Natyashastra Drama Analysis

The British South Asian theatre and Indian theatre in English: Natyashastra and Theatre Production Analysis constitutes a major study of the diasporic and contemporary Indian theatre in English and investigates the Natyashastra text, a treatise on Indian performing arts, to create a model of theatre production analysis. It is also an important contribution to the Natyashastra studies in general. Examining this treatise and some recent debates in theatre studies, the proposed book argues that a full understanding of the theatre can only be achieved if attention is paid to the different acting styles and manifestation of emotions during the theatre production analysis. Applying theoretical framework, developed from the Natyashastra, this book …show more content…
The introduction provides a central argument that the Natyashastra can offer an alternative model to analyse theatre productions by contextualising studies on theatre semiotics. The book presents a case whether the Natyashastra is relevant to contemporary theatre production analysis. The question is further divided into subsidiary questions such as: can a model be developed and applied to a range of contemporary theatre productions? What does the model reveal about theatre productions, its acting techniques, and styles? What does this model reveal about the British South Asian theatre and Indian theatre in English that other model cannot? What are the limitations of it, what other forms of analysis are needed to offer a more complete and useful model? Additionally, this introduction demonstrates shortfalls of existing semiotic model of theatre analysis, as criticised by Taylor (2005) and locates its rationale in argument put forth by Jure Gantar (1994) for an analysis of gesture in theatre production