Distinct Conventions in the Staging of Aṅgulīyāṅkam Kūttu

By getting trained to perform Aṅgulīyāṅkam, the actor becomes an expert in the acting techniques of Kūṭiyāṭṭam, that is, Aṅgulīyāṅkam includes only two characters: Hanumān and Sītā. Hanumān is the only character that performs the whole play and the text of Sītā will be recited by the Naṅṅyār who plays the cymbals. One of the major technical specialities of this play is that it includes the flashback-technique several times in different contexts and thus the whole story of the Rāmāyaṇa will be enacted on the stage. The authors are experienced performers themselves coming from a traditional Kūṭiyāṭṭam performing family. In their essay they analyse the structure of the play from the perspective of the actors, considering both the ritualistic and the aesthetical issues of the performance.