This site is dedicated to Kathakali, the intriguing dance-drama of Kerala, South India, and to the groundbreaking work of Agatha Jane Pilaar (née Gray, 1932), of Toronto, Canada, who has created, for the first time ever, English-language verse texts for 34 of the most popular Kathakali plays.  The poets who wrote these plays composed them in ancient Malayalam (the language of Kerala) and Sanskrit, and it is still in these languages that the vocalists sing the text when accompanying the Kathakali artists in their enactment of the plays. Thus they are incomprehensible to audiences who know only English.

Jane’s verse librettos make the plays much more interesting by communicating in English the meaning and mood of the ancient text being sung by the singers and enacted by the dance-actors.  As one watches a performance with one of Jane’s “guidebooks” in hand, the many and various beauties of the art are much enhanced by one’s knowing the meaning of the songs and thus understanding the plot of the play—or “story”, as Kathakali plays are always called by Keralites.

Jane has decided to make her published works available to a wider English-reading community over the Internet, in an effort to help others understand and appreciate this magnificent and unique dramatic art form.