Poetics, Plays, and Performances: The Politics of Modern Indian Theatre

This book addresses the political and aesthetic concerns of modern Indian theatre, tracing its genealogies, and looking in particular at its appropriation of 'folk' theatre, as it sought to constitute itself anew after independence. Vasudha Dalmia delves into the past, to the plays of Bharatendu Harishchandra in 1870s Banaras, and to Jayshankar Prasad and Mohan Rakesh, landmark figures in the history of modern Indian drama. Dalmia then focuses on the intense urban interaction with folk thea...