Collected Plays Volume 1

by Late Girish Karnad Mr

Th e troubled reign of a fourteenth-century sultan of Delhi helps dramatize
the crisis of secular nationhood in post-Independence India. A twelft hcentury
folktale about 'transposed heads' off ers a path-breaking model for
a quintessentially 'Indian' theatre in postcolonial times. The folktale about
a woman with a snake lover explores gender relations within marriage.
Individual human sexuality meets the historical debate on violence in Indian
culture. The plays in this volume span roughly the fi rst half of the career of
Girish Karnad, one of India's pre-eminent playwrights.
Th e three-volume set of Karnad's Collected Plays brings together English
versions of his important works. Each volume contains an extensive
introduction by theatre scholar Aparna Bhargava Dharwadker, Professor
of English and Interdisciplinary Th eatre Studies, University of Wisconsin,
Madison. Th e introductions trace the literary and theatrical evolution of
Karnad's work over six decades and position it in the larger context of
modern Indian drama. In addition, they comment on Karnad's place as author
and translator in a multilingual performance culture and the relation of his
playwriting to his work in the popular media.
Each of these volumes serves as a collector's item, making Karnad's works
accessible to theatre lovers worldwide.

Genres: Plays, Indian Literature

356 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

Reviews

[Purnima]

I was little too hesitant to pick up these collected plays at Bangalore Literature Festival, but I've to thank myself for having picked them up. Though I know nothing about theatre, I see plays as a form of story telling. Karnad's story telling skills impressed me to the core, though I've to admit that I need multiple readings of the same to make sense out of them.

I'm just hoping to get a chance to watch these gems on the stage.

[Lilli Chung]

Studied Hayavadana at university. A fascinating play, and super interesting if one also studies the relevant culture surrounding the play. The use of Gods, masks/costume/gender, and cultural references are beautifully integrated and weaved within the play.

[Aryan Prasad]

Hayavadana and Nagamandala are especially good, but other two are average at best.