Awakening a Living World on a Kiyam Stage

Kiyam, an ancient form of Sanskrit theater from Kerala, was traditionally performed only in temples by members of two temple assistant castes. Today, however, it has spread to other castes and to venues outside temples. It is a fantastically complex, sophisticated, layered performance, toiling at amassing and perfecting ways of materializing a world where gods, demons, and mythical heroes live, bringing the audience into these other realities. Taking an anthropological approach, Awakening a Living World on a Kiyam Stage explores how Kiyam uses cultural dynamics, gleaned from temple ritual and theater, to remove the distinctions between mundane reality and the mediaeval plays being performed on stage. The unique features of Kiyammakeup masks, enthralling drumming, delivering words in mudr gestures, a shimmering lamp, male and female actorsall intertwine to animate stories from the great Indian eposes. Analyzing the cultural dynamics at work in Kiyam foregrounds a symbolic anthropology in which representation and symbols are shunned, while endless repetitions fill the stage with reverberating somatic intensities of profound depth. Thus, a new kind of living reality emerges that includes the protagonists of the playgods, demons, humans, animals, and objectstogether with the artist, the audience, and beyond.