Part 2 - Theatre as performing art

A theatre is a collaborative form of performing art. Theatre accumulates a variety of art forms viz., dance, music and acting. Theatre is the work of not one but of many individuals, through several generations, people are incorporating their accumulated experiences, thoughts and ideas in it. The significance of theatre in India can also be understood from the myth about the origin of theatre or nāṭya stated in the Nāṭyaśāstra. Theatre and dramas denote two different aspects. Theatre implies a performance given by one group of persons before an assembled audience.

Drama or play is a literary work written by an author or by several authors in collaboration in a form suitable for stage presentation.^[1] Theatre and drama stand in close to each other but they have their boundaries. Theatre is a complex phenomenon associated with performer-audience transactions. Theatre deals with the production and communication of the meaning of the performance itself and with the systems associated with it. On the other hand, drama is that mode of fiction designed for stage representation and constructed according to particular dramatic conventions.^[2]

Indian theatre achieves its glorious advancement with the compositions of Sanskrit dramas. Noted Sanskrit dramatists like Kālidāsa, Bhavabhūti, Śūdraka, Śrīharṣa enrich the field of classical Indian theatre. These dramas were performed following the cannons prescribed in Bharata’s Nāṭyaśāstra. The Nāṭyaśāstra is considered as an encyclopaedic treatise on the arts which has influenced dance, music and dramatic traditions in India. Besides discussing different art forms, the Nāṭyaśāstra also describes the management of the stage, theatrical techniques required for the performances. The Nāṭyaśāstra mentions two types of theatrical performances viz., nāṭyadharmī and lokadharmī.^[3] Nāṭyadharmī is a stylised model of representation and lokadharmi refers to the traditional Indian performance that deals with the worldly activity of people. A powerful poetic language is a necessity for nāṭyadharmī, whereas; lokadharmī requires naturalistic speech. To an extent, lokadharmī in speech has its place in social plays like prakaraṇa, prahasana and bhāṇa.^[4]

After the obscurity of classical Indian theatre, folk theatre developed in various languages from the 14^th to 19^th centuries. 

Some popular forms of classical Indian theatre are—

1. Jātrā of Bengal, 
2. Nauṭankī, 
3. Rāmlīlā and Rāsalīlā of North India, 
4. Tamāśā of Maharastra and 
5. Terukuṭṭu of Tamilnadu. 

Thematically the folk theatre deals with mythological legends, social and political events. Folk theatre is a rich storehouse of customs, beliefs, legends and rituals.^[5] It is important to note here that in folk theatre, some dramatic devices like stage preliminaries, prayer and characters like Sūtradhāra and Viduṣaka are found. In classical Indian theatre, the elements of wit and humour are applied to highlight the social contradiction, therefore; these are also used in the traditional folk theatre for the same purposes. The role of Sūtradhāra is predominantly applied in temple theatre forms whereas, Viduṣaka occupies the dominant place in the theatre enacted outside the temple especially to deal with the concurrent social issues.^[6]

Theatre is a dynamic art form that could not remain static for centuries. Though drastic changes have been taken place in Indian theatre, yet the basic conventions and modes prescribed in the Nāṭyaśāstra have survived in the forms of folk theatre. In the production and presentation of folk theatre, the change in the methods, usages and conventions of classical theatre is quite evident.^[7]

Modern theatre is a theatre of ‘an understanding’ and ‘awareness’ of social reality. The main objective of contemporary performance is to provide awareness to spectators. For the contemporary performance of Sanskrit play, to relate the performance, the modern director should try to interpret the play in different ways. The director interprets the play by highlighting the important points or the aspects of the textual meaning or by introducing a new meaning into it.^[8]

Footnotes and references:

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[1]:

Allardyce Nicoll, The Theatre and Dramatic Theory, p.11

[2]:

Elan Keir, The Semiotics of Theatre and Drama, p.2

[3]:

Nāṭyaśāstra, IV.25

[4]:

V., Raghvan, Sandskrit Drama: Its Aesthetics and Production, p. 204

[5]:

Balwant Gargi,, Know India Theatre, p.6

[6]:

Kamalesh Datta Tripathi, Sanskrit Theatre, Shri Ram Memorial Lectures VIII, p.17

[7]:

Nemichandra Jain,, Indian Theatre: Tradition, Continuity and Change, p.39

[8]:

Kamalesh Datta Tripathi,, Sanskrit Theatre, Shri Ram Memorial Lectures VIII, p.49