...However, notwithstanding the Indian theatre possessing such a rich tradition, all the present theatre training methodologies practised in India follow the Western theatre practices. The Method Acting, evolved by Stanislavski who had lived during the first half of 20th century is still the most popular acting methodology in India. The techniques based on Natyasastra are limited to the training of the classical dance forms. This has given rise to a popular misconception that the Natyasastra is a system that pertains only to the dance forms. Such a misapprehension in turn arises from the misreading of Natyasastra that it just encompasses a stylised rendering of the four-fold acting methodology comprising of Angika, Vachika, Aharya and Sathwika abhinaya-s. The Indian theatre schools diligently follow all the Western masters of theatre right from Stanislavski to Antonin Artaud and Jerzy Grotowski etc. It was during my own training of Kutiyattam under Guru Ammannur Madhava Chakyar that I started learning to tell apart the major differentiations between Kathakali and Kutiyattam. I had entered Kutiyattam after learning Kathakali for eight years. As I started distinguishing between the dance theatre of Kathakali and the theatrical form of Kutiyattam, I started to contemplate seriously on the notion of what makes up the Indian theatre.
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