K to 12 Grade 8 Music and Arts

1. Asian Theater

2. • Live performance, featuring actors or
puppets, native to Asia, a continent
with more than 2 billion people of
many nations and cultures. Asian
theater typically combines storytelling,
dance, music, and mime and
incorporates masks, makeup,
scenery, costumes, props, and
scripts. In contrast to theater in the
West, the focus of Asian theater is
generally on performance rather than
on a specific text.

3. • Asian theater is not a unified entity.
Differences among Asian countries in
language, culture, history, economics,
politics, and religion have resulted in
several hundred distinct theater
genres, not all of which have been
studied or catalogued. As elsewhere
in the world, theater may function as
entertainment; as confirmation of
cultural or social unity; as religious,
political, or ethical education; or as a
combination of these.

5. • The major source of evidence about the
Sanskrit theatre is a compendium
«Treatise on Theatre», which is the most
complete work of dramaturgy in the
ancient world.
• It includes acting, dance, music, dramatic
construction, costuming, make-up, props,
the audience.

6. • Sanskrit theatre was performed on sacred
ground by priests who practiced the
necessary skills of dance, music and
recitation. Its aim was not only to
entertain, but also to educate.
• The performers possessed the vocal and
physical techniques. It is important to
notice that there were no prohibitions
concerning the female performers. The
troops were divided into all-male, all-
female, and of mixed gender. However
some sentiments were considered
inappropriate for men to enact, they were
usually played by women.

7. • Traditional Indian theater was performed in
a narrative manner with elements of
reciting, singing and dancing that played a
crucial role in it.

9. • Nowadays there are many forms of theatre
prevalent in India.
• As India consists of many ethnic groups
each of them developed their own kind
of traditional folk theatre, using the
regional language for communication.

10. • The main protagonists of the performance
are the narrator and a comedian. Loud
music, dance, elaborate make-up, masks
and chorus singing are the main attributes
of Indian folk theatre.

11. • Ramlila is an important form of folk
theatre in India, based on the mythological
storyline of a battle between Lord Rama
and Demon Ravana. Ramlila get-up takes
place once a year and usually lasts for 10-
12 days.

13. • Puppetry as a very popular form of
theatre in India. It is very ancient and apart
from entertainment, it also assumes
instructive messages directed towards the
spectators.
• The early puppet shows staged in India
were mostly based on stories of famous
Indian kings and heroes. Sometimes there
was performed satire on the social and
political agenda.

15. • Modern theatre developed in India during
the period of colonial rule under the British
Empire. During the British rule theatre was
an entertainment only for the art
connoisseurs of the upper class.
• However it changed after independence in
1947 as theatre became open for common
people too, becoming one of the means of
entertainment.

16. • The performance is mainly held in English,
Hindi and Hinglish (a mix of Hindi and
English dialogues) plays. Nowadays
English plays based on Shakespeare and
other famous foreign authors are being
staged.