The Popular Itinerant Theatre of Maharashtra, 1843–1880

In this essay, I describe the development of an itinerant theatre tradition in western India between the years 1843 and 1880, recreate a night’s performance, and address various elements of this tradition—the performance, a troupe’s internal dynamics, performance venues, and audience expectations. This was the first popular theatre in western India, relying on a knowing audience who attended the theatre for the familiar plots that unfold through song and representation. Furthermore, as a commercially driven genre, it was not available for appropriation by the rising intelligentsia in India for ideological purposes because such upper-class control would have sacrificed its popularity.