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Kerala has a number of elaborate forms of dance-drama of which Kathakali is probably the most famous. The actors where elaborate make-up and costumes and perform with musicians and singers. The actors speak no words, but enact the story through exaggerated facial expressions, hand signals and other movements. The stories are based around Indian myths, with gods and demons.
We visited a cultural centre where we were able to see the application of the make before a demonstration and short dance piece.
The demonstration started with one of the actors showing the types of facial expressions he could perform. These included very rapid movements of the eyes, which apparently take many years of training to be able to perform.
They then performed a short story about a Prince in love with a lady who proves unfaithful and he then kills her.
The make-up is used partly to denote the type of character the actor is representing. The green is used for virtuous and royal characters, while the polished or pale makeup of the other actor indicates a woman, but is also used with sages and Brahmins.
Other characters may have black make-up, for low characters, red beards for aggressive or demonic people, white beards for mythical beings and black beards for tribal or forest men.
