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Series:   Elements in Theatre, Performance and the Political

Utpal Dutt and Political Theatre in Postcolonial India

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 March 2024

Mallarika Sinha Roy
Mallarika Sinha Roy
Affiliation:
Jawaharlal Nehru University

Summary

Among the most significant playwrights and theatre-makers of postcolonial India, Utpal Dutt (1929–1993), was an early exponent of rethinking colonial history through political theatre. Dutt envisaged political theatre as part of the larger Marxist project, and his incorporation of new developments in Marxist thinking, including the contributions of Antonio Gramsci, makes it possible to conceptualise his protagonists as insurgent subalterns. A decolonial approach to staging history remained a significant element in Dutt's artistic project. This Element examines Dutt's passionate engagement with Marxism and explores how this sense of urgency was actioned through the writing and producing of plays about the peasant revolts and armed anti-colonial movements which took place during the period of British rule. Drawing on contemporary debates in political theatre regarding the autonomy of the spectator and the performance of history, the author locates Dutt's political theatre in a historical frame.
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Keywords

political theatrepostcolonial IndiadecolonizationUtpal DuttIndian theatre
Type
Element
Information
Series: Elements in Theatre, Performance and the Political
Online ISBN: 9781009264068
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication: 11 April 2024

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