English Theatre

English Theatre mainly originated in different European countries. It evolved in different phases, like the Ancient Roman Theatre, The Medieval Theatre, The Neo-Classical Theatre, The Renaissance Theatre, and many more. However, in India, English Theatre only arrived in the 17th century with the advent of the British Raj.

The British established three Presidency Towns, of which Madras was the first one to come up, Bombay and Calcutta were second and third respectively. As time passed off, English theatre started in these places. These cities had urban middle class audiences.

The theaters were not based on the sale of tickets but on patronage of the rich class. The theatres replicated the European way of life and all the colonial aspects.

The nature of English theatre in India changed with the independence of India. Many eminent personalities came up in the sphere of Indian English Theatre, like K.N. Pannikar, Vijay Tendulkar, Girish Karnad, Habib Tanvir and many others.

They tried to highlight Indian culture, tradition and folk rituals in English Theatre. Deep study into their works can prove that they had a great zeal to educate the people in Indian mythology and Indian folklore. For instance, 'Fire and Rain' an English drama written by Girish Karnad, exhibits scenes from the Mahabharata.

In the same way Vijay Tendulkar's, 'Once Upon a Fleeting Bird ', highlights a love story, which is a folklore of Maharashtra.

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