The collection of essays in this volume, grouped in three sections under the headings: General Perspectives, Traditions of Theatre, and Modern Idiom in Theatre, reveal the author's complete mastery on the various aspects of Indian culture, particularly the theatre arts. The essays reverberate with an intensity of feeling for the ritual or folk theatre of Kerala: more through Sankara Pillai's eye and pen the vision of Earth as Mother and Mother as Earth in her diverse forms is revealed. Equally powerful are the essays devoted to contemporary literature and theatre. The author incisively analyses the theatre scene in India in its aspects of both national phenomena as also international with European movements.