Collected Plays: Tughlaq, Hayavadana, Bali: The Sacrifice, Naga-Mandala, Volume 1

by Girish Karnad

This book is the first volume of a collection of plays by Girish Karnad, one of India's foremost dramatists and actors. It contains Tughlaq , Hayavana , The Sacrifice , and Naga-Mandala .

Genres: Plays, Indian Literature

320 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

Girish Raghunath Karnad (Konkani : गिरीश रघुनाथ कार्नाड, Kannada : ಗಿರೀಶ್ ರಘುನಾಥ್ ಕಾರ್ನಾಡ್) (born 19 May 1938) is a contemporary writer, playwright, screenwriter, actor and movie director in Kannada language. His rise as a prominent playwright in 1960s, marked the coming of age of Modern Indian playwriting in Kannada, just as Badal Sarkar did it in Bengali, Vijay Tendulkar in Marathi, and Mohan Rakesh in Hindi. He is a recipient of the 1998 Jnanpith Award for Kannada, the highest literary honour conferred in India.
For four decades Karnad has been composing plays, often using history and mythology to tackle contemporary issues. He has translated his major plays into English, and has received critical acclaim across India. His plays have been translated into several Indian languages and directed by eminent directors like Ebrahim Alkazi, B. V. Karanth, Alyque Padamsee, Prasanna, Arvind Gaur, Satyadev Dubey, Vijaya Mehta, Shyamanand Jalan and Amal Allana. He is also active in the world of Indian cinema working as an actor, director, and screenwriter, both in Hindi and Kannada cinema, earning numerous awards along the way. He was conferred Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan by the Government of India.

Reviews

[Purnima · Rating 4 out of 5]

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 · Rating 4 out of 5]

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 · Rating 3 out of 5]

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

[Udit · Rating 5 out of 5]

Girish Karnad's early plays, four of which are collected here, are mostly centered around Indian mythology - and in the case of Tughlaq, Indian history. He has, of course, since then, moved on to more modern issues such as modern urban families, etc.
I had only read his Taale Danda before and am yet to see a performance of any of his plays.

Sure enough, the plays in this collection bear the mark of his work. The "plots" themselves tend to be based on classical Indian folklore, with a modern, almost-European approach to the characters. With a few techniques borrowed from Indian folk theatre (like the Yakshagana), the plays are more-or-less modern in construction with a build-up, a climax, and a denouement.

Deep attention is paid to how space works: be it in Hindu homes, temples or palaces. Hayavadana and Naga-Mandala also seem to require some ingenious special effects involving masks, curtains, lighting, etc - leaving you with the feeling that simply reading his plays, as opposed to watching a production, is grossly inadequate.

Girish Karnad hails from a relatively privileged background and his romanticization of Hindu myths and rituals does, at times, seem odd given the current political scenario. Post-colonial, feminist and Dalit concerns are all crucial to understanding his plays.

I'm not so much fascinated by his reworking of classic tales as by his reworking of techniques from folk theatre. I do not recollect reading any other playwright who is as concerned abot the spatial and visual language of the play as Karnad. (Interestingly, some of his newer - more modern - plays have been known for their use of LCD screens on stage, etc).

I was left wondering at the end: what is the difference between "good" mythological fiction and "bad" mythological fiction? Clearly, you have your Girish Karnads and you have your Amish Tripathys. And, also, of course, crass TV soap operas, management writers and the 2015 Indian Science Congress. Irreverence is essential, and so is an analytic outlook. But what separates Girish Karnad from say, even Devdutt Pattanaik, is a deep understanding of the tenuous relation between the people and their myths. Girish Karnad, unlike any of the others I've mentioned, succeeds mainly because he relies on modes of storytelling that are natural to Indian mythologies. The others tend to rely on their relatively 'urban' understanding of myths which has roots either in the academia or in a childhood filled with Amar Chitra Kathas.

One may still argue saying that these form the modern equivalents of folk art.
Well, no! The modern equivalent of folk narratives is pop culture, not modern retellings of outdated religious mythologies. The living example of this is the immense sucess of YouTube artists like the people at TVF (The Viral Fever), TTT (Terribly Tiny Tales), etc who have exquisitely put to use the anxieties and concerns of a modern, urban, India.

Those who have seen Pu La Deshlande's Varyavarchi Varat will recall with a chuckle that the narrator - from Bombay - who has journeyed to an obscure village in his quest to see 'authentic' folk dance is redirected emphatically to "Baambay!"

Reading the early plays of Girish Karnad recall a time when traditional mythologies still resonated with the general audience.