Theatre of India

Theatre of India began with Rigvedic dialogue hymns during the Vedic period. During the
Middle Ages, the Indian subcontinent was invaded a number of times. This played a major
role in shaping of Indian culture and heritage. Medieval India experienced a grand fusion
with the invaders from the Middle East and Central Asia. British India, as a colony of the
British Empire, used theatre as one of its instruments in protest. To resist, the British
Government had to impose "Dramatic Performances Act" in 1876. From the last half of the
19th century, theatres in India experienced a boost in numbers and practice.

After Indian independence in 1947, theatres spread throughout India as one of the means of
entertainment. 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 the
television industry and the spread of films produced in the Indian film industry based in
Mumbai (formerly Bombay), known as "Bollywood". Lack of finance is another major
trouble.

History of Indian theatre

Theatre in ancient India

Indian drama dates back to the Rigvedic dialogue hymns in the Vedic period. Drama was
later established as a distinct art form in the last few centuries BC. Bharata Muni wrote Natya
Shastra (ca. 200 BC - 200 AD), a dissertation on the structure and purpose of theatre in
society. Some of the most famous playwrights in ancient Sanskrit drama included Śudraka,
Bhāsa, Kalidasa and Dandi.

Possible ancient theatre structure from circa 300 BC is located at Jogimara and Sita Bengra
Caves in Ramgarh Hills, Chhattisgarh. Here, in natural crescent formed mountain slope, are
located rock-cut benches - approximately 50 seats. Jogimara Cave is artificially made rock-
cut structure which possibly served as a dressing room for actresses. Walls of this cave are
adorned with frescoes of mundane character[1] .

Theatre in medieval India

Theatre in India under British rule

In British indian rule theatre was first launched in india. when kolkata was the capital then a
theatre was started in belgachia.

Indian theatre after Independence (1947-1992)

Contemporary (post-1992) Indian theatre

Improvization
Improvisational theatre (also known as improv or impro) is a form of theatre in which the
improvisational actors/ improvisers use improvisational acting techniques to perform
spontaneously. Improvisers typically use audience suggestions to guide the performance as
they create dialogue, setting, and plot extemporaneously.

Many improvisational actors/ improvisers also work as scripted actors, and "improv"
techniques are often taught in standard acting classes. The basic skills of listening, clarity,
confidence, and performing instinctively and spontaneously are considered important skills
for actors to develop.

Improvisational Theatre in India is laregly used for educational, interventional and

entertainment purposes. The traces of Improvizational theatre in India dates back to the year
1990's with the advent of Forum Theatre with Janasanskriti through able leadership of Sanjoy
Ganguly. Post that in 1999, a team from US with Bev Hoskins and Mary Good introducing
Playback Theatre to India. Thus Playback Theatre and Forum Theatre began to take its shape
in the remotest part of India such as Karur, chennai, westbengal, apart from Bangalore too.
Yours Truly Theatre, a Bangalore based group developed "complete the story" an
indegenious format of improvizational theatre developed under the leadership of Ranji David
and Nandini Rao in 2006. In 2009 Yours Truly Theatre also developed another format of
Improv Theatre called "mushyara theatre"

Improvizational Theatre groups in India:

 Yours Truly Theatre

 Janasanskriti
 Jeevika
 Steerling Theatre
 Reds Theatre
 Script

Improvizational Theatre forms practiced in India:

 Playback Theatre
 Theatre of the Oppressed
 Forum Theatre
 Complete the story
 Mushayara Theatre
 Black Rainbow Project
 Perspective Theatre
 Improv Comedy

Notable theatres in India in different Indian languages

and regions
 Bengali Theatre
 Telugu drama

Notable people
Ancient Age

 Bharata
 Kalidasa
 Śudraka
 Bhāsa
 Bhavabhuti

Medieval age

Under British rule

 Bankim Chandra Chatterjee

 Dinabandhu Mitra
 Michael Madhusudan Dutta
 Rabindranath Tagore
 Bharatendu Harishchandra
 Jaishankar Prasad

After Independence (1947 onwards)

Notable theatre directors

 Kader Khan
 Prithviraj Kapoor
 Ebrahim Alkazi
 Ramesh Mehta
 Habib Tanvir
 Bansi Kaul
 Ratan Thiyam
 Suresh Bhardwaj
 Safdar Hashmi
 S. M. Azhar Alam
 Utpal Dutta
 Shankar Nag
 K.V. Subbanna
 B.V. Karanth
 K.V. Akshara
 Sambhu Mitra
 Prasanna
 Chandradasan
 Sachin Gupta
 Rudraprasad Sengupta
 Shafi Inamdar
 Satyadev Dubey
 Bijon Bhattacharya
 Mohan Maharishi
  Manish Joshi Bismil
 Gursharan Singh
 Arvind Gaur
 Ram Gopal Bajaj
 B.M. Shah
 Naseeruddin Shah
 Abhijeet Choudhary
 Mohit Takelkar
 Rohini Hattangadi

Notable playwrights

 Utpal Dutta (Bangla)

 Kader Khan (Urdu)
 Mahesh Dattani (English)
 Rambriksh Benipuri (Hindi)
 Ramesh Mehta (Urdu)
 Girish Karnad (Kannada)
 Vijay Tendulkar (Marathi)
 Badal Sarkar (Bangla)
 Swadesh Deepak (Hindi)
 Bhisham Sahni (Hindi)
 Dharamvir Bharati (Hindi)
 Mahesh Elkunchwar
 Mohan Rakesh (Hindi)
 Habib Tanvir (Urdu)
 Govind Purushottam Deshpande (Marathi)
 Narendra Mohan (Hindi)
 Asghar Wajahat (Urdu)
 Manjula Padmanabhan (English)
 Javed Siddiqui (Urdu)
 Rajesh Joshi
 Hrishikesh Sulabh
 B.M. Shah (Urdu)
 Partap Sharma (English)
 Asif Currimbhoy (English)
 Gurucharan Das (English)
 Shreekumar Varma
 Arun Mukherjee (Bangla)
 Datta Bhagat (Marathi)
 Surendra Verma (Hindi)
 Chandrasekhar Kambar (Kannada)

Forms of Indian theatre

Classical Indian dance
The most orthodox and complex form of musical theatre based on the Natya Shastra.

Traditional Indian theatre

Indian folk theatre

Bhavai (Strolling Players) is a popular folk theatre form of Gujarat, while Jatra has been
popular in Bengal, another folk theatre form popular in Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Malwa
region of Madhya Pradesh, is Swang, which dialogue-oriented rather than movement-
oriented.

yakshagana is a very popular theatre art in Karnataka. It is semi-classical in nature and

involves music and songs based on carnatic music, rich costumes, story line based on
Mahabharat and Ramayana. This theatre version also involves dialogue in between songs and
that gives it a folk art flavor.

Modern Indian theatre

 Swatantra Theatre,Pune
 Asakta Kala Manch,Pune

Indian puppet theatre

Yakshagana is a popular Semi-classical theatre art from costal Karnataka. This art involves
rich costume, music, dance and dialogue. Puppet shows in parts of Karnataka uses all these
elements of yakshagana to depict Ramayana and Mahabharata stories.

Indian street theatre

 Ideal Drama and Entertainment Academy

Jan Natya Manch (JANAM)

Drishtantar Arts Group, New Delhi

Other Indian theatres

Notable awards and festivals

Awards

 Sangeet Natak Akademi Award

 Theatre Pasta Theatre Awards
 Kalidas Samman
 Karmaveer Puraskaar Noble Laureates,Artistes for Change

Festivals
  Bharat Rang Mahotsav, NSD, New Delhi
 Nandikar's National Theatre Festival
 Purple Umbrella Theater Festival, Platform for Action in Creative Theater, New Delhi

Notable groups and companies

 Nandikar
 Ninasam
 Rangayana
 Ranga Shankara
 Prithvi Theatre
 Platform for Action in Creative Theater
 Dramanon
 Indian People's Theatre Association
 Chilsag Chillies Theatre Company
 Theatre Formation Paribartak
 Masquerade (Theatre Group)
 DramaTech
Notable stages

 Academy of Fine Arts, Calcutta (Ranu Mukherjee Mancha)

 Rabindra Sadan
Notable theatre to films

 Sohrab Modi
 Prithviraj Kapoor
 Kader Khan
 Om Shivpuri
 Kulbhushan Kharbanda
 Sudha Shivpuri
 Om Shivpuri
 Anupam Kher
 Shafi Inamdar
 Raj Babbar
 Ashish Vidyarthi
 Alok Nath
 Neena Gupta
 Rajpal Yadav
 Seema Biswas
 Meghna Kothari
 Satish Kaushik
 Suresh Bhardwaj
 Deepa Sahi
 Ratna Pathak Shah
 Pankaj Kapoor
 Kangana Ranawat
 Shahid Kapoor
 Paresh Rawal
 Shabana Azmi
 Shilpa Shukla
 Girish Karnad
 Ananth Nag
 Shankar Nag
 Rajkumar
 G V Iyer
 Piyush Mishra
 Kangana Ranaut
 Pasupathy
 Deepak Dobriyal
 Manu Rishi