The Indian Theatre, Its Origins and Its Later Developments Under European Influence.

Modern academic training for theatre in India has a history of just over fifty years (since independence). The National School of Drama (NSD) was set up in 1957, but the prime objective of the institution at that time was to generate professionals to develop children's theatre and rural theatre. Although India possessed a wide range of traditional performance cultures throughout the country, from rituals to folk performances and classical performances, the NSD was modelled on the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts (RADA) since the new institution was led by a graduate of RADA, Professor Ebrahim Alkazi, who put the institution on a functional track. Thus the toolkit used during the initial days was primarily based on Western models conducive to realism rather than growing organically out of the actual practices of the different forms of Indian performance. This early orientation remains today, emphasizing the creation of referential meanings on the stage through conventional methods and devices, taken as the unshakable organizing principle of theatre practice.

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Shakespeare and Indian Theatre

10.5040/9789389812640 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Vikram Singh Thakur

Keyword(s):

Indian Theatre

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Mahesh Dattani’s Dance Like a Man: A Depiction of the Trials and Tribulations of an Androgynous Personality

Rupkatha Journal on Interdisciplinary Studies in Humanities ◽

10.21659/rupkatha.v12n5.rioc1s11n2 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Chhavi ◽

◽

Rajiv Bhushan ◽

Keyword(s):

Gender Roles ◽

Hegemonic Masculinity ◽

Indian Society ◽

Indian Family ◽

Cultural Domain ◽

Conventional Practice ◽

Indian Theatre

Abstract Mahesh Dattani is one of the leading Indian dramatists who responded to the problems of sexuality on the canvass of Indian theatre. He examined various facets of subjugation and marginalization rampant in Indian society. His plays focus on the sub-urban Hindu family and its trifle with gender and alternate sexuality. His plots revolve around the damaging implications of patriarchal constructs and his characters strive for liberty and self-satisfaction beneath hegemonic masculinity, compulsive heteronormativity and prejudiced cultural domain. Regarding his famous play Dance Like a Man, this paper critically examines the existing socio-cultural domain which practices politics of exclusion of androgynous identities behind the façade of peacefully cohabiting heterosexual Indian family and shows how Dattani, has remarkably countered the presentation of the polarized association of gender roles with conventional practice through performance of his protagonist. Set against the backdrop of patriarchal mindset, this paper delineates that the victim of patriarchal norms is not a woman but a man, who has traits of androgyny. It gives a brief account to highlight the significance of androgyny and portrays how androgyny is directly proportional to creativity. It elucidates how androgynous men undergo searing experiences of stigma and social untouchability in a traditional setup and how patriarchal norms reinforce dominant powers of society to stunt the growth of their personality.

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Traditional and modern versions of “Ramayana” in Indian theatre of flat leather puppets “tolpava koothu”

Etnografia ◽

10.31250/2618-8600-2019-4(6)-132-145 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 6 (4) ◽

pp. 132-145

Author(s):

Stoliarova E. V. ◽

Keyword(s):

Indian Theatre

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Introduction

Theatre Research International ◽

10.1017/s030788331700061x ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 42 (3) ◽

pp. 323-326

Author(s):

BISHNUPRIYA DUTT

Keyword(s):

Educational Institutions ◽

The Public ◽

National Theatre ◽

Research Areas ◽

National School ◽

History Of ◽

The Common ◽

The Public Sphere ◽

Historical Transition ◽

Indian Theatre

These three essays on distinct research areas and case studies cover a broad history of educational institutions in India, their focus on theatre and cultural education, and their role in creating citizens active in the public sphere and civic communities. The common point of reference for all the three essays is the historical transition from pre- to post-independence India, and they represent three dominant genres of Indian theatre practice: the amateur progressive theatre emerging out of sociopolitical movements; the State Drama School, which has remained at the core of the state's policy and vision of a national theatre; and college theatre, which comprises the field from which the National School of Drama sources its acting students, as well as new audiences for urban theatres.

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