Captivating Kathakali

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We headed over at 5.00pm for the start of the Kathakali performance. This starts at 5.00pm with the application of makeup. For this perfomance there are three male actors. They all apply their own makeup, which is an art form in itself and is incredibly intricate. The chap who played Ramayana, painted his face in red and green (to show hypocrisy) and defined this in black. They use their fingers and very think sticks to apply the paint and define the lines. He then lay on the floor to have various structures (can't think of a better description) stuck to his face using rice glue. For all this to be done, for all of the actors and to be dressed in their costumes it takes easily an hour and half. The costumes and head dresses are highly coloured and very intricate. All I can say is wait until you see the photos. It is amazing to see the transformation and see them developing into their roles. And believe me you do not notice time passing. There were only two other people at the show and they sat somewhere at the back. On stage with the actors is a singer, who introduces and narrates the performance and two drummers, and the local cat family who wander on and off stage as and when they choose!.

The performance started at 6.30pm and went on to around 8.15pm. There is no talking during the performance it is carried out by hand gesture and facial expressions (and alot of use of the eyes). We had a basic translation of the gestures and it is very easy to follow the performance and understand what is happening. The movements are carried out in time to the drumming and it is probably nigh on impossible to work out if the actors dictate the pace, or the drummers, but it is all in time and perfect.

In tonights perfomance Ramayana was trying to seduce one of the princesses, who was actually married and in disguise as one of her princess daughters. She managed to escape and flee back to her husband who was incensed at what had happend and told his wife to set up a meeting that night with Ramayana. She did this and her husband took her place and killed Ramayana. I was captivated and sat on the edge of my seat through the whole lot. I have never seen anything like it and recommend it to everyone. We both came out, almost speechless but rambling on about what a most fantastic thing we had just seen!

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