Asian Theater

• Live performance, featuring actors or puppets, native to Asia, a continent with more than 2 billion people of many nations and cultures. Asian theater typically combines storytelling, dance, music, and mime and incorporates masks, makeup, scenery, costumes, props, and scripts. In contrast to theater in the West, the focus of Asian theater is generally on performance rather than on a specific text.

• Asian theater is not a unified entity. Differences among Asian countries in language, culture, history, economics, politics, and religion have resulted in several hundred distinct theater genres, not all of which have been studied or catalogued. As elsewhere in the world, theater may function as entertainment; as confirmation of cultural or social unity; as religious, political, or ethical education; or as a combination of these.

• The major source of evidence about the Sanskrit theatre is a compendium «Treatise on Theatre», which is the most complete work of dramaturgy in the ancient world.

• It includes acting, dance, music, dramatic construction, costuming, make-up, props, the audience.

• Sanskrit theatre was performed on sacred ground by priests who practiced the necessary skills of dance, music and recitation. Its aim was not only to entertain, but also to educate.

• The performers possessed the vocal and physical techniques. It is important to notice that there were no prohibitions concerning the female performers. The troops were divided into all-male, all-female, and of mixed gender. However some sentiments were considered inappropriate for men to enact, they were usually played by women.

• Traditional Indian theater was performed in a narrative manner with elements of reciting, singing and dancing that played a crucial role in it.

• Nowadays there are many forms of theatre prevalent in India.

• As India consists of many ethnic groups each of them developed their own kind of traditional folk theatre, using the regional language for communication. 

• The main protagonists of the performance are the narrator and a comedian. Loud music, dance, elaborate make-up, masks and chorus singing are the main attributes of Indian folk theatre.

• Ramlila is an important form of folk theatre in India, based on the mythological storyline of a battle between Lord Rama and Demon Ravana. Ramlila get-up takes place once a year and usually lasts for 10-12 days.

• Puppetry as a very popular form of theatre in India. It is very ancient and apart from entertainment, it also assumes instructive messages directed towards the spectators.

• The early puppet shows staged in India were mostly based on stories of famous Indian kings and heroes. Sometimes there was performed satire on the social and political agenda.

• Modern theatre developed in India during the period of colonial rule under the British Empire. During the British rule theatre was an entertainment only for the art connoisseurs of the upper class.

• However it changed after independence in 1947 as theatre became open for common people too, becoming one of the means of entertainment. 

• The performance is mainly held in English, Hindi and Hinglish (a mix of Hindi and English dialogues) plays. Nowadays English plays based on Shakespeare and other famous foreign authors are being staged.