ABSTRACT
Kutiyattam — "combined acting," “acting together” — is the name given to India’s sole surviving traditional Sanskrit theater. Kutiyattam is indigenous to the Indian state of Kerala and springs from this culture. During the mid-1990s, the author had the chance to interview and observes actors and actresses who were serving in temples, performing Kutiyattam as part of the annual ritual calendar, and not for aesthetic or other purposes. Kutiyattam has this fascinating flexibility, enabling it to cope with old traditions and modern demands. An emotion is a very intense feeling which often involves a physical as well as a mental response, and which implies outward expression. For the majority of the performers, Kutiyattam stands today somewhere between a stage art and a ritualistic performance. In order to survive, Kutiyattam had to quit the protective environment of the temples, with its dwindling scholarly audience, and present itself on “secular” stages to audiences who were not educated in the traditional sense.
