Oxford Companion to Indian Theatre
 Noted film actor
Kamal Hassan will release The Oxford Companion to Indian Theatre brought out by the
Oxford University Press at the Biritsh Council on Thursday, 7th October at 6.30 p.m.
Following the release of the book, four prominent theatre groups from South India will make short presentations from their repertoire.
The Oxford Companion to Indian Theatre is edited by Ananda Lal. The short presentations will be made by Madras Players, Kattaikuttu Sangam, MTC Productions and
Koothu-P-Pattarai.
The Oxford Companion to Indian Theatre, published by
Oxford University Press, is the first reference work embracing both rural and urban modes of Indian theatre spanning its entire history of over 2,000 years. This accessible and comprehensive volume consists of 750 entries encompassing forms and personalities across India geographically and historically in 22 languages, according to their contribution to the tradition. Splendidly illustrated, it includes around 270 black and white illustrations that complement the entries written by specialists and luminaries of the Indian theatre scene. Ananda Lal, the editor, is Professor of English in the Department of Comparative Literature at the Jadavpur University.
Madras Players: Fifty years ago, The Madras Players started out as a group of young
theatre enthusiasts, mostly students, who were members of a play-reading group formed by the
British Council to promote English-language theatre. Over the years, many illustrious personalities like Girish Karnad, who have made their mark in theatre and later in films, have played a vital role in the group. The Madras Players will present a 15-minute reading from Naga Mandala by Girish Karnad. This is the story of Rani whose predicament poignantly reflects the human need to live by fictions and half-truths, the need to push the search for truth beyond where the whole edifice of day-to-day living may come tumbling down.
Kattaikkuttu Sangam: Kattaikkuttu is the popular, epic theatre of the northern parts of Tamil Nadu. Performances are a combination of song,
music, dance
and improvisational drama. The eight-hour plays are physically demanding and the profession has very little financial security. The Kattaikkuttu Sangam promotes the cultural and economic rights of professional Kattaikkuttu performers. More information is available on
www.kattaikkuttu.org. Kattaikuttu Sangam will present a 15-minute performance from what is otherwise an all-night play, Krishnan Tutu or The Embassy of Krishna.
MTC Productions: Founder and Artistic Director, Mithran Devenesan started MTC Productions 20 years ago and has brought some of the finest theatre to Chennai. Most of MTC Productions are theatre for social causes and have supported the Anjaar Project, Rotary Club and the Navtoj Trust, which looks after spastic children. MTC Productions will present a 15-minute reading from Where there is a Will by Mahesh Dattani. The play is a hilarious take on the lives of a
Gujarati family.
Koothu-P-Pattarai: Koothu-P-Pattarai, a full-time Tamil repertory group founded in 1997, uses traditional stage idioms of Tamil Nadu to cover contemporary themes. Its theatre language incorporates elements of dance, folk theatre, puppetry and martial arts creatively, so that space, movement and choreography become more important to the action than literary content or dialogue.
Koothu-P-Pattarai will present a 15-minute performance from Padukalam, a play where the episode of
Duryodhana being slain in the
Mahabharata is shown through a present-day conflict between two cousins over a small piece of land.
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