Theatre is God Krishna, Lila , and Freedom Origins of Child Performers in the Râs Lila Acting in the Râs Lila and Real Realism Theatre is Religion: the Acting Audience

Theatre and Religion on Krishna s Stage examines the history and form of India's râs lila folk theatre, and discusses how this theatre functions as a mechanism of worship and spirituality among Krishna devotees in India. From analyses of performances and conversations with performers, audience, and local scholars, Mason argues that râs lila actors and audience alike actively assume roles that locate them together in the spiritual reality that the play represents. Correlating Krishna devotion and theories of religious experience, this book suggests that the emotional experience of theatrical fiction may arise from the propensity of audiences to play out roles of their own through which they share a performance's reality.

DAVID V. MASON is Assistant Professor of Theatre at Rhodes College, USA.