Theatre Crafts

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The crafts of the traditional Indian theatre are vast and varied. It was not just play-acting but the gods and demons coming to life. For this the use of elaborate facial masks, fantastic costumes and glittering ornamentation were used. Bharata, who is accepted as the originator of Indian theatre, stressed that every kind of handicraft and fine art as a discipline has to be reflected in the drama.

Under the Natya Shastra's directives, the plinth of the stage, the pillars, had to be ornamented with carvings of animals, the lotus, various kinds of statues and dancing women in various styles and poses and the windows of the auditorium to have richly carved frames and lattice work running along the upper panel. The highlights of decoration were the paintings on the walls and floral designs.

In Puppet theatre forms, puppets are used to illustrate the narratives. India has almost all types of puppets, string, glove and the magnificent leather ones. The shadow puppets are found almost all along the South and Eastern shores. These trace their origin back to about 200 B.C. These puppets are made out of the hide of goat, deer and buffalo.
Women puppets are bedecked with ornaments and theri heads painted with very elaborate and ornate headgears. The stage decoration of shadow play is done with coconut shells.
Masks in many form are used in India theatre. Each mask is a living character. They are made of wood, papier mache, metal sheets, pith and cloth. Gold embroidered and finely sculptured brass masks are also popular. Ramlila masks are the most popular. In some dance dramas, the face itself is converted into a mask by elaborate make-up.

The headgear is the most outstanding and universally used among traditional and folk theatre properties. They are made of wood, inlaid with mirror, glass and artificial stones. Further adornment appears in the form of gold threads, silver beads, peacock feathers and quill, woollen frills and various coloured foiles. Kathakali has the most outstanding headgears called Kiritams.

Theatre boasts a plethora of brilliant costumes and moasks. Each form has its own distinctive costume.

Elaborately carved and highly decorated ornaments are worn by characters of certain theatrical forms such as wooden bangles, silver nails, chains, anklets and other traditional jewellery.