Staging Indigeneity: A Study of VayalaVasudevan Pillai’s Agni: The Fire

Abstract

In Kerala, right from primitive ages, men used to perform rites and rituals in fulfilment of their spiritual love and devotion. Rituals differ from race to race, community to community and religion to religion. It denotes the identity and race of men and are closely related to the traditions followed by them for ages. Such traditions could be found in one’s faiths, attachments, conventions and devotions which are passed on to the next generation. In his play Agni, Vasudevan Pillai was giving shape to a new theatre concept by taking the simple conventions of the traditional folk theatre. Theatre has its roots steeped in folk culture. It has grown out of the religious spectacles, rituals and rites. In the composition and presentation of his plays, Vasudevan Pillai allowed himself to be influenced by the folk theatre. In his play Agni, he infuses folk plays and myths and also brings in images connected to the rustic life of Kerala. He presents life deeply rooted in the indigenous soil. This paper studies Vasudevan Pillai’s inclusion and deployment of indigenous cultural elements into the identity of characters and plot.