Theater in India. Theatrical art of India Book miniature of India

Katakali (or kathakali)- This is an ancient Indian dance and drama theater in southern India (mainly the state of Kerala), which arose in the 17th century and has survived to this day. I once saw this show on TV and thought - "What kind of nonsense?". But time passed, I grew up, gained experience, flew to Kerala, went to the theater and was surprised - how "it" turned out to be an interesting and funny spectacle!

The real "katakali" lasts for hours and this is ... a heavy and complex art that is difficult for a foreigner to understand, but for an hour and a half for a tourist it’s even nothing for itself, especially if you come early and watch how the actors prepare for the performance ...

Theater roots Toattacked lie in the folk dances and performances performed by Kerala peasants during the long Indian evenings before the advent of cinema, television and Bollywood. At that time, there was no TV, no Internet, and it was necessary to somehow have fun, so they came up with their own theater - Kathakali, which has now become not just art, but also a "national treasure"!

And, if our theater begins with a hanger, then the Indian theater "katakali" begins with a dressing room .... And that's where we will go now

I arrived at the theater an hour and a half before the start of the performance to watch and photograph the process of preparing the actors. Here, in Kerala, the actors do not hide in the dressing rooms, but put on makeup right on the stage, and anyone who comes in advance can watch the process of transforming ordinary people into Kathakali actors.

There are few actors in the theater, and I would even say few. In the performance I saw, there were only four of them, and they all made a "marafet" on the stage, transforming from ordinary people into "demons", "gods" and ordinary people ...

First, everyone paints himself ..... for example, in "Demon" ...

Or into a woman

Or one of the Indian Gods

And just like that, an hour passes... or even two... In a stuffy theatre, with a temperature of over 40 without ventilation.... then bam and - "call"! Like we do in the theatre. Rings and calls the audience into the hall - the performance begins !!! So what ... let's go look)

Plot Katakali, as a rule, scenes from ancient Indian epics like the Mahabharata, Ramayana, etc. For us, "non-locals", these are generally completely incomprehensible stories, but it's interesting to watch! Interesting, because it is not clear! The more sense Katakali- not in the "meaning", but in the "representation".

I shot the performance itself on video, not on a photo. Moreover, it is very dark in the theater and it is extremely difficult to photograph, and it is strictly forbidden to use a flash. I will mount the video soon and will definitely post it, but for now I can only show the main characters of the performance. This is how, for example, the main negative character looked like "Demon".

And so - kind)

And to "resolve" the situation between good and evil descended from heaven Krishna

By and large, it does not matter what kind of story is shown in the theater. Much more interesting is HOW they do it! This is art! Yes, somewhere it's funny, somewhere it's incomprehensible, somewhere it's crazy, somewhere it's stupid... but still you sit and watch... because, damn it, I wonder how it will all end???

And by the way, the real "katakali" is being performed ONLY men who are trained from an early age in special theater schools. And the most important thing in the theater "kathakali" - this is pantomime and sign language , not dances, songs and dialogues. Perhaps that is why you can watch the theater without knowing the language at all, "read" the emotions and gestures of the actors and understand what is being said. You can't even imagine how many emotions these actors can show with just... EYES!!!

Traditionally, "katakali" is performed in a special place on a moonlit (!) night and lasts from dusk to dawn. To withstand this, in my opinion, is almost impossible. Those couple of hours that I was at the performance was more than enough for me. At the same time, all night after the performance, I heard "katakal music" in a dream and raved about the showdown between "Demon" and "Krishna" ....

But anyway, you won't understand it until you see it for yourself... So either go to Kerala and see for yourself, or... wait for my video from India)))
Answering the question of the "top" I unequivocally affirm: Katakali is an art, unique in its kind!

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India has the longest and richest theater tradition in the world, dating back at least 5,000 years. The origin of Indian theater is closely linked to the ancient rituals and seasonal festivals of the country. The Natyashastra (2000 BC - 4th century AD) was the earliest and most complex treatise on drama and dance throughout the world. Traditionally, the Natyashastra states that the Indian theater is of divine origin, and its origins are attributed to the Natyaveda, the sacred book of drama created by Lord Brahma.

The Natyashastra brought together and codified the various traditions of dance, pantomime and drama. Natyashastra describes ten classifications of drama, ranging from one act to ten acts. No book of ancient times in the world contains such an exhaustive study of dramaturgy as the Natya Shastra. It has guided playwrights, directors and actors for thousands of years, for in Bharata Muni the three were inseparable in the creation of the Sanskrit drama Natyaka, whose title comes from the word for dance. In traditional Hindu drama, the content of the play was expressed through music and dance, as well as through action, so any production was essentially a combination of opera, ballet and drama.

According to legend, the very first dance was performed in the sky when the gods, having defeated the demons, decided to celebrate their victory. Hindu theorists since ancient times have staged dance performances of two types: lokadharmi (realistic), in which the dancers on the stage displayed human behavior, and natyadharmi (ordinary), which used stylized gestures and symbols (this type of dance performance was considered more artistic than realistic) .

Theater in India began with a descriptive form, so recitations, singing and dancing became integral elements of the theater. This emphasis on narrative elements led theater in India to embrace all other forms of literature and the visual arts in its physical manifestation: literature, pantomime, music, dance, movement, painting, sculpture and architecture all blended together and began to be called " natya" or "theater".

Back in the Vedic period c. In India, theatrical performances were played out by the sky. At the beginning of our era, the first small theater premises appeared in the country. They did not have scenery, the theater props were extremely poor, they were replaced by other artistic conventions: a certain gait, facial expressions, gesticulation is thin.

Much attention was paid to the musical design of performances. However, unlike modern Indian performances, which, according to European theatergoers, are oversaturated with singing, in ancient Indian monologues and dialogues, the artists recited or chanted, but did not sing. A notable feature of the ancient Indian theater was. His penchant for melodrama and pathos are inherent in the current theatrical art in the country. Tragic plots were not allowed on the stage for the reasons that there is enough tragic in real life.

The theater was extremely popular in. Ancient. India, especially among the intelligentsia, but the profession of an artist did not belong to the prestigious, was considered "mean", the artists themselves were Shudras

The ancient Indians said: "He who knows neither music, nor literature, nor any other art, is not a man, but cattle, although he has neither a tail nor horns." Music played an important role in their lives. M. The art of professional musicians and dancers amused themselves with the Rajas. And the nobles, and in Indian myths, did not shy away from this entertainment and the gods, who were served by heavenly music and dancers.

The treatise tells about the development of ancient Indian musical culture. Natyashastra, probably compiled in the first centuries of our era. He testifies that at that time a well-established musical system already existed in the country, which later formed the basis of Indian "classical" musicians.

The hearing of a European Indian melody strikes with its exoticism. In the scale of the Indian scale there are many semitones and even quartertones. Indian melodies are classified by horns - a certain sequence of five or more tones that form the basis of the melody. Each para has its own emotional load, symbolizes joy, fun, love, peace, fear, etc. There are ragas "morning", "afternoon", "evening", etc. *. Old Indian melodies are devoid of harmonic basis and are based on the rhythm of percussion instruments. An important feature of ancient Indian music is also that the musician in the family is always an improviser. He performs the key musical phrase, and then endlessly varies it, and each time in a new way, so that each performance of the same melody is unique from the second.

The ancient Indians created a number of musical instruments, the most common of which was similar to the ancient Egyptian wine lyre. The musicians also played the flute, other reed and percussion instruments.

It developed in Ancient. India also has the art of vocals. Singing was most often a variation of a simple melody, which was reduced to literally a single musical phrase.

The Indian art of dance has changed little over the centuries. In ancient dances, the main role was also played by musical rhythm and gestures, and almost every part of the body of the dancer ika or dancer participated in the dance; a small movement of the little finger or eyebrow told the initiate in the secrets of this art; With the most complex code of the positions of his hands and fingers, he conveyed a wide range of emotions, excitedly talked about various events in the life of gods, people, and zhivoarin.

The art of Indian dance is very complex. It took years of hard work to master it. Therefore, in Ancient. India dances have always been performed by professionals of the social taboo on this form of entertainment in ch. Libin centuries, it seems, did not exist (they were cured only by the priesthood).

It serves as one of the most powerful means of disseminating religious ideas among the people. By its direct connection with the cult, the Indian folk theater allows us to study on living samples those principles of dramatic art that have disappeared under literary layers in the modern European theater, and even in the classical court drama of India itself.
The Indian word for dramatic performance, "nataka" (means "". And indeed, the starting point for the development of drama is a cult dance. Another characteristic feature of primitive theater is the mask. For primitive man, putting on a mask has a magical meaning: the wearer of the mask becomes for a while the receptacle of the spirit of that the person he represents, hence the beginning of the dramatic illusion.

Malabar theater

The main idea of ​​the Indian - the struggle of good forces against world evil - finds a vivid expression in the original theatrical performances of the Malabar coast, known as "kata-", i.e. dance-epics. The plots of these performances are taken from Indian mythology, mainly from the Puranas, from the epic, as well as from fiction. The usual motive is the following. (in most cases, Indra or one of the incarnations, or, or Rama) or a king of divine origin loves a heavenly or earthly beauty. She either immediately, or after some suffering on the part of the hero, reciprocates, and those who love enjoy complete happiness. But the forces of darkness, the giants "asuras" hostile to the gods and insidious demons do not sleep. They envy the happiness of those who love and try to destroy it. They kidnap or try to kidnap the beauty. The hero protects her or frees her from the captivity of evil forces, destroys a myriad of demons or "asuras" and lives out his days with his beloved in complete bliss. Actors in most cases make up their faces with very complex and thick make-up, which expresses the character of this type. The god or hero has a green face framed in a thick layer of white rice paste. The face of the giants, who represent the overthrown gods, is partially covered with a thick layer of green rice paste, from under which red color shines through. On the forehead and on the nose they have round bumps of green color. In demons, as in bloodthirsty creatures, a red complexion predominates, in female demons, the face is painted in the black color of death and night. Heavenly and earthly beauties and saints do not put on makeup and only use ordinary Indian cosmetics - antimony, powder, etc.
The costume of the actors is lush and strictly defined. Its obligatory components are as follows: a headdress ("kritam") of equal forms depending on the role; large earlobe earrings and small earrings called "ear flower" which are inserted over the ear; headbands worn on the forehead under a headdress; necklaces, wooden gilded, or from beads, or from dried fruits; bib; belt with chains hanging down; red cloth apron; bracelets and wrists and white and red scarves hanging around the neck. These are worn on a skirt, usually of blue material, and on a jacket, which is red for the gods, shaggy and red for the asuras, shaggy and white for demons, blue for female demons, and colorful for beauties.

The actors enter the stage, which forms a small square with bamboo poles driven into the four corners and is covered with a light temporary canopy of coconut leaves. The stage is fenced off from the public by a motley curtain, which is held by two boys by the brushes.
The actors accompany the words of the epic sung behind the scenes with strictly defined movements of the hands and. Each position of the hands corresponds to a concept. So, the figure of a heavenly beauty holds her hands in a position that corresponds to the word "wine" (stringed instrument). The demon woman expresses the idea of ​​contemplation with the position of her hands: one hand is raised to the sky, where contemplation rushes, and the other hand, in front of the stomach, draws a calm position that should be taken while deepening into the eternal. The demon holds his hands in a position that conveys the action of a sacrifice or, more precisely, a libation of ghee into a sacrificial one. The raised hand of a giant in a red shaggy jacket draws an elephant with a trunk raised to pick leaves. The right arm of the god-figure is at right angles to the left arm, like the rearing front of a snake's body, hence this position of the arms is called "snake". The meaning of these gestures is further clarified by the fact that the fingers must be in a rather artificial and peculiar position. Thus, even if the hands are approximately in the same position when expressing two different concepts, then any doubt is eliminated by the difference in the position of the fingers.

The stage has no backstage. There are few props: swords, maces, shields for fight scenes, separate wooden masks to characterize subordinate roles. The rhythm of the epics, often changing during the same performance, beats on the drum. Illumination and lighting effects are achieved by means of large bronze lamps in which coconut oil burns. These performances are usually staged at temples during big temple holidays. The actors are exclusively male in the higher non-Brahmin castes (Nambiar and Nayar).

Bengali Marionette Theater

In the foreground of the personifications of the struggle between good and evil created by Indian creativity stands Rama, the hero of the most widespread and beloved epic Ramayana, the incarnation of the god Vishnu. This epic, which is attributed by tradition to the great poet Valmiki and which probably originated several hundred years before our era, was and is of great importance both for the literature of India and for the formation of the moral ideals of the people. It has been translated into all the major languages ​​of modern India; it is read, sung and studied; in dramatic processing, it is represented literally in all corners of the vast India and Indonesia. The images of this epic - the hero Rama, his formidable enemy, the ten-headed Ravana, the devoted and brave leader of the monkeys Hanuman - and their exploits are favorite motifs for painting and. Along with the figures of one of the types of folk theater - the Bengali puppet theater - there are examples of Indian fine arts, which in their totality convey the approximate content of the great epic.

This content is briefly as follows. In the city of Ayodhya (modern Oud) lived King Dasaratha from the famous Raghu dynasty. He had four sons from different wives: Rama, Lakshmana, Shatrughna and Bharata. Rama, his eldest son, was married to Sita. In view of his extreme old age, Dasaratha decided, with the consent of his subjects, to appoint Rama as the co-ruler of the state. But the mother of Bharata, his youngest son, learning about this, took advantage of Dasaratha's rash promise, which he gave her immediately after the wedding, and demanded that her son be appointed co-ruler instead of Rama and that the latter be expelled from the state for fourteen years. This requirement, presented at the very moment of Rama's anointing as king, Dasaratha fulfilled at the insistence of Rama himself, to whom the honor of his father was dearer than royal honors. Sita and Lakshmana accompanied Rama into exile, but the old Dasaratha did not survive the separation and disappointment and soon died. Rama, with his brother and wife, went to the dense forests in the south, where he led a hermit and protected the hermits from the attacks of countless demons. To one demon who wanted to destroy him and for this purpose took on the appearance of a beautiful one, he cut off his nose. This demon in this form appeared before the demon king Ravana, the formidable ruler of the island of Lanka (Ceylon), inhabited by countless evil spirits. Ravana became very angry and, learning about the beauty of Sita, decided to kidnap her and take revenge on Rama. Having assumed the pious form of a hermit, he crept up to Sita at the moment when Rama was chasing the golden-fleeced deer created by the magic of Ravana. Sita let him in without suspecting anything, and he kidnapped her. On the way, the old powerful bird Jatayu tried to free Sita and bravely attacked the formidable demon. She paid with her life for her courage. But before she died, she managed to tell Rama and Lakshmana who kidnapped Sita. They immediately set off in pursuit. On their way south they came to the realm of the monkeys (in all likelihood this is a semi-contemptuous name for the Dravidian tribes). There the monkey king and his brother Sugriva fought for power and for the possession of the beautiful Tara. Rama intervened in this fight and killed Bali with his arrow. Sugriva, who married Tara, became a faithful ally of Rama, and an army of monkeys under the command of Hanuman went with Rama against Ravana. When they reached the shore of the strait separating Ceylon from southern India, they built a bridge from rocks cut off from the mountains (modern Adam's bridge). Ravana's brother Vibhishana, foreseeing the fall of Ravana's power, surrendered to Rama, who kindly received him and promised him the kingdom. In a terrible battle between the army of Rama and the demons, the son of Ravana was first killed, and, in the end, Ravana fell from the arrow of Rama himself. Lanka was taken, Sita was released, and the hero returned to his homeland, where he was enthusiastically received by the citizens of Ayodhya.

The figures depicting the heroes of the Ramayana are each served by two people, and with great gravity, like the figure of Ravana, even by a large number. Behind the curtain, one person holds the figure by the bamboo stick, with which the head rotates, the other with the help of threads makes the figure make the appropriate gestures.

A. M. Merwarth 1927