Play House of Power: Theatre in Colonial India

Theatre has been largely overlooked as a field of analysis on colonial studies. It was an important site of representation of dominant political forces and the counter hegemonic struggles during the colonial period. Arguing that theatre needs to be understood against the wider social, material and political backdrop, this volume provides an insightful analysis of theatre in colonial India. The book is divided into two sections. The first section deals with the politics of colonial theatre; theatre and modernity; intersecting domains of high and low culture and western and Indian genres; and theatre as a site of appropriation and contestation. The second part focuses on theatre's multifaceted relation to gender. In addition, the collection also discusses theatre's relation to music, musical genres, and cultural norms, and the radical force of performance.