India has one of the world’s richest theater traditions. In Drama Contemporary: India, Erin Mee gathers six modern plays from across the country that demonstrate the vitality of Indian theater today. This volume focuses specifically on contemporary plays written in the last five to fourteen years. Written from different perspectives and in different styles, each of the plays addresses issues facing modern India. Both Girish Karnad’s The Fire and the Rain and K.N. Panikkar’s Aramba Chekkan belong to the "theater of roots" movement. Usha Ganguli’s Rudali is linked to the women’s theater movement, and the Wooden Cart by Tripurari Sharma, though not a street theater piece, comes out of that tradition. Routes and Escape Routes by Datta Bhagat belongs to the Dalit Sahitya (literature of the oppressed) genre. Mahesh Dattani’s Tara, a product of India’s English-language theater movement, challenges the Anglo-Indian literary tradition. This volume will introduce readers to the country’s rich and varied theatrical culture, and highlight some of the extremely talented playwrights they might not already know.
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