The Colonial Theatre in India

Extract

Hindu mythology claims that human activities are governed by four philosophical treatises (Veda) which were divinely conceived. A fifth Veda concerned with a religiously correct form of drama was later added and it became known as ‘Bharata's Natyashastra’. This text, originally written in Sanskrit, is particularly striking for its thoroughly detailed directives on how theatre ought to be performed. This Vedic or Temple theatre was only for the members of the Higher Castes: actors and audiences alike were necessarily Brahmins. This patrician theatre flourished between the third and ninth centuries and then fell into oblivion because of its inability to become a popular art form.