Natya sastra

1 . Theatre Of India

The earliest form of the theatre of India was the Sanskrit theatre. It began after the development of Greek and Roman theatre and before the development of theatre in other parts of Asia.
It emerged sometime between the 2nd century BCE and the 1st century CE and flourished between the 1st century CE and the 10th
In an attempt to re-assert indigenous values and ideas, village theatre was encouraged across the subcontinent, developing in a large number of regional languages from the 15th to the 19th centuries.
Modern Indian theatre developed during the period of colonial rule under the British Empire, from the mid-19th century until the mid-20th. In order to resist its use by Indians as an instrument of protest against colonial rule, the British Government imposed the Dramatic Performances Act in 1876.
After Indian independence in 1947, theatres spread throughout India as one of the means of entertainment.
Sanskrit Drama
The earliest-surviving fragments of Sanskrit drama date from the 1st century CE.
The Mahābhāṣya by Patañjali contains the earliest reference to what may have been the seeds of Sanskrit drama.
The major source of evidence for Sanskrit theatre is A Treatise on Theatre (Nātyaśāstra), a compendium whose date of composition is uncertain (estimates range from 200 BCE to 200 CE) and whose authorship is attributed to Bharata Muni.
The Treatise is the most complete work of dramaturgy in the ancient world. It addresses acting, dance, music, dramatic construction, architecture, costuming, make-up, props, the organisation of companies, the audience, competitions, and offers a mythological account of the origin of theatre.In doing so, it provides indications about the nature of actual theatrical practices. Sanskrit theatre was performed on sacred ground by priests who had been trained in the necessary skills (dance, music, and recitation) in a [hereditary process]. Its aim was both to educate and to entertain.
Under the patronage of royal courts, performers belonged to professional companies that were directed by a stage manager (sutradhara), who may also have acted.
This task was thought of as being analogous to that of a puppeteer—the literal meaning of "sutradhara" is "holder of the strings or threads". The performers were trained rigorously in vocal and physical technique. There were no prohibitions against female performers; companies were all-male, all-female, and of mixed gender.
Of all the elements of theatre, the Treatise gives most attention to acting (abhinaya), which consists of two styles: realistic (lokadharmi) and conventional (natyadharmi),
Its drama is regarded as the highest achievement of Sanskrit literature.It utilised stock characters, such as the hero (nayaka), heroine (nayika), or clown (vidusaka).
Kālidāsa in the 1st century BCE, is arguably considered to be ancient India's greatest Sanskrit dramatist. Three famous romantic plays written by Kālidāsa are the Mālavikāgnimitram (Mālavikā and Agnimitra), Vikramuurvashiiya (Pertaining to Vikrama and Urvashi), and Abhijñānaśākuntala (The Recognition of Shakuntala). The last was inspired by a story in the Mahabharata and is the most famous. It was the first to be translated into English and German. Śakuntalā (in English translation) influenced Goethe's Faust (1808–1832).
Theatre in India under British
Under British colonial rule, modern Indian theatre began when a theatre was started in Belgachia.
Rabindranath Tagore was a pioneering modern playwright who wrote plays noted for their exploration and questioning of nationalism, identity, spiritualism and material greed.
His plays are written in Bengali and include Chitra (Chitrangada, 1892), The King of the Dark Chamber (Raja, 1910), The Post Office (Dakghar, 1913), and Red Oleander (Raktakarabi, 1924).
Indian theatre after Independence (1947-1992)
Improvisation : Improvisational theatre (also known as improv or impro) is a form of theatre in which the actors use improvisational acting techniques to perform spontaneously. Improvisers typically use audience suggestions to guide the performance as they create dialogue, setting, and plot extemporaneously.
Improvisational Theatre in India is largely used for educational, interventional and entertainment purposes. The traces of Improvisational theatre in India dates back to the 1990s with the advent of Forum theatre with Janasanskriti under the leadership of Sanjoy Ganguly. After that in 1999, a team from the US with Bev Hoskins and Mary Good introduced Playback theatre to India. Thus Playback theatre and Forum theatre began to take its shape in the remotest parts of India
Yours Truly Theatre, a Bangalore-based group, developed "complete the story", an indigenous format of improvisational theatre developed under the leadership of Ranji David and Nandini Rao in 2006. In 2009, they also developed another form of improvisational theatre called "mushyara theatre".
In late 1960's Badal Sircar introduced a new form of political theatre called the Third Theatre. Badal Sarkar's anti-establishment experimental theatre created a new genre of social enlightenment.He formed his first Third Theatre Group satabdi,in the year 1967.They used to perform Drama written by Badal Sircar in Anganmancha(Theatre in the Couryard)in the Third Theatre form that break away from the tradition of One point view of the Procesnium and urged on the taking theatre to the people.
2. Natya Sastra
The Natya Shastra is an ancient Indian treatise on the performing arts, encompassing theatre, dance and music. It was written during the period between 200 BCE and 200 CE in classical India and is traditionally attributed to the Sage Bharata.
While it primarily deals with stagecraft, it has come to influence music, classical Indian dance, and literature as well. It covers stage design, music, dance, makeup, and virtually every other aspect of stagecraft.
It is very important to the history of Indian classical music because it is the only text which gives such detail about the music and instruments of the period.
Thus, an argument can be made that the Natya Shastra is the foundation of the fine arts in India. The most authoritative commentary on the Natya Shastra is Abhinavabharati by Abhinavagupta.
The text, which now contains 6000 slokas, is attributed to the muni (sage) Bharata and is believed to have been written during the period between 200 BCE and 200 CE.
The Natya Shastra is based upon the much older Gandharva Veda (appendix to Sama Veda) which contained 36000 slokas.
Unfortunately there are no surviving copies of the Natya Veda. Though many scholars believe most slokas were transmitted only through the oral tradition, there are scholars who believe that it may have been written by various authors at different times.
The document is difficult to date and Bharata's historicity has also been doubted, some authors suggesting that it may be the work of several people. However, Kapila Vatsyayan has argued that based on the unity of the text, and the many instances of coherent reference of later chapters from earlier text, the composition is likely that of a single person.
Whether his/her name really was Bharata is open to question near the end of the text we have the verse: "Since he alone is the leader of the performance, taking on many roles, he is called Bharata", indicating that Bharata may be a generic name. It has been suggested that Bharata is an acronym for the three syllables: bha for bhāva (mood), rā for rāga (melodic framework), and ta for tāla (rhythm). However, in traditional usage Bharata has been iconified as muni or sage, and the work is strongly associated with this personage.
Natyashastra remained an important text in the fine arts for many centuries; so much so that it is sometimes referred to as the fifth Veda. Much of the terminology and structure of Indian classical music and Indian classical dance were defined by it. Many commentaries have expanded the scope of the Natya Shastra; most importantly we may include Matanga's Brihaddesi (500–700 CE), Abhinavagupta's Abhinavabharati (which unifies some of the divergent structures that had emerged in the intervening years, and outlines a theory of artistic analysis) and Sharngadeva's Sangita Ratnakara (13th century work that unifies the raga structure in music). The analysis of body forms and movements also influenced sculpture and the other arts in subsequent centuries. The structures of music outlined in the Natya Shastra retain their influence even today, as seen in the seminal work Hindustani Sangeetha Padhathi by Vishnu Narayan Bhatkhande from the early 20th century. The theory of rasa described in the text has also been a major influence on modern Indian cinema especially in the Malayalam Film Industry.
Title and setting
Written in Sanskrit, the text consists of 6,000 sutras, or verse stanzas, incorporated in 36 chapters. Some passages are composed in a prose form.
The title can be loosely translated as A compendium of Theatre or a A Manual of Dramatic Arts.
Nātya, or nāṭaka means Dramatic Arts. In Sanskrit, the term Natya refers to a troika of drama, dance and music.
Bharata says that all this knowledge is due to Brahma. At one point he mentions that he has a hundred "sons" who will spread this knowledge, which suggests that Bharata may have had a number of disciples whom he trained.
Performance art theory
Classical Indian dance: the inheritor of the Natya Shastra
The Natya Shastra ranges widely in scope, from issues of literary construction, to the structure of the stage or mandapa, to a detailed analysis of musical scales and movements (murchhanas), to an analysis of dance forms that considers several categories of body movements, and their impacts on the viewer. It also educates the spectator in observing correct behaviour while watching a performance. It also deals in the theory of Rasa.
Bharata describes 15 types of drama ranging from one to ten acts. The principles for stage design are laid down in some detail. Individual chapters deal with aspects such as makeup, costume, acting, directing, etc. A large section deals with meanings conveyed by the performance (bhavas) get particular emphasis, leading to a broad theory of aesthetics (rasas).
Four kinds of abhinaya (acting, or histrionics) are described – that by body part motions (angika), that by speech (vAchika), that by costumes and makeup (AhArya), and the highest mode, by means of internal emotions, expressed through minute movements of the lips, eyebrows, ear, etc. (sAttvika).
Rasa
The Nātyashāstra delineates a detailed theory of drama comparable to the Poetics of Aristotle. Bharata refers to bhavas, the imitations of emotions that the actors perform, and the rasas (emotional responses) that they inspire in the audience. He argues that there are eight principal rasas: love, pity, anger, disgust, heroism, awe, terror and comedy, and that plays should mix different rasas but be dominated by one.
Each rasa experienced by the audience is associated with a specific bhava portrayed on stage. For example, in order for the audience to experience srngara (the 'erotic' rasa), the playwright, actors and musician work together to portray the bhava called rati (love).
Music
After the Samaveda, which dealt with ritual utterances of the Vedas, the Natyashastra was the first major text that dealt with music at length.
While much of the discussion of music in the Natyashastra focuses on musical instruments, it also emphasizes several theoretical aspects that remained fundamental to Indian music:
Establishment of Shadja as the first, defining note of the scale or grama. The word Shadja means 'giving birth to six', and refers to the fact that once this note (often referred to as "sa" and notated S) is fixed, the placement of other notes in the scale is determined.
Principle of Consonance: Consists of two principles:
The first principle states that there exists a fundamental note in the musical scale which is Avinashi and Avilopi that is, the note is ever-present and unchanging.
The second principle, often treated as law, states that there exists a natural consonance between notes; the best between Shadja and Tar Shadja, the next best between Shadja and Pancham.
The Natyashastra also suggest the notion of musical modes or jatis which are the origin of the notion of the modern melodic structures known as ragas.
Their role in invoking emotions are emphasized; thus compositions emphasizing the notes gandhara or rishabha are said to be related to tragedy (karuna rasa) whereas rishabha is to be emphasized for evoking heroism (vIra rasa). Jatis are elaborated in greater detail in the text Dattilam, composed around the same time as the Natyashastra.
The Natyashastra also suggests several aspects of musical performance, particularly its application to vocal, instrumental and orchestral compositions. It also deals with the rasas and bhavas that may be evoked by music.
List of chapters
Kuncitam, one of the 108 karanas described in Natya Shastra
Origin of drama
Description of the playhouse
Puja (offering) to the Gods of the stage
Description of the karana dance
Preliminaries of a play
Sentiments (rasas)
Emotional and other states
Gestures of Head and parts of face
Gestures of hands
Gestures of torso and limbs
Cari movements
Sanskrit drama tradition Kutiyattam
Different gaits
Zones and local usages
Rules of prosody
Metrical patterns
Diction of a play
Rules on the use of languages
Modes of address and intonation
Ten kinds of play
Limbs of the segments
Styles
Costumes and make-up
Harmonious performance
Dealings with courtesans
Varied performances
Success in dramatic performances
Instrumental music
Stringed instruments
Time measure
Dhruva songs
Covered instruments
Types of character
Distribution of roles
Descent of drama on the Earth