Indian Theatre

This Is The First Volume Of The Six-Volume History Of Indian Theatre. Written By An Eminent Scholar M.L, Varadpande This Veritable Encyclopedia Speaks About An Early Phase Of India S Theatre History, Which Also Is The History Of India S Fine Arts. For The First Time The Origin And Evolution Of Theatrical Arts In India Is Traced In An Elaborate Manner Providing An Insight Into One Of The Oldest Theatrical Traditions Of The World. The Book Draws From The Sources Including Mesolithic Cave Paintings, Ancient Archaeological Finds And Mass Of Literature Belonging To The Vedic And Buddhist Era To Give You The Complete Picture Of India S Theatre History.In A Lucid Style It Tells About Ritualistic Dances And Hunt Dramas Of Aboriginals; Statuettes Of Dancers, Jesters And String Manipulated Puppet Toys Belonging To Earliest Known Urban Civilization Of India The Indus Civilization; Dramatic Rituals Full Of Dancing, Singing And Music; The Dancing Gods And Compositions In Dialogue Form Of Early Aryans; The Troupes Of Actors Moving In The Country Enacting Humorous Plays And Erotic Dances; Efforts Of The State Administration To Impose Entertainment Tax And Strict Code Of Censors And The Flourishing Theatre Of The People. The Book Also Tells About The Advent Of Greeks In India And Their Theatrical Activities, Staging Of A Play Agen In The Military Camp Of Alexander The Great And The Play Written In Greek And Indian Languages Found In Egypt. It Discusses The Problem Of Greek Influence On Indian Theatre In Detail And Speaks About Indian View Of Theatre.This Well-Documented And Profusely Illustrated Work Presents An Enchanting Panorama Of India S Early Theatre History In A Manner At Once Scholarly And Interesting. Known For His Erudition And Profound Scholarship, M.L. Varadpande (B; 1936) Is An Eminent Theatre Historian Of India. His Major Works Published By Abhinav Publications Are Traditions Of Indian Theatre, Ancient Indian And Indo-Greek Theatre, Religion And Theatre And Krishna Theatre In India. His Other Well-Known Works On Indian Theatre Are Invitation To An Indian Theatre And The Critique Of Indian Theatre (Ed.). The Sahita Akademi, India S National Academy Of Letters, Has Published His Book Shripad Krishna Kolhatkar In Marathi (Out Of Print), Hindi (Second Edition) And Punjabi. It Is Now Being Translated Into English. His Forthcoming Works Are The Mahabharata In Performance And Ankia Nat: Vaishnava Opera Of Assam. As A Research Fellow Of The Indian Council Of Historical Research He Is Working On The Research Project Temple Theatre In India.

Indian Theatre expands the boundaries of what is usually regarded as theatre in order to explore the multiple dimensions of theatrical performance in India. From rural festivals to contemporary urban theatre, from dramatic rituals and devotional performances to dance-dramas and classical Sanskrit plays, this volume is a vivid introduction to the colourful and often surprising world of Indian performance. Besides mapping the vast range of performance traditions, the volume provides in-depth treatment of representative genres, including well-known forms such as Kathakali and ram lila and little-knowa performances such as tamasha. Each of these chapters explains the historical background of the theatre form under consideration and interprets its dramatic literature, probes its ritual or religious significance, and, where relevant, explores its social and political implications. Moreover, each chapter, except for those on the origins of Indian theatre, concludes with performance notes describing the actual experience of seeing a live performance in its original context. Based on extensive fieldwork, Indian Theatre is the first comprehensive account of the subject to be written by Western specialists and addressed to the needs of readers in the West. It will be a valuable resource for all students of Indian culture and a standard work in the history of theatre and performance for years to come.

This work discusses why so many western theatre workers have come to India and what they were looking for. It identifies Indian theatre as a site of reappraisal and renewal both in India and in the world of performance.

This book looks at adaptations, translations and performance of Shakespeare's productions in India from the mid-18th century, when British officers in India staged Shakespeare's plays along with other English playwrights for entertainment, through various Indian adaptations of his plays during the colonial period to post-Independence period. It studies Shakespeare in Bengali and Parsi theatre at length. Other theatre traditions, such as Marathi, Kannada, Malayalam and Hindi, have been included. The book dwells on the fascinating story of the languages of India that have absorbed Shakespeare's work and have transformed the original educated Indian's Shakespeare into the popular Shakespeare practice of the 19th and 20th centuries, and the unique urban-folkish tradition in postcolonial India.

Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. We are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.

In an age where academic curriculum has essentially pushed theatre studies into ‘post-script’, and the cultural ‘space’ of making and watching theatre has been largely usurped by the immense popularity of television and ‘mainstream’ cinemas, it is important to understand why theatre still remains a ‘space’ to be reckoned as one’s ‘own’. This book argues for a ‘theatre’ of ‘their own’ of the Indian women playwrights (and directors), and explores the possibilities that modern Indian theatre can provide as an instrument of subjective as well as social/ political/ cultural articulations and at the same time analyses the course of Indian theatre which gradually underwent broadening of thematic and dramaturgic scope in order to accommodate the independent voices of the women playwrights and directors.

This book revisits Hans-Thies Lehmann's theory of the postdramatic and participates in the ongoing debate on the theatre paradigm by placing contemporary Indian performance within it. None of the Indian theatre-makers under study built their works directly on the Euro-American model of postdramatic theatre, but many have used its vocabulary and apparatus in innovative, transnational ways. Their principal aim was to invigorate the language of Indian urban theatre, which had turned stale under the stronghold of realism inherited from colonial stage practice or prescriptive under the decolonizing drive of the 'theatre of roots' movement after independence. Emerging out of a set of different historical and cultural contexts, their productions have eventually expanded and diversified the postdramatic framework by crosspollinating it with regional performance forms. Theatre in India today includes devised performance, storytelling across forms, theatre solos, cross-media performance, theatre installations, scenographic theatre, theatre-as-event, reality theatre, and so on. The book balances theory, context and praxis, developing a new area of scholarship in Indian theatre. Interspersed throughout are Indian theatre-makers' clarifications of their own practices vis-à-vis those in Europe and the US.