K.N. Panikkar: The Theatre of Rasa

Kavalam Narayana Panikkar is one of India’s most revered theatre directors. He has been writing and directing plays for the last four decades and even today, remains as energetic and as creative as ever. Panikkar’s involvement with theatre began with his writing poetry and plays. Gradually, he began directing plays himself. This marked the beginning of a significant career as a theatre director who found innovative ways to engage with existing traditions. Panikkar’s contemporaneity lies in his continual experimentation and innovation within the broader framework of Indian ways of doing theatre. In this way, his theatre is in constant dialogue with the folk (deshi) and classical (margi) traditions of performing art in India. K.N. Panikkar: The Theatre of Rasa goes deeper into the styles and sources of Panikkar’s theatre. It includes essays by some of India’s finest theatre writers and thinkers, as well as a long conversation with this master theatre director and a detailed discussion on the production of Ottayan, one of his renowned plays. This book will provide insight not only into the theatre of K.N. Panikkar, but also into theatre as an art form within a broader framework.