Theatre Design & Technology - Winter 2013 - 71

on schools or training methods, membership in a particular company,
and personal preference, but they do not specify what specific differences might exist.
Costumes are still primarily made of the same traditional cotton
fabrics for skirts, jackets, pants, and underskirts. The availability of machine-made, synthetic, and less costly materials is consistent with their
usefulness, particularly as theatres struggle to maintain economic viability.
The petticoat pieces are no longer only of palm fiber, but may be synthetic stiffened fabric such as plasticized tarpaulin. Veils for strivesham
characters usually incorporate gold threads. Once they were woven with
metal bullion; now the gold is frequently replaced with Mylar, Lurex, or
other synthetic metallics. These newer textiles are much cheaper than real
bullion, do not oxidize, and are more fluid in draping than their metalinfused counterparts.
The most significant change in present day costuming is in the production of ornaments. Dhananjayan (2004) cites past use of golden bees
wings and metal epaulettes. While it is highly unlikely that headdresses
would be entirely covered in the real gold, silver, and gemstones that are
fundamental to its decoration, the use of materials has changed. Gold leaf
is replaced by gold-colored foil, silver beads by cheaper metals, then by
toned plastic, real iridescent beetle wings by plastic tubing, glass gems by
plastic jewels, and white pith by extruded plastic. The greatest change,
however, is in the transition from intricately carved wooden pieces to
molded fiberglass or other materials that are faster, easier, and cheaper to
manufacture. Vasudevan says that this practice, while making ornaments
available to tourists, foreign theatre groups, and others interested in Kathakali, has severely impacted the artisan base for traditional manufacture.
Even though wooden pieces last for generations, and can be refurbished
repeatedly, they are losing ground to inexpensive reproductions.

colors of the interior of the face are filled in. Traditionally, he would
then lie down to rest, meditate, or contemplate his character while the
makeup artist applied the cutti, a process which could take up to several hours to complete. Nowadays, with the use of paper and plastic cutti,
the time is much less. When the interior of the face is complete, the
performer will be dressed in the body parts of the costume. Two assistants are needed to help secure the many layers and tie the ornaments in
place. Next any cutti poove knobs are applied, and the makeup touched
up above and below the cutti. Then the items of headdress are arranged
and tied in place and final touches put on the makeup. Fingernails and
a little glitter or mica on the face (for ladies) and some pink or red
powder on the palms of the hands complete the visual preparations.
Before exiting the dressing room, the performer repeats devotional rituals facing the lamp, obtains permission to go on from the makeup artist
(who, in the aniyara, has the status of Lord Brahma, god of creation),
and says a short prayer. v

PreParatIon

Balakrishnan, Sadanam P. V. 2004. Kathakali. New Delhi: Wisdom Tree.
Dances of India series, Alka Raghuvanshi, ed.
Bowers, Faubion. 1953. The Dance in India. New York: Columbia
University Press.
Dhananjayan, V.P. 2004. Dhananjayan on Indian Classical Dance.
Delhi: B.R. Rhythms.
Iyer, K. Bharatha. 1955. Kathakali: Sacred Dance-Drama of Malabar.
London: Luzac Co.
Menon, K.P.S. 1979. A Dictionary of Kathakali. New Delhi: Orient
Longman. [This dictionary is the spelling reference for this article.]
Pandeya, Avinash C. 1943. The Art of Kathakali. New Delhi: Munshiram
Manoharlal. Reprinted 1999.
Singha, Rina and Reginald Massey. 1967. Indian Dances: Their History
and Growth. New York: George Braziller.
Zarrilli, Phillip B. 2000. Kathakali Dance Drama: Where Gods and
Demons Come to Play. London: Routledge.

Devotional practices, Puligari explained, are integral to preparation and
performance. In the dressing room, the performer lights a lamp, first
the east-facing wick, then the westward wick. He then makes prayers to
the deities who are represented by the lamp flame, particularly Vishnu
and Ganesh. He will also make devotions at specific times during dressing and to his teachers before donning the headdress. Flame from the
dressing room lamp is carried to light the stage lamp. Originally this
lamp was the only light source; now its lighting is largely symbolic as
other lights are available.
A single room, aniyara, serves a dressing, makeup, and greenroom
for the performers, makeup artists, and assistants. Costumes are stacked
or hung, and ornaments and headdress suspended from a rope or beam
along one side of the room. Bronze oil lamps provide lighting and the
soot used in mixing makeup. Palm-leaf mats are spread on the floor for
the performers. Brass lamps are placed between them for lighting.
Applying makeup is the most time-consuming portion of the preparation. It is supervised by a chottikkaran, a revered makeup artist and
teacher who is expert at grinding, mixing, and applying makeup. Younger trainees may prepare the makeups under his instruction (Balikrishnan 2004, 51), or the actor may mix his own if needed, as Puligari has
done. The performer begins with the basic application of makeup, laying in guidelines for the colors on the planes of his face, painstakingly
ensuring that the marks coincide with the movements of his face. The

Wendy Meaden is an associate professor at Butler University.
Previously, she was lead draper for ten seasons at Indiana
Repertory Theatre. She now designs costumes for IRT, as well as
for the Shadow Ape Theatre Company, the Children's Museum of
Indianapolis, and others. Her designs were included in the digital
exhibition at World Stage Design, Toronto 2005.
All photos are by the author, except as noted.

sources cIted

[A more complete annotated bibliography is available on the TD&T website at tdt.usitt.org/Bibliography.pdf.]
Editor's Note: This article is published under the guidelines
of TD&T's juried submission process. It has undergone blind
peer review and has been judged to meet the highest standards
of scholarly writing. Juried article submission guidelines are
available on the TD&T website, tdt.usitt.org.

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