Performing the Ramayana Tradition Enactments, Interpretations, and Arguments

by Richman, Paula; Bharucha, Rustom

• ISBN13: 9780197552506
• ISBN10: 0197552501
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2021-06-01
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Author Biography

Paula Richman is William H. Danforth Professor of South Asian Religions, Emerita, at Oberlin College, in Ohio. She has edited three volumes and published more than thirty articles on the diversity of the Indian Ramayana tradition.

Rustom Bharucha retired as Professor of Theatre and Performance Studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India. Author of several books on performance, he has also worked as a dramaturg worldwide and was involved in the curation of three Ramayana Festivals at the Adishakti Theatre Laboratory in Puducherry, India.

Table of Contents

Preface and Acknowledgements: The Journey of the Book

List of Illustrations

Note on Transliteration

I. Orientations and Beginnings

1. The Ramayana Narrative Tradition as a Resource for Performance
Paula Richman

2. Thinking the Ramayana Tradition through Performance
Rustom Bharucha

3. The Story So Far... and Beyond: Ramayana Samksepam of Nepathya
Introduction and Translation by Rizio Yohannan Raj

II The Politics of Caste

4. Shambuk's Severed Head by Omprakash Valmiki
Translation by Aaron Sherraden

5. Recasting Shambuk in Three Hindi Anti-Caste Dramas
Aaron Sherraden

6. The Killing of Shambuk: A Retelling from a Director's Perspective
Sudhanva Deshpande

III Interrogating the Anti-Hero

7. Ravana Center Stage: Origins of Ravana and King of Lanka
Paula Richman

8. Ravana as Dissident Artist: The Tenth Head and Ravanama
Rustom Bharucha

8a. Script of The Tenth Head
Vinay Kumar

8b. Script of Ravanama
Maya Krishna Rao

IV Performing Gender

9. The Making of RamaRavana: Reflections on Gender, Music, and Staging
Hanne M. de Bruin

10. Writing Her "Self": The Politics of Gender in Nangyarkuttu
Mundoli Narayanan

V Conversations and Arguments

11. Reflections on Ramayana in Kutiyattam
David Shulman, Margi Madhu Chakyar, Dr. Indu G. with Rustom Bharucha

12. Questions around Ram Vijay: Sattriya in a Monastic Tradition
Sri Narayan Chandra Goswami with Parasmoni Dutta, Paula Richman,
and Rustom Bharucha

13. Performing the Argument: Ramayana in Talamaddale
Akshara K.V.

VI Beyond Enactment

14. Revisiting "Being Rama": Playing a God in Changing Times
Urmimala Sarkar Munsi

15. The Night Before Bhor Arti: Play and Banarasipan in the Ramnagar Ramlila
Bhargav Rani

16. The Challenges Ahead: Researching the Ramayana Performance Tradition
Rustom Bharucha

Glossary

List of Contributors

Index