India

Abstract

This remarkable publication by G. Venu is an invaluable, highly accessible, beautifully produced print and audio-visual resource for understanding and appreciating the three-dimensional embodied process of acting and training actors within the kutiyattam tradition of performing Sanskrit dramas in Kerala. The publication includes an introduction to kütiyattam; bilingual translation (Malayalam/English) of the acting manual; along with an audio-visual publication of this specific manual for teaching acting within the kütiyattam tradition in the form of photographs; and two exquisitely produced accompanying DVDs with close-up camera work featuring Kapila Venu as she performs the entire text over a period of three hours and twenty-three minutes.