Introduction [to special issue] Women in Asian theatre: conceptual, political, and aesthetic paradigms

A conference titled Women in Asian Theatre was held at the University of Lincoln in September 2013, and papers from that gathering form the core of this issue. The rationale in organizing the conference was to explore differences across Asia and note that theories from Western feminists do not necessarily transfer to Asian models. This conference was a first step toward mapping histories of the female in Asian theatre, and this is a line of inquiry that deserves more attention. Arya Madhavan is a senior lecturer in the School of Fine and Performing Arts, University of Lincoln, UK. She researches Indian theatre, with particular reference to kutiyattam, the oldest existing theatre form in the world today. She is also a kutiyattam performer, and her research and writing focuses on analyzing the aesthetics and praxis of kutiyattam with an intention to develop new theoretical concepts derived from its practice. Madhavan completed her PhD from the Department of Theatre, Film, and Television Studies, Aberystwyth University, in 2008, which focused on the acting and actor training of kutiyattam from the perspective of consciousness studies. Her first monograph was published in 2010, titled Kudiyattam Theatre and the Actor’s Consciousness (Amsterdam: Rodolfi). Since 2012 she had been focusing on developing the research area of women in Asian theatre, and she is currently editing a Routledge anthology on the same topic