiical, “realist” theatre conditioned by Rotowski and Barba! I considered Kathakali as highly energic, techniical, exotic and even mystic. I got very impressed…
Ethiravan Kathiravan June 5, 2011 There is no other theater form which imposes a world of illusion the way Kathakali does. Grandeur unparalleled, befittingly non-worldly, stylization ultimate, drama evocative and magically surrealistic, Kathakali is the wonder of theater. Often designated as total theater, Kathakali offers more than theatrics. It encompasses artistry of painting and metafiction…
Mohanan Nambiarath September 3, 2011 ‘King Oedipus’ is a Katnakai adaption of the play by the same name, written by Scphocles. Sophocies was a dramatist and play writer who lived in 4th century B.C. in ancient Greece. He has written several plays. of which 4 of them are about the Trojan war. Besides these. he…
Keleeravam news July 8, 2012 Padmashree Keezhpadam Kumaran Nair, an outstanding Kathakali actor and a highly respected master of the art form was a rare and distinct personality in the domain of Kathakali. Be it among his peer group or the modern day Kathakali actors, Keezhpadam is a stalwart in Kathakali, who possesses a fine…
Prof.(Rtd.) C.P. Unnikrishnan July 28, 2012 The few lines I write are just few reflections and my personal feelings and thoughts about a great Kathakali vesham artist ie. Kumarnaasaan; and is just an exposition of my aesthetic sensibility of which there is no claim of any standard. Incidentally, Kumaranaasaan happens to be one of my…
Sreevalsan Thiyyadi August 13, 2012 The consistent recurrence of the tragedy has tormented the Brahmin beyond consolation. Every time his wife delivered, the child would be stillborn. This was the ninth time he was appearing with the dead infant at Krishna’s durbar for relief. And the famously kind lord was yet again apathetic. The attitude…
Sreevalsan Thiyyadi January 4, 2013 In an art form that has basically banked on Hindu mythology for themes and aristocratic Brahmins for patronage, the rise of a Muslim musician in the second half of the 20th century naturally evoked curiosity within Kathakali circles — even among those outside the circuit. Kalamandalam Hyderali’s native Kerala had,…
Sreevalsan Thiyyadi August 30, 2013 Three centuries after he penned the lengthy classic, the complete text of Unnayi Warrier’s popular Nalacharitam is poised to be staged abroad for the first time in the history of Kathakali. Equally interestingly, the project has sprouted in the iconic poet’s very birthplace in central Kerala. Recently, a group of some…
Sreevalsan Thiyyadi August 30, 2013 At 85, Cherthala Thankappa Panickar is among the oldest of Kathakali vocalists and a rare exponent of both schools of the art form. His wrinkled face sports a naughty smile when Cherthala Thankappa Panickar narrates that interesting episode which happened not far from his native place six-and-a-half decades ago. As a…
Sreevalsan Thiyyadi December 28, 2013 Kalamandalam Vasu Pisharody’s surely successful but possibly unintentional bid to bind certain techniques and aesthetics of Koodiyattam with Kathakali merits massive research For many who have been exposed to Koodiyattam and Kathakali in what little or sufficient doses, one essential point of distinction between the two art-forms is their use…