Colonial Staged

Theatre In Colonial Calcutta

Chatterjee Sudipto

From the late eighteenth century, Calcutta, first city of the British empire, has been a hub of intersecting ideas and movements of change. Nowhere did the restless currents of history play themselves out more graphically than in the composite art of theatre and performance. This pioneering study of the history of the Bengali theatre looks at the plays mounted in the city in the 18th and 19th centuries and their reception. It goes on to study the cultural efflorescence known as the "Bengal Renaissance" and the subsequent politicisation of a theatre imbued with ideas of nationalism and social reform, with a particular focus on the complex and problematic issue of the place of women in theatre.

About the Author

Sudipto Chatterjee is a director, playwright, actor and documentary filmmaker and teaches theatre at the University of California, Berkeley.

Reviews

"A dazzling tour de force; Sudipto Chatterjee's book offers a richly delineated account of theatrical performances and cross-cultural and colonial encounters on the 19th-Century Calcutta Stage. Enriched by the perspectives of colonial history and postcolonial theory, this book should be of great interest to scholars in the fields of performance studies, cultural studies, ethnography, and literature" – Jyotsna G. Singh, Michigan State University

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