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Undoing Gender: Contemporary Women Theatre Makers in India

Year 2021, Issue: 33, 1 - 19, 16.12.2021
https://doi.org/10.26650/jtcd.1008575

Abstract

This paper draws a framework outlining performance methods and processes within women’s theatre in twenty-first century India, along with a conceptualisation of its objectives and aesthetics, by focusing on the politics and production processes of three contemporary women theatre creators in India – Maya Krishna Rao, Mallika Taneja, and Savita Rani. It analyses the themes, theatrical languages, production techniques, styles, acting, and production and performance settings of the three woman theatre makers, contextualising the emergence and development of feminist theatre in India. It aims to understand how these performers and directors create and re/present women and their issues in relation to gender, culture, and society in India and beyond. Drawing from Elain Aston’s analysis of feminist aesthetics in theatre, this paper seeks to unravel the feminist politics of structural changes that have taken place in the three contemporary women theatre makers.

References

  • Aston, Elaine. Feminist Theatre Practice: A Handbook. London: Routledge, 1999. google scholar
  • Banerjee, Trina Nileena. “Written on the Bodies”, Agenda, issue 4, (January 2006), InfoChange News and Feature, Centre for communication and development studies. google scholar
  • Bhatia, Nandi. Performing Women/Performing Womanhood: Theatre, Politics, and Dissent in North India. England: Oxford University Press, 2010. google scholar
  • Case, Sue- Ellen. Feminism and Theatre. London: Routledge, 1988. google scholar
  • De Beauvoir, Simon. The Second Sex. Yew York: Blanche Knopf Publishers, 1953. google scholar
  • De Lauretis, Teresa. Technologies of Gender: Essays on Theory, Film and Fiction. Indiana University Press, 1987. google scholar
  • Gaurangi Dang, Interview with Mallika Taneja, mumbaitheatreguide.com, accessed October 30, 2019, https:// www.mumbaitheatreguide.com/dramas/interviews/mallika-taneja-interview.asp# google scholar
  • Heddon, Dee. “The Politics of the Personal: Autobiography in Performance” in Feminist Futures? Theatre, Performance, and Theory, edited by Elaine Aston and Geraldine Harries. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2006. google scholar
  • Javalgekar, Aishwarya. ‘How Feminist Theatre Emerged in India’, Feminism in India, last modified August, 2017, https://feminisminindia.com/2017/08/30/feminist-theatre-india/ google scholar
  • Kapur, Anuradha. “A Wandering Word, An Unstable Subject”, Theatre India: National school of drama’s Theatre Journal. no. 3 (May 2001). google scholar
  • Keyssar, Helene. Feminist Theatre: An Introduction to Plays of Contemporary British and American Women. USA: Macmillan Education, 1985. google scholar
  • Mangai, A. Acting up: Gender and Theatre in India, 1979 Onwards. New Delhi: Left World Publication, 2015. google scholar
  • Millett Kate, Sexual Politics, US: University of Illinois Press, 2000. google scholar
  • Mulvey, Laura .‘Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema’, Screen, xvi(iii), (1975). google scholar
  • Negi, Mohita. “Rise of women’s Theatre in India,” Your Article Library; The Next Generation Library, accessed December 3, 2019, https://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/essay/rise-of-womens-theatre-in-india/24346. google scholar
  • Oddey, Alison. Devising Theatre; A Practical and Theoretical Handbook. New York: Routledge, 1994. google scholar
  • Pajewski, Claudia. “The Indian Woman Using her Body to Fight for Equality’”, bbcnews.com, last modified, December 21, 2017, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-42349844 google scholar
  • Rani, Savita. “RIP”, video, accessed February 4, 2021, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LVxMrsXWPZk&t=10s google scholar
  • Rao, Maya Krishna. “Quality Streets”, video, accessed January 3, 2021, https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=LVxMrsXWPZk&t=10s google scholar
  • Rao, Maya Krishna. “Walk”, video, last modified, February 9, 2013, https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=msUvCWKcCVQ google scholar
  • Rao, video, Maya Krishna. 6:17, uploaded on February 17, 2013, https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=Uv7UdXvrybU. google scholar
  • Singh, Anita. “Aesthetics of Indian Feminist Theatre”, Rupkatha Journal on Interdisciplinary Studies of Humanities 1, no. 2 (2009). google scholar
  • Srikumar, Priya. “Rest in Peace Throughout Life,” Deccan Chronicle, last modified 17 Fab, 2017,https://www.deccanchronicle.com/entertainment/theatre/170217/rest-in-peace-throughoutlife. html?fbclid=IwAR1newED6TCPQUyQbxjzFsbUdXTdG1ePxs4DmjHWAwaUVpP4qDGIc2_hMDY google scholar
  • Taneja, Mallika. “My Indian life, Part-2: A Body of Protest,” interviewed by Kalki Koechlin, bbcnews, accessed 22 December, 2020, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JTlBPBZO3A google scholar
  • Taneja, Mallika. “Thora Dhyan se (Be Little careful)”, video, 1:02, accessed 2 February 2021, https://www. youtube.com/watch?v=giNBlGGmxZg google scholar
  • Vohra, Kinnari. ‘Women That Man Created’, Theatre India: National School of Drama’s Theatre Journal 3 (May 2001). google scholar

Undoing Gender: Contemporary Women Theatre Makers in India

Year 2021, Issue: 33, 1 - 19, 16.12.2021
https://doi.org/10.26650/jtcd.1008575

Abstract

This paper draws a framework outlining performance methods and processes within women’s theatre in twenty-first century India, along with a conceptualisation of its objectives and aesthetics, by focusing on the politics and production processes of three contemporary women theatre creators in India – Maya Krishna Rao, Mallika Taneja, and Savita Rani. It analyses the themes, theatrical languages, production techniques, styles, acting, and production and performance settings of the three woman theatre makers, contextualising the emergence and development of feminist theatre in India. It aims to understand how these performers and directors create and re/present women and their issues in relation to gender, culture, and society in India and beyond. Drawing from Elain Aston’s analysis of feminist aesthetics in theatre, this paper seeks to unravel the feminist politics of structural changes that have taken place in the three contemporary women theatre makers.

References

  • Aston, Elaine. Feminist Theatre Practice: A Handbook. London: Routledge, 1999. google scholar
  • Banerjee, Trina Nileena. “Written on the Bodies”, Agenda, issue 4, (January 2006), InfoChange News and Feature, Centre for communication and development studies. google scholar
  • Bhatia, Nandi. Performing Women/Performing Womanhood: Theatre, Politics, and Dissent in North India. England: Oxford University Press, 2010. google scholar
  • Case, Sue- Ellen. Feminism and Theatre. London: Routledge, 1988. google scholar
  • De Beauvoir, Simon. The Second Sex. Yew York: Blanche Knopf Publishers, 1953. google scholar
  • De Lauretis, Teresa. Technologies of Gender: Essays on Theory, Film and Fiction. Indiana University Press, 1987. google scholar
  • Gaurangi Dang, Interview with Mallika Taneja, mumbaitheatreguide.com, accessed October 30, 2019, https:// www.mumbaitheatreguide.com/dramas/interviews/mallika-taneja-interview.asp# google scholar
  • Heddon, Dee. “The Politics of the Personal: Autobiography in Performance” in Feminist Futures? Theatre, Performance, and Theory, edited by Elaine Aston and Geraldine Harries. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2006. google scholar
  • Javalgekar, Aishwarya. ‘How Feminist Theatre Emerged in India’, Feminism in India, last modified August, 2017, https://feminisminindia.com/2017/08/30/feminist-theatre-india/ google scholar
  • Kapur, Anuradha. “A Wandering Word, An Unstable Subject”, Theatre India: National school of drama’s Theatre Journal. no. 3 (May 2001). google scholar
  • Keyssar, Helene. Feminist Theatre: An Introduction to Plays of Contemporary British and American Women. USA: Macmillan Education, 1985. google scholar
  • Mangai, A. Acting up: Gender and Theatre in India, 1979 Onwards. New Delhi: Left World Publication, 2015. google scholar
  • Millett Kate, Sexual Politics, US: University of Illinois Press, 2000. google scholar
  • Mulvey, Laura .‘Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema’, Screen, xvi(iii), (1975). google scholar
  • Negi, Mohita. “Rise of women’s Theatre in India,” Your Article Library; The Next Generation Library, accessed December 3, 2019, https://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/essay/rise-of-womens-theatre-in-india/24346. google scholar
  • Oddey, Alison. Devising Theatre; A Practical and Theoretical Handbook. New York: Routledge, 1994. google scholar
  • Pajewski, Claudia. “The Indian Woman Using her Body to Fight for Equality’”, bbcnews.com, last modified, December 21, 2017, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-42349844 google scholar
  • Rani, Savita. “RIP”, video, accessed February 4, 2021, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LVxMrsXWPZk&t=10s google scholar
  • Rao, Maya Krishna. “Quality Streets”, video, accessed January 3, 2021, https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=LVxMrsXWPZk&t=10s google scholar
  • Rao, Maya Krishna. “Walk”, video, last modified, February 9, 2013, https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=msUvCWKcCVQ google scholar
  • Rao, video, Maya Krishna. 6:17, uploaded on February 17, 2013, https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=Uv7UdXvrybU. google scholar
  • Singh, Anita. “Aesthetics of Indian Feminist Theatre”, Rupkatha Journal on Interdisciplinary Studies of Humanities 1, no. 2 (2009). google scholar
  • Srikumar, Priya. “Rest in Peace Throughout Life,” Deccan Chronicle, last modified 17 Fab, 2017,https://www.deccanchronicle.com/entertainment/theatre/170217/rest-in-peace-throughoutlife. html?fbclid=IwAR1newED6TCPQUyQbxjzFsbUdXTdG1ePxs4DmjHWAwaUVpP4qDGIc2_hMDY google scholar
  • Taneja, Mallika. “My Indian life, Part-2: A Body of Protest,” interviewed by Kalki Koechlin, bbcnews, accessed 22 December, 2020, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JTlBPBZO3A google scholar
  • Taneja, Mallika. “Thora Dhyan se (Be Little careful)”, video, 1:02, accessed 2 February 2021, https://www. youtube.com/watch?v=giNBlGGmxZg google scholar
  • Vohra, Kinnari. ‘Women That Man Created’, Theatre India: National School of Drama’s Theatre Journal 3 (May 2001). google scholar
There are 26 citations in total.

Details

Primary Language English
Subjects Applied Theatre
Journal Section Research Article
Authors

Priyanka Sharma 0000-0002-8248-0153

Publication Date December 16, 2021
Published in Issue Year 2021 Issue: 33

Cite

APA Sharma, P. (2021). Undoing Gender: Contemporary Women Theatre Makers in India. Tiyatro Eleştirmenliği Ve Dramaturji Bölümü Dergisi(33), 1-19. https://doi.org/10.26650/jtcd.1008575
AMA Sharma P. Undoing Gender: Contemporary Women Theatre Makers in India. JTCD. December 2021;(33):1-19. doi:10.26650/jtcd.1008575
Chicago Sharma, Priyanka. “Undoing Gender: Contemporary Women Theatre Makers in India”. Tiyatro Eleştirmenliği Ve Dramaturji Bölümü Dergisi, no. 33 (December 2021): 1-19. https://doi.org/10.26650/jtcd.1008575.
EndNote Sharma P (December 1, 2021) Undoing Gender: Contemporary Women Theatre Makers in India. Tiyatro Eleştirmenliği ve Dramaturji Bölümü Dergisi 33 1–19.
IEEE P. Sharma, “Undoing Gender: Contemporary Women Theatre Makers in India”, JTCD, no. 33, pp. 1–19, December 2021, doi: 10.26650/jtcd.1008575.
ISNAD Sharma, Priyanka. “Undoing Gender: Contemporary Women Theatre Makers in India”. Tiyatro Eleştirmenliği ve Dramaturji Bölümü Dergisi 33 (December 2021), 1-19. https://doi.org/10.26650/jtcd.1008575.
JAMA Sharma P. Undoing Gender: Contemporary Women Theatre Makers in India. JTCD. 2021;:1–19.
MLA Sharma, Priyanka. “Undoing Gender: Contemporary Women Theatre Makers in India”. Tiyatro Eleştirmenliği Ve Dramaturji Bölümü Dergisi, no. 33, 2021, pp. 1-19, doi:10.26650/jtcd.1008575.
Vancouver Sharma P. Undoing Gender: Contemporary Women Theatre Makers in India. JTCD. 2021(33):1-19.