This book is the first of its kind offering a materialistic semiotic analysis of a non-Western theatre culture: Bengali group theatre. Arnab Banerji fills two lacunas in contemporary theatre scholarship. First, the materialist semiotic approach to studying a non-Western theatre event allows Banerji to critically examine the material conditions in which theatre is created and seen outside the Euro-American context. And second, by shifting the critical lens onto a contemporary urban theatre phenomenon from India, the book attempts to even out the scholastic imbalance in Indian theatre scholarship which has largely focused on folk and classical traditions. The book shows a refreshing new perspective toward a theatre culture that frequently escapes the critical lens in spite of being one of the largest urban theatre cultures in the world. Theatre events are a sum total of the conditions in which they are built and the conditions in which they are viewed. Studying the event separate from its materialistic beginnings and semiotic effects allow only a partial insight into the performance phenomenon. The materialist semiotic critical framework of this book locates the Bengali group theatre within its performative context and offers a heretofore unexplored insight into this vibrant theatre culture.

"The present book seeks to provide a generic introduction to the contemporary theatre scenario in different parts of India. Researched and written over a period of nearly a decade, it adopts an approach that may be best termed as quasi-academic and quasi-journalistic. Primarily, it affords understanding as well as interpretation of the trends, experiments and major works; but, in the process, it takes up serious issues for closer scrutiny. Nevertheless, the overall tone and tenor continue to be rather informal throughout. the book was born of interaction with both established and uprising exponents of the theatre arts -- playwrights, directors, performers, designers, critics, etc.; but it purposefully eschews critical or technical jargon. Ultimately, what we get is a phenomenal attempt to build a comprehensive as well as a perceptive overview of the complex and ever-growing dynamics of the contemporary theatres of India as practised in various regions, languages, cultures." -- Back cover.

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.

Since the late nineteenth century, theatre has played a significant role in shaping social and political awareness in India. It has served to raise concerns in post-Independence India as well. Modern Indian Theatre: A Reader brings together writings that speak to the historical contexts from which theatrical practices emerged-colonization, socio-cultural suppression and appropriation, intercultural transformations brought about by the impact of the colonial forces, and acute critical engagement with socio-political issues brought about by the hopes and failures of Independence. The volume addresses pertinent questions like how drama influences social change, the response of drama to the emergence and domination of mass media and the proliferation and influence of western media in India, and how mediations of gender, class, and caste influence drama, its language, forms, and aesthetics. The Introduction by Nandi Bhatia provides a comprehensive understanding of the interface between Indian theatre and 'modernity'.

After Independence, in 1947, in their efforts to create an 'Indian' theatre that was different from the Westernized, colonial theatre, Indian theatre practitioners began returning to their 'roots' in classical dance, religious ritual, martial arts, popular entertainment and aesthetic theory. The Theatre of Roots - as this movement was known - was the first conscious effort at creating a body of work for urban audiences combining modern European theatre with traditional Indian performance while maintaining its distinction from both. By addressing the politics of aesthetics and by challenging the visual practices, performer/spectator relationships, dramaturgical structures and aesthetic goals of colonial performance, the movement offered a strategy for reassessing colonial ideology and culture and for articulating and defining a newly emerging 'India'. Theatre of Roots presents an in-depth analysis of this movement: its innovations, theories, goals, accomplishments, problems and legacies.

"The present book seeks to provide a generic introduction to the contemporary theatre scenario in different parts of India. Researched and written over a period of nearly a decade, it adopts an approach that may be best termed as quasi-academic and quasi-journalistic. Primarily, it affords understanding as well as interpretation of the trends, experiments and major works; but, in the process, it takes up serious issues for closer scrutiny. Nevertheless, the overall tone and tenor continue to be rather informal throughout. the book was born of interaction with both established and uprising exponents of the theatre arts -- playwrights, directors, performers, designers, critics, etc.; but it purposefully eschews critical or technical jargon. Ultimately, what we get is a phenomenal attempt to build a comprehensive as well as a perceptive overview of the complex and ever-growing dynamics of the contemporary theatres of India as practised in various regions, languages, cultures." -- Back cover.