Raja Bharthari Nautanki

Nautanki

Drawing on more than 4 decades of experience working in Nautanki as a writer, director, singer, and actor, Sharma's book is the first major study to analyse Nautanki not only through its literary bases, but also through live performances, considering it both in a historical vein and as contemporary theatre on the ground. What entertained India's masses and elites before the arrival of cinema in India? When did “modern” theatre begin in India and how did Nautanki contribute to its rise? In this book, renowned theatre scholar and 7th-generation Nautanki artist Devendra Sharma examines the theatrical form of Nautanki-its history, organisational structure, narratives, poetics, musical structures, artists, and performance spaces-which flourished in North India in the 19th and the 20th centuries, and is still popular now. In a concise format, Sharma explores how this socially and politically relevant theatre, full of beautiful music, swashbuckling heroes, magic, romance, and contemporary themes, once charmed audiences throughout India's cities and countryside towns and served as the continuation of elements of ancient Indian theatre. This book unravels a critical shift in the history of Indian theatre, the move from unbounded performance spaces to proscenium stages in big cities, and how this changed the meaning of theatre in India. It examines how forces of globalization and modernization have profoundly changed India's theatrical landscape, arguably side-lining one of its most robust theatre forms of the 19th and 20th centuries. It also discusses the future of Nautanki, and how it is now being performed globally. Nautanki is essential reading for anybody interested in Indian theatre, world theatre, musical theatre, opera, and Bollywood.

Grounds for Play

The nautanki performances of northern India entertain their audiences with often ribald and profane stories. Rooted in the peasant society of pre-modern India, this theater vibrates with lively dancing, pulsating drumbeats, and full-throated singing. In Grounds for Play, Kathryn Hansen draws on field research to describe the different elements of nautanki performance: music, dance, poetry, popular story lines, and written texts. She traces the social history of the form and explores the play of meanings within nautanki narratives, focusing on the ways important social issues such as political authority, community identity, and gender differences are represented in these narratives. Unlike other styles of Indian theater, the nautanki does not draw on the pan-Indian religious epics such as the Ramayana or the Mahabharata for its subjects. Indeed, their storylines tend to center on the vicissitudes of stranded heroines in the throes of melodramatic romance. Whereas nautanki performers were once much in demand, live performances now are rare and nautanki increasingly reaches its audiences through electronic media—records, cassettes, films, television. In spite of this change, the theater form still functions as an effective conduit in the cultural flow that connects urban centers and the hinterland in an ongoing process of exchange. The nautanki performances of northern India entertain their audiences with often ribald and profane stories. Rooted in the peasant society of pre-modern India, this theater vibrates with lively dancing, pulsating drumbeats, and full-throated singing. In “/DIV

Indian Horizons