Theatre of India

Ranga Shankara, one of the most active theatres in Bangalore

Indian Theatre is an old and variegated art form. Bharata wrote Natya Shastra (200 BC - 400 AD), a dissertation on the structure and purpose of theatre in society. Plays were written mainly under patronization of the kings and in verse form.

India has never been the permanent settlement of one culture. India was invaded a number of times and in every case a part of the invaders stayed in their conquered lands. They played a major role in shaping of Indian culture and heritage. The Medieval India experienced a grand fusion with the invaders from the middle-east.

India, as a colony of the British Empire, used theatre as one of its instruments in protest. To resist, the British Govt. had to impose Dramatic Performance Act in 1876. From the last half of the 19th century, theatres in India experienced a boost in numbers and practice.

After independence in 1947, theatres spread throughout India as one of the means of entertainment and one of the means of protest.

India, being a multi-cultural nation, cannot be associated with a unique trend and feature in its theatres.

Presently, major threats to Indian Theatre are the spread of Television Industry and spread of the Cinema produced in the Mumbai film industry. Lack of finance is another major trouble.

History of Indian theatre

Theatre in ancient India

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Theatre in medieval India

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Theatre in India under British rule

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Indian theatre after Independence (1947-1992)

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Contemporary (post-1992) Indian theatre

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Improvization

Improvization is a very new art form to India. Very few theatre groups and very few public performances have been done.

A few theatre groups who practise improvization: Yours Truly Theatre

Yours Truly Theatre uses playback theatre, complete the story format, and other theatre format done in the improvization style.

Theatre in India in different Indian languages and regions

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Personalities in Indian theatre

Ancient Age

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Medieval age

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Under British rule

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After Independence (1947 onwards)

(More to be added and ordered alphabetically)

Forms of Indian theatre

Classical Indian dance

The most orthodox and complex form of musical theatre based on the Natya Shastra. dance dance revolution rules!

Traditional Indian theatre

(To be expanded) See Guru Padma Shri Mani Madhava Chakyar, Mani Damodara Chakyar and Kutiyattam

Indian folk theatre

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Modern Indian theatre

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Indian puppet theatre

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Indian street theatre

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Other Indian theatres

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Awards and festivals in Indian theatre

Awards

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Festivals

Nandikar's National Theatre Festival

Hindu-Evam Metroplus Theatre festival

Nehru Centre's National Theatre Festival

11TH NATIONAL THEATRE FESTIVAL 2007

Comprising of 21 reputed Indian plays from 9 centres in 11 languages, presented over 14 days

(This festival features traditional and contemporary plays, as well as adaptations of classical plays in several regional languages, English and Sanskrit)

From Kerala we have the privilege of having Sopanam again with the maestro Kevalam Narayana Panikkar coming with a Malayalam play Otta Mulachi and a Sanskrit classic in Kalidas’s Malavikaagnimitram. Aamchi Mumbai and Marathi boast of a duet, being Vijay Mishra’s local Choukatali Vihir, while Saish Deshpande’s Waiting Room comes from Panaji, Goa. This may well have been three if Waman Kendre had not decided to do his own adaptation of Sophocles’s Oedipus Rex in Hindustani this time, tilted Vedhapashya! Other Hindustani plays are Ekjute’s Romeo & Juliet, Devendra Raj Ankur’s Hum Tumse Pyar Karega Kaun, Dinesh Thakur’s Mitr, Sunil Shanbag’s take on Mumbai mill workers, Cotton 56, Polyester 84, Suresh Sharma’s Kaafka – Ek Adhyay, Sanjay Sahay’s take on Nikolai Gogol’s Inspector-General titled Jaanch Partal coming from Gaya in Bihar and, quite significantly for this festival, Prasanna’s very own interpretation of Mahakavi Bhavbhuti’s (also known as Bhavabhuti ) UIttara Ramacharitha.

Suren Thakar Mehul’s Mrutunjay is in Gujarati, Santanu Das’s Manush-Manushi in Bengali, Kewal Dhaliwal’s Loona in Punjabi and Chidambara Rao Jambhe’s Oh Lear in Kannada. Distance never being a problem for this festival, from the most eastern and least accessible part of India comes Baharul Islam’s Assamese offering Apeksha. Did we leave anything out? Yes, the Konkani play coming from Goa, being Kala Academy Goa’s Devchar Khelayata, Mogyank Melayta, an interpretation of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, directed by Jayendranath Haladankar.

Institutional aids in Indian theatre

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Major groups and companies in Indian theatre

ABOUT EVAM
evam [aei-vum] adv so, also; conj and; used as a link between parts of a sentence

(or people or mediums); (sl) cool; fun; enthu; young; esp positive energy evam is envisioned to be a stress busting factory – capable of conceiving and delivering an entertaining tale to its audience, in whatever medium it deems suitable– theatre, television or cinema, or delectable combinations of them all!

evam [aei-vum] adv addition; n professional Currently active in the form of live theatre content; shows for public, corporates and fund-raisers, we pride ourselves as an entertaining and engaging marketing communications media for our brand partners!

evam [aei-vum] n entertainment; adj entertaining; fig (creating) At evam, we bust your stress. ps:and have a ball doing it!

[1] Yours Truly Bangalore
DRAMATECH, New Delhi [2]

Major productions in Indian theatre

(More to be added and arranged chronologically)

Famous and/or popular stages in Indian theatre

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Indian theatre in foreign languages

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Indian theatre in other countries

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Foreign plays and/or plots in Indian theatre

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Problems and issues in Indian theatre

Finance

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Theatre for poor versus poor theatre

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Theatre versus television

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Theatre for development in India

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External links