{"id":251,"date":"2017-10-02T17:42:39","date_gmt":"2017-10-02T14:42:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/disco.teak.fi\/asia\/?p=251"},"modified":"2021-10-19T14:23:38","modified_gmt":"2021-10-19T11:23:38","slug":"therukoothu-the-street-theatre-of-tamilnadu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/disco.teak.fi\/asia\/therukoothu-the-street-theatre-of-tamilnadu\/","title":{"rendered":"<em>Therukoothu<\/em>, The Street Theatre of Tamilnadu"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\t\t<style type=\"text\/css\">\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 {\n\t\t\t\tmargin: auto;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 .gallery-item {\n\t\t\t\tfloat: left;\n\t\t\t\tmargin-top: 10px;\n\t\t\t\ttext-align: center;\n\t\t\t\twidth: 100%;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 img {\n\t\t\t\tborder: 2px solid #cfcfcf;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 .gallery-caption {\n\t\t\t\tmargin-left: 0;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t\/* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes\/media.php *\/\n\t\t<\/style>\n\t\t<div id='gallery-1' class='gallery galleryid-251 gallery-columns-1 gallery-size-full'><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/disco.teak.fi\/asia\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/in117.jpg'><img width=\"600\" height=\"400\" src=\"https:\/\/disco.teak.fi\/asia\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/in117.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-1104\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt>\n\t\t\t\t<dd class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-1104'>\n\t\t\t\tColourful <em>therukoothu<\/em> is a form of street theatre from Tamil Nadu <span>Jukka O. Miettinen<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<\/dd><\/dl><br style=\"clear: both\" \/>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n<p><i>Thertukoothu<\/i> (street theatre) is, as its name indicates, a popular form of theatre performed in the streets. It is getting rare and it is mainly practised in the poor areas of Chennai (formerly Madras). This operatic form is slightly influenced by the <a href=\"http:\/\/disco.teak.fi\/asia\/kathakali-keralas-grandiose-dance-drama\/\"><i>kathakali<\/i> of Kerala<\/a>. <i>Therukoothu<\/i> is, however, performed by amateur actors, who make a small financial contribution to the troupe in order to be able to participate in the performance.<\/p>\n<h2>The Plays, the Troupe, and the Music<\/h2>\n<p>The stories are derived from the <i>Puranas<\/i>, the <i>Mahabharata<\/i>, and the <i>Ramayana<\/i>. Songs predominate, while much of the dialogue is improvised. The troupe consists of 15 to 20 actors, accompanied by a vocalist and the instruments of a small orchestra that include drums, pipes and cymbals. Most of the melodies are <i>Carnatic<\/i> (classical music of South India) <i>ragas<\/i>. An obligatory chanting section precedes the actual songs.<\/p>\n<h2>The Performance<\/h2>\n<p>The performance is led, as in so many other Indian theatre genres, by a theatre director or a master of ceremonies, who in this style is called <i>kattiakaram<\/i>. He is present on the square acting area throughout the performance.<\/p>\n\n\t\t<style type=\"text\/css\">\n\t\t\t#gallery-2 {\n\t\t\t\tmargin: auto;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-2 .gallery-item {\n\t\t\t\tfloat: left;\n\t\t\t\tmargin-top: 10px;\n\t\t\t\ttext-align: center;\n\t\t\t\twidth: 100%;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-2 img {\n\t\t\t\tborder: 2px solid #cfcfcf;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-2 .gallery-caption {\n\t\t\t\tmargin-left: 0;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t\/* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes\/media.php *\/\n\t\t<\/style>\n\t\t<div id='gallery-2' class='gallery galleryid-251 gallery-columns-1 gallery-size-full'><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/disco.teak.fi\/asia\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/in118.jpg'><img width=\"640\" height=\"400\" src=\"https:\/\/disco.teak.fi\/asia\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/in118.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-2-1105\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt>\n\t\t\t\t<dd class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-2-1105'>\n\t\t\t\tA <em>therukoothu<\/em> hero surrounded by female impersonators <span>Jukka O. Miettinen<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<\/dd><\/dl><br style=\"clear: both\" \/>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n<p>The performance is preceded by obligatory ritual preliminaries including the veneration of God Ganesha in the form of an elephant-masked dancer. After that follow invocations to other gods. The play usually starts with a scene at the king\u2019s court. The main characters are introduced from behind a hand-held curtain.<\/p>\n<p>Besides the leader of the troupe, another important character is <i>kumali<\/i>, the buffoon. The general acting style echoes the classical <i>abhinaya<\/i> mime, although, just like <i>kathakali<\/i>, hyper-realistic details, such as eating the entrails of the villain, are popular.<\/p>\n<h2>The Costuming and the Make-up<\/h2>\n\n\t\t<style type=\"text\/css\">\n\t\t\t#gallery-3 {\n\t\t\t\tmargin: auto;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-3 .gallery-item {\n\t\t\t\tfloat: left;\n\t\t\t\tmargin-top: 10px;\n\t\t\t\ttext-align: center;\n\t\t\t\twidth: 20%;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-3 img {\n\t\t\t\tborder: 2px solid #cfcfcf;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-3 .gallery-caption {\n\t\t\t\tmargin-left: 0;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t\/* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes\/media.php *\/\n\t\t<\/style>\n\t\t<div id='gallery-3' class='gallery galleryid-251 gallery-columns-5 gallery-size-full'><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon portrait'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/disco.teak.fi\/asia\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/in119.jpg'><img width=\"400\" height=\"600\" src=\"https:\/\/disco.teak.fi\/asia\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/in119.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-3-1106\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt>\n\t\t\t\t<dd class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-3-1106'>\n\t\t\t\t<em>Terukoothu<\/em> costuming consists of gilded wooden ornaments decorated with small mirrors as well as huge crown and shoulder decorations <span>Jukka O. Miettinen<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<\/dd><\/dl>\n\t\t\t<br style='clear: both' \/>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n<p>The fantastic costuming gives <i>therukoothu<\/i> its picturesque character. The upper body is covered with a jacket, while a knee-length skirt covers the lower body. Huge crowns, chest decorations and other ornaments are made of gilded wood and decorated with shining, coloured mirrors. Massive, wing-like shoulder decorations give the actors a kind of non-human, square shape.<\/p>\n<p>Bright colours dominate the make-up. Krishna\u2019s face is green, while another character has bright blue make-up. The villains\u2019 faces are covered with horrendous black and white three-dimensional dots. Some characters wear masks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Thertukoothu (street theatre) is, as its name indicates, a popular form of theatre performed in the streets. It is getting rare and it is mainly practised in the poor areas of Chennai (formerly Madras). This operatic form is slightly influenced by the kathakali of Kerala. Therukoothu is, however, performed by amateur actors, who make a [&#8230;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2377,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[13],"tags":[36],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/disco.teak.fi\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/disco.teak.fi\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/disco.teak.fi\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/disco.teak.fi\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/disco.teak.fi\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=251"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/disco.teak.fi\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3152,"href":"https:\/\/disco.teak.fi\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251\/revisions\/3152"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/disco.teak.fi\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2377"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/disco.teak.fi\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=251"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/disco.teak.fi\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=251"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/disco.teak.fi\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=251"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}