Singapore: A Kathakali Performance
The Kathakali is an ancient theatre art form of the State of Kerala in
southern India. The people of Kerala are known as the Malayalee.
There are 25,000 Malayalees in Singapore, forming one of the largest sub-groups
of the Indian community in Singapore.
Traditional Kathakali performances tend
to involve tales from the two great Indian epics, the Ramayana and the
Mahabharata. Kathakali is most renowned for its elaborate make-up and
flamboyant costumes. In fact, the make-up process can often take
hours. The one I witnessed took four hours to complete. According to
this Kathakali website: "The
faces of noble male characters, such as virtuous kings, the divine hero Rama,
etc., are predominantly green. Characters of high birth who have an evil streak,
such as the demon king Ravana, are allotted a similar green make-up, slashed
with red marks on the cheeks. Extremely angry or excessively evil characters
wear predominantly red make-up and a flowing red beard. Forest dwellers such as
hunters are represented with a predominantly black make-up base. Women and
ascetics have lustrous, yellowish faces."
The Kathakali
performance itself is often very long and often takes place through the night,
till an auspicious hour at dawn. The one I attended last 7 hours, till 6am
the next morning. The Kathakali is also a highly ritualistic affair.
Every performance begins with rituals devoted to the gods, with the dancers
dancing behind an embroidered curtain held by two assistants. That is a
private performance exclusive for the gods, to secure their blessings for the
performers and the audience. It is only after this ritual, which in my
case lasted 50 minutes, that the actual performance began. Also noted in
any Kathakali performance are the enormous headdresses and amazing, highly
developed use of facial expression and gesture to convey messages and
meaning.
I took these pictures during a Kathakali performance on 5 June
2004, which was an event of the 2004 Singapore Arts Festival. They portray
mainly the make-up process and the start of the Kathakali performance.
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Tan Wee Cheng, Singapore 
weecheng.com
