Intercultural Ibsen: tradition and modernity in Kerala theatre

.Henrik Ibsen’s (1828-1906) literary works shape larger social vision and individual freedom in the sub-continent through the development of modernity in art, literature and play writing. Translation of Ibsen’s plays not only changes the ways in which the plays have been written and produced in various regional languages in India but also brought radical changes in social thinking. The lecture is an attempt to explore the ways in which Ibsen has been integrated, negotiated and remodeled in the plays of N. Krishna Pillai (1916-1988), the eminent playwright of Kerala who is responsible for introducing realism in playwriting. His first play Bhagna-Bhavanam (Broken Home) in 1942 inspires new literary sensibility and experimental production initiatives in Kerala theatre