Katakana is a Japanese syllabary, one component of the Japanese writing system along with hiragana, kanji and in some cases the Latin script. The word katakana means "fragmentary kana", as the katakana characters are derived from components or fragments of more complex kanji. Katakana and hiragana are both kana systems. With one or two minor exceptions, each syllable in the Japanese language is represented by one character or kana, in each system; each kana represents either a vowel such as "a". In contrast to the hiragana syllabary, used for Japanese words not covered by kanji and for grammatical inflections, the katakana syllabary usage is quite similar to italics in English. Katakana are characterized by sharp corners. There are two main systems of ordering katakana: the old-fashioned iroha ordering and the more prevalent gojūon ordering; the complete katakana script consists of 48 characters, not counting functional and diacritic marks: 5 nucleus vowels 42 core or body syllabograms, consisting of nine consonants in combination with each of the five vowels, of which three possible combinations are not canonical 1 coda consonantThese are conceived as a 5×10 grid, as shown in the adjacent table, read ア, イ, ウ, エ, オ, カ, キ, ク, ケ, コ and so on.

The gojūon inherits its consonant order from Sanskrit practice. In vertical text contexts, which used to be the default case, the grid is presented as 10 columns by 5 rows, with vowels on the right hand side and ア on top. Katakana glyphs in the same row or column do not share common graphic characteristics. Three of the syllabograms to be expected, yi, ye and wu, may have been used idiosyncratically with varying glyphs, but never became conventional in any language and are not present at all in modern Japanese; the 50-sound table is amended with an extra character, the nasal stop ン. This can appear in several positions, most next to the N signs or, because it developed from one of many mu hentaigana, below the u column, it may be appended to the vowel row or the a column. Here, it is shown in a table of its own; the script includes two diacritic marks placed at the upper right of the base character that change the initial sound of a syllabogram. A double dot, called dakuten, indicates a primary alteration.

Secondary alteration, where possible, is shown by a circular handakuten: h→p. Diacritics, though used for over a thousand years, only became mandatory in the Japanese writing system in the second half of the 20th century, their application is limited in proper writing systems, but may be more extensive in academic transcriptions. Furthermore, some characters may have special semantics when used in smaller size after a normal one, but this does not make the script bicameral; the layout of the gojūon table promotes a systematic view of kana syllabograms as being always pronounced with the same single consonant followed by a vowel, but this is not the case. Existing schemes for the romanization of Japanese either are based on the systematic nature of the script, e.g. nihon-siki チ ti, or they apply some Western graphotactics the English one, to the common Japanese pronunciation of the kana signs, e.g. Hepburn-shiki チ chi. Both approaches conceal the fact, that many consonant-based katakana signs those canonically ending in u, can be used in coda position, where the vowel is unvoiced and therefore perceptible.

Of the 48 katakana syllabograms described above, only 46 are used in modern Japanese, one of these is preserved for only a single use: wi and we are pronounced as vowels in modern Japanese and are therefore obsolete, being supplanted by i and e respectively. Wo is now used only as a particle, is pronounced the same as vowel オ o; as a particle, it is written in hiragana and the katakana form, ヲ, is uncommon. A small version of the katakana for ya, yu or yo may be added to katakana ending in i; this changes the i vowel sound to a glide to a, u or o, e.g. キャ /kja/. Addition of the small y kana is called yōon. Small versions of the five vowel kana are sometimes used to represent trailing off sounds, but in katakana they are more used in yōon-like extended digraphs designed to represent phonemes not present in Japanese. A character called a sokuon, visually identical to a small tsu ッ, indicates that the following consonant is geminated. In Japanese this is an important distinction in pronunciation.

Geminated consonants are common in transliterations of foreign loanwords. The sokuon sometimes appears at the e

Mali Finn, born Mary Alice Mann, was an American casting director and former English and drama teacher. She cast numerous actors in successful films, including Edward Furlong, Leonardo DiCaprio, Russell Crowe. Born as Mary Alice Mann on March 8, 1938, in Danville, she moved to Minneapolis, where she received a bachelor's degree in theater from the University of Minnesota, she was married to Don Finn, a theater director and professor of directing and acting at The Guthrie and California State University Fullerton, had one child with him. In the early 1980s Finn was a beloved drama teacher at Holland High School in Holland, where she challenged her students with difficult productions such as You Can't Take It with You, she lectured in English Literature at Hope College in the early 70s. In 1981 the couple moved to Newport Beach, where Finn's career as a casting director began, she had a handful of casting credits on her résumé, including The Untouchables, when she established her own firm, Mali Finn Casting, in 1989.

She boosted Leonardo DiCaprio's career by casting him in the James Cameron film Titanic. A. Confidential. Finn discovered actor Brad Renfro when he was ten years old and cast him in Joel Schumacher's The Client. Finn cast 90 movies and television series during her career. Director Curtis Hanson worked with her on four of his films: L. A. Confidential, Wonder Boys, 8 Mile, Lucky You, she was featured prominently in the "Fame" episode of The Human Face, presented by John Cleese. Finn won numerous awards for her work, including the Artios Award for Best Casting for both L. A. Confidential and the HBO movie 61*, she won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Casting for a Miniseries, Movie, or Special for 61* and was nominated for another Emmy for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Casting for Indictment: The McMartin Trial. Finn retired in 2006 due to melanoma, the cause of her death at age 69 on November 28, 2007, at her home in Sonoma County, California. 10,000 B. C Dirty Hands Lucky You The Number 23 The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford Shooter Running with Scissors Seraphim Falls Walker Payne North Country Dark Water The Assassination of Richard Nixon Undertow Raising Helen The Girl Next Door The Big Bounce The Matrix Revolutions The Matrix Reloaded All the Real Girls Out of Time Phone Booth 8 Mile Never Get Outta the Boat K-19: The Widowmaker High Crimes Joy Ride 61* Tigerland The Weight of Water Running Mates Reindeer Games The Green Mile The Love Letter Best Laid Plans The Matrix 8MM Your Friends & Neighbors Titanic Batman & Robin L.

A. Confidential Sunday The Chamber Foxfire A Time to Kill Eye for an Eye Batman Forever The Client True Lies The Air Up There House of Cards That Night Hot Shots! Terminator 2: Judgment Day Welcome Home, Roxy Carmichael Pacific Heights Flatliners Split Decisions Lady in White The Untouchables Outrageous Fortune Mali Finn on IMDb Bio on Gus Van Sant's Elephant MethodFest honors Mali Finn Casting director Mali Finn dies Los Angeles Times: Casting director brought a deft touch to'Titanic,"L. A. Confidential' Obituary in Boston Globe

Sambalpuri drama are a typical drama performance in Sambalpuri Odia language of western Orissa, India. The "naach gaana" in the streets of villages of the western Orissa regions are traditionally based on the plots of Ramayana and other religion epics. During the early days Ram-Parshuram bhet was recognized as a form of street play. "Ramlila" is performed in several villages. Majority of the dramas are performed in open air auditoriums where people stand surrounding the stage to observe; the great visionary Pundit Prayag Dutt Joshi wrote one drama Kapat Biha in 1936 and it was staged in Raj Khariar in that year. Sambalpuri drama are organized at different parts of Western Orissa to revive the Sambalpuri drama theater tradition. Artists from different parts of Western Orissa and other parts of the country are invited for this festival. Sambalpuri Naatbadi a state level drama festival is organized at Sadeipali, Balangir during the month of January. Various cultural organizations of Western Odisha region participate in the week-long Sambalpuri drama festival.

Matkhai Mahotsav, a multilingual theatre festival is organized in Balangir town. This festival brings cultural troupes from all part of India together. Various local cultural troupes perform folk musics viz. Ghubukudu and Kendra. Yuba Udayan Association, Sambalpur started in 1997 to bring all the theatre activists together. Veer Surendra Sai All Orissa Sambalpuri Drama Competition was born for the revival of Sambalpuri drama activities by Yuba Udayan Association, Sambalpur. In the inaugural year only 19 plays were presented and the next fourteen years witnessed 455 plays being staged. Sambalpuri theatre has engaged scripts and artists to work for performing these dramas. Belpahar Uchhab "Machan" 18 to 22 Dec every year Belpahar Uchhab Machan National Theatre festival; the festival started in 2004. KRANTI Balangir. A 40-year-old drama organization started by Abdul Jamal khan. Kranti Balangir staged. KRANTI stage 3-4 plays every year. One of the most popular plays by Kranti is Bigul by Akram Durrani.

Akram Durrani a young director from Western Orissa. "PACHEN" "Badkha Dada" Mirror Theatre Kuili Kuili Kia Raja Maet Maa Dwithiya Gandhi Bhat Muthe Lal Paen Pachen Dhankhed File Tangar Aljhat E Phul Pari Ram Naam Sat Rahe Aahinsaka Bhok Antankbad Tanko Guhu Kurey Phular Katha Antra Ubelia Utpat Siluan Angen Mousumi Tumar aamar Katha Surusthi Aintha Ujaar Gadhar Katha Kua ra Gharen Kuili Raja Luhur Rang Vikash Tokemara Khaman Rani Lahanger Tokemara Tirkut Bhanga Kachen Chaka Jan Bigul By Akram durrani Badkha Dada by Mirror Theatre, Belpahar April-27 by Mirror Theatre, Belpahar Black Paradise by Akram durrani Swayam Brahma by Akram durrani Adham Chhuchhata Asha Ramarajya Laal chithi Debri gaal Time-up By Akram Durrani Rikshabala Orissa revives its culture with Kosli Naatbadi fest Kosli Naatbadi