Kannada Nataka Mattu Rangabhoomi
Publisher: Neelparvat Publications, Dharwad
Published: 2007
Place of publication: Dharwad
Format: Collection of Essays on Kannda Drama and Theatre
Number of pages: 150
Table of contents: title: The ‘theatre’ is a mirror that reflects the culture of any country. It is not only a composite creation accommodating all the five arts in itself but also a complete art which has within itself all the possibilities of expression. The main aim of theatre is to initiate and  entertain. As literary-music-acting, that is dramatic representation have been the main elements of the theatre, it naturally expresses the behavioral aspects of the people of that country. It effectively expresses their tastes, interests, talents and their maturity.; title: If the cultural history of the world is pursued, it can be discerned that the theatre has a very old tradition. The theatre has gained a prominent place for itself in the Greek culture which is considered the oldest in the whole world. In India, the Sanskrit theatre is considered not only the oldest, but also the richest. But the Kannada theatre has not acquired such a long tradition. As far as the tradition of Kannada drama is concerned it is still very recent. Its history starts only with the modern period.; title: Already many have tried their best to find out for the same. But so far the complete picture is not yet clear.; title: It can be observed that compared to other forms of literature, enough study, criticism, discussion regarding drama and its structure have not been undertaken. Besides, the number of drama-critics is also very limited. They can be counted on finger’s ends. It can be seen that excepting Kurtkoti, Amur, Giraddi, Marulasiddappa, Prasanna, Akshara, Keeram, the attention of the renowned critics is centered on poetry, short-story and novel. Thus a serious study in the field of drama-tradition has been neglected. But Basavaraj Donur stands out prominent among the younger critics for selecting the field of drama with all interest for his studies.; title: Basavaraj Donur has been considered a prominent writer among the third generation of Kannada writers of the modern period. He, who has mastery over both Kannada and English languages, has engaged himself in writings and has already seventeen books to his credit. His writings concern a variety of areas like short-story, criticism, pen-portraits; editing and translation are the evidence of his varied interests.; title: Like many English Professors, Basavaraj Donur too entered the field of literature with  his creative writings. He then moved towards criticism. So far he has published four books on criticism. He has established himself strongly in this field. Rang Pravesha, Seelu Notagalu, Bayala Beragu, and Kannada Nataka Mattu Vastavate are his books on criticism.; title: The book under discussion Kannada Nataka Mattu Rangabhoomi is Donur’s fifth book on criticism and a third one, concerning drama. The book is divided into three sections which is spread over eighteen chapters, and they have been written on various occasions.; title: The first section of the book contains nine articles. It includes the criticism of drama of nine dramatists.  Kakana Kote, Vigada Vikramaraya, and ‘Jatre’ are the well-known dramas of the prominent writers like Masti, Samsa and Bendre. If these three dramas have been studied in the background of their main plot, purpose and enactment, the dramas of Champa, Kurtkoti and Shivaprakash have been confined to the discussion of the speciality which they manifest. An effort has been made to point out the feminine sensibility in the dramas of Kuvempu, the theme of modernity in the dramas of Lankesh and the theme of protest in the dramas of Karnad.; title: Among all the articles in this section, ‘Karnadar Natakagalalli Pratirodh’ is a very consistent article. Subjecting all the dramas of Karnad to a serious study, an effort has been made to find out the nature of protest as expressed by the characters in each and every dramas of Karnad. The possible reasons for protest and the effects of that protest have been successfully recognized. Hence, this article, compared to other articles in this collection, has been considered as the one which has been diligently worked out, thoughtful and worthy of study. Another article titled ‘Lankeshara Natakagalalli Aaadhunik Pradne too is modeled on similar lines exhibiting the serious study on the part of the writer. Rest of the articles are short ones stretching over two to four pages. However, they reflect the whole world as does the mirror.; title: There are five articles in the second section. These articles concentrate on the theatre. The first article titled Kannada Natakada Prachinate is written against the background of the opinions expressed by many noted scholars on the subject. Pursuing their opinions the writer could find out the reasons as to why the dramas were not written during earlier periods and what its possible reasons were. He opines that the ancient poets liked the genre of poetry more than anything else. Not only that, the society of those days did not approve of the drama form. Besides there was a dire lack of men of taste who could appreciate the form of drama. Moreover, there were no full-fledged proper amenities for the staging of dramas. In addition there was no royal-patronage to the drama. Likewise, the art of drama did not have any status in the society. All these are the possible reasons. Among all these reasons the most prominent reason may be that the drama lacked social status. Besides, there was the availability of folk-theatre for the common people. No doubt, for the classical theatres there were Sanskrit dramas. But the Sanskrit dramas too were losing their vigour and had become lifeless at the commencement of Kannada literature. That is why discarding the   dramatic-form, the ancient Kannada poets must have glorified themselves in finding out the new poetic-forms. Even then the work is on to find out an appropriate answer for the same.; title: The second article critically brings home the ways in which the dramas of Shakespeare have been translated and brought into Kannada. Similarly, the article delicately brings out the influence of Shakespeare on modern Kannada dramas.The next three articles tell us objectively how the folk, professional and amateur theatres have been developed possessing their own separate identity in Kannada. They also study what their specific features are and how they interact with each other.; title: There are four articles in the third section. These are based on comparative view points. Nataka Mattu Rangabhoomi, Nataka Mattu Bhashe and Nataka Mattu Samaja-these articles meaningfully recognize their mutual relationship. The distinctiveness of drama lies in its stageability on the stage. Similarly, the drama reaches out to its audience through its specific medium of language. The purpose of the drama gets fulfilled only when it is enjoyed by the audience who watch it when being performed. These articles highlight the inter-independence of the dramatic elements. In the article titled ‘Natavarga: Samajika Sthanamaana’he brings out powerfully the contrariety of the society. The actor through his matured performance entertains the audience, rectifies the oddities of the society and preaches the need for a healthy atmosphere in society. But the audience who appreciate his acting talents for creating through their discriminatory attitude.Make his life un bearable in the society. The paradox has been highlighted effectively.; title: All the eighteen articles in this collection deal with several aspects concerning the drama and the theatre. They thus attract the attention of those who are specially interested in dramas. It can be seen that in the writing of each and every article there is an extensive study, serious thinking and systematic methodology has gone into it. In his  discussion a thorough objectivity and unprejudiced naturalness may be seen. Donur’s criticism here is not fault finding and censoring but qualitative and excellent. It has the ambience of belongingness. The narration without being dry has imbibed creativity and  helped us in understanding the text. There are many insights visible in the thought processes. All these are definitely going to compliment in the expansion of the horizons of experience of those interested in drama. Because of these reasons this book is considered a novel contribution to the field of criticism in Kannada drama. I heartily congratulate Basavaraj Donur. He should involve himself still more seriously in this field and hope that  more great  books come forth from his pen.; title: * *