HISTORY OF INDIAN ENGLISH DRAMA: A BRIEF OVERVIEW

JOURNAL OF CRITICAL REVIEWS, 2020

It is always a pleasure to an ardent literary learner to know the new insights or aspects of literature. Here in this paper,we try to give a few new insights of Indian English Drama of its origin and development till the present day. It is noteworthy that creativity, be it dance, music or writing-has been a perennial flow in India from times immemorial to this day.Writing drama is also as old tradition as anything in India. Indian English drama takes its roots from both Indian traditional drama and English drama of the West. Mostly the themes and art of narration of Indian English drama resemble the traditional Indian drama and the form and staging aspects are taken from the Western English drama. Thus, one can say that Indian English drama is the child of Indian traditional drama and Western English drama.

Vishwabharati Research Centre, Latur, India, 2018

The book Indian English Drama: Themes & Techniques is a volume of research articles on contemporary Indian dramatists and their works starting from Rabindranath Tagore to nearly all present generation of dramatists like Girish Karnad, Vijay Tendulkar, Mahesh Dattani, Badal Sirkar, Habib Tanvir, Utpal Dutt, Mahasweta Devi, Usha Ganguli, Manjula Padmanabhan, Mahesh Elkunchwar and Manoj Mitra. The book will be helpful in giving critical insight to understand the art and vision of contemporary Indian dramatists both from thematic and technical points of view. The introductory chapter of the book is very resourceful to understand the growth and development of Indian English drama. Authors have presented their critical viewpoints on almost every aspect of dramatic arts, themes and techniques pertaining to Indian playwrights and their works. The book will give many ground breaking concepts and ideas on Indian English drama and is useful for both researchers and learners.

The present paper discusses the meaning, origin and development of drama in India. The main focus lies on important Indian playwrightsin English. Drama is a composite art. Which involves playwright, the actors audience etc, on the stage. Hence it has its own problem where as other forms like prose, poetry are free. Indian English playwrights could solve these problems and enacted their play abroad.

India has the longest and the richest tradition in drama. The origin of Indian drama can be traced back to the Vedic Period. As a manifestation of our national sensibility Indian drama came into existence as a means of exploring and communicating the truth of things and was popularly known as the "Fifth Veda." During the age of the Vedic Aryans, drama was performed in a simple way. Different episodes from the Ramayana, the Mahabharta, and the Bhagavad-Gita were enacted out in front of people. Such type of performance is still very popular in India during the time of 'dussehra.' Bharata's Natyashastra in Sanskrit is the most pioneering work on Indian dance and drama. It discusses deftly all major aspects of drama, namely stage-setting, music, plot construction, characterization, dialogue and acting. Sanskrit drama flourished in its glory till the fifteenth century but thereafter Indian drama activity almost came to an end due to certain invasion on India. When Britishers came in India, the crippled Indian drama regained its strength. Thus, the western impact awakened Indian drama. However, K.R.Srinivasa Iyengar writes: Western education was as yet carrying all before it. It was the 'open sesame' to knowledge, freedom, power; it cut the old bonds of convention and tradition; it let in light into the old dark rooms of an obscurantist faith; and it made a new world and a new life possible for its beneficiaries.

QUEST, 2023

The rich tradition of the Indian theatre dates back atleast to 5000 years. The earliest book on dramaturgy NatyaSastrawas written by Bharataan Indian sage who unraveled the hidden connections between performance and religion, culture and mysticism. Also he spoke about the profound physical, metaphysical and spiritual affiliations embedded in this realm. Bharata in his NatyaSastra says that Gods are never so pleased on being worshipped with scents and garlands as they are delighted with the performance of drama. A host of playwrights who were primarily satisfied writing short-plays took to writing as it was meant for the purpose of reading. Their choice of writing was social themes with more preference, history next and at last allegory. It can be observed in a common glance that most of the playwrights were not serious enough to avail the source from the rich Sanskrit drama; probably they felt a new language had to find its roots from the native land. And so, Sri Aurobindo adopts the Elizabethan model, Kailasam had a strong interest in fashioning his play in the Shakespearean mould, BharathiSarabai was influenced by Yeats and many followed neither The East nor The West, but had their own way in the making of a play. Some had the interest to draw the source from ancient myths and legends.

Ancient Sanskrit literature is perhaps the oldest literature in the world. Sanskrit poetics is Indian poetics; it is an epitome of theories and laws related to poetry and drama. Like Aristotle‟s Poetics, Sanskrit poetics also focuses on the drama. Bharata‟s Natyashastra is a milestone in ancient Sanskrit poetics. Mahakavi Kalidasa occupies a unique place not only in Sanskrit but also on World drama. Bhasa, Bhavbhuti, Harsha, Shudrak and Ashvaghosha are some of the noted dramatist.

2021

Strictly as per the compliance and regulations of: AbstractThe source of the Indian theory of drama is the Nātyaśāstra of the sage Bharata, an encyclopedic treatise on all the aspects of dramaturgy. Bharata the instaurator and codifier of the Indian tradition of drama postulates theories of drama, music, dance, and poetry, construction of stage, the concept of rasa and the mimetic role of drama, etc. While neither Aristotle nor Plato applies to any form of Western dance style, in India, everyone goes back to Nātyaśāstra to find the source of various styles of Indian classical and regional dances and music. Metaphysically, the Indian theory of drama is based on Karma unlike the Greek theory of drama based on fate. At the outset, the present paper shall explore and discuss the origin of the Nātyaśāstra, and will analyze some of its most significant aspects.

International Journal of novel research and Development, 2023

Drama is one of the most beautiful and the highest form of artistic expression. It is a harmonious blending of dance, art, verse, melody and action. It is a long literary composition like the novel, a great source of

2016

Drama has been an integral part of the literary culture of India. Since the Vedic times, plays have been performed to instruct, inform and entertain the Indian masses. Bharatmuni's treatise on drama, Natyashastra, has been one of the oldest treatises on drama in the world. However, with the advent of the British in India, a new kind of drama was introduced; ever since then, Indian drama has undergone a massive transformation. As the country stepped into the twentieth century, the influence of the English language gradually began to be seen on drama as well. With playwrights like Sri Aurobindo and Rabindranath Tagore choosing to write in English, Indian English drama took its birth. Over the decades, especially in the post-independence era, many dramatists took to writing in the English language. The themes and the subject matter chosen started to assume a more contemporary outlook and with the surge of the great Indian middle classes, the dramatic scene underwent a total changeo...

Asian Theatre Journal, 2022