The Genesis of Modern Marathi Theatre

Abstract

The present paper traces historical development of various trends that are important for making Modern Marathi theatre that are initiated from mid 19th century. Basically, this theatre needs to understand with the influence of English and Parsi theatre activities on indigenous performance practices during the British Colonial period in India. During the Pre British-colonial and the British colonial period, Indigenous performances such as Lavani, Tamasha, Dashavatar and so on can be considered as a cultural representation and a source of entertainment in Maharashtra. Similarly, the arrival of English and Parsi theatre activities also leads to entertainment. The different elements of English and Parsi theatrical performances attracted attention of educated different classes of society. And they sought theatre that can deal with social aspects of the times. Therefore, this paper tries to critically highlight different elements of English as well as Parsi theatrical performances that can be considered important for making Modern Marathi Theatre.