Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects
Date of Degree
2-2023
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Ph.D.
Program
Theatre and Performance
Advisor
Jean Graham-Jones
Committee Members
Peter Eckersall
David Savran
Bishnupriya Dutt
Subject Categories
Community-Based Research | Cultural History | Dramatic Literature, Criticism and Theory | Quantitative, Qualitative, Comparative, and Historical Methodologies | Regional Sociology | Social History | Sociology of Culture | Theatre History | Theory and Criticism
Keywords
Indian theatre, indigenous/ folk/ regional performances of India, coloniality and theatre, globalization and theatre, theatre and the state, urban and rural theatres
Abstract
Indigenous Performances in Contemporary Indian Urban Public Theatres: Coloniality, Globalization, and the State examines the aesthetic and political dimensions of contemporary public theatres in the major Indian cities of Kolkata, Mumbai, and Delhi, with a special focus on the utilization of India’s indigenous precolonial (or extra-colonial) classical, regional, and folk performance forms, elements, and repertoires in such urban practice. Through dramaturgical, ethnographic, and archival analyses, this dissertation studies significant contemporary productions from representative urban Indian theatre groups, including Nandikar, Rangakarmee, and Padatik in Kolkata; the Indian People’s Theatre Association, Mumbai, Ekjute, and Rangshila in Mumbai; and Circle Theatre Company and the Akshara Theatre repertory in Delhi. It also explores the employment of India’s indigenous precolonial performance heritage in the curriculum and the creative activities of the foremost theatre training institution in the country: the National School of Drama (N.S.D.). Through such critical observations, this dissertation considers three key factors: the rationale for utilizing India’s indigenous precolonial performance forms, elements, and repertoires in contemporary urban public theatrical productions; the aesthetic and political dimensions of the hybrid theatrical experiences such utilizations result in; and the way such dimensions are imbricated in the larger forces of a colonial legacy, state cultural policy and apparatuses, and the neoliberal globalized economy of theatre-making and theatre-viewing. Thus, a multi-city lens of investigation proposes a theoretical and methodological model that explains the contingent role of India’s indigenous precolonial performance forms, elements, and repertoires in contemporary urban public theatres in the context of the differing cultural, political, and economic stakes of theatre practices prevalent in the country’s principal metropolises.
Recommended Citation
Sen, Mayurakshi, "Indigenous Performances in Contemporary Indian Urban Public Theatres: Coloniality, Globalization, and the State" (2023). CUNY Academic Works.
https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/5177
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Included in
Community-Based Research Commons, Cultural History Commons, Dramatic Literature, Criticism and Theory Commons, Quantitative, Qualitative, Comparative, and Historical Methodologies Commons, Regional Sociology Commons, Social History Commons, Sociology of Culture Commons, Theatre History Commons, Theory and Criticism Commons