Emergence of Indian Women’s Theatre: A Case Study

This paper focus specifically on Indian theatre and its long tradition. Feminist theatre in India, is a product of both political and theatrical movements, as well as a confluence of art and activism. Indian women’s theatre came to limelight with women liberation movement of the west. This brought forward gender biased issues into the public arena. Several social issues like dowry deaths, female foeticide, sexual violence, ignorance, illiteracy, gender discrimination in families and society etc. have been exposed by the women’s movement in India. Women Liberation Movement moved nations in support of women’s fight against oppression. It proved that women are capable of thinking logically and are equally intelligent with respect to their male counterparts. In 1970s, the emergence of urbanization and industrialization created employment opportunities for women. This lead to emergence of sensitive writers who wrote about neglected section of the Indian society. Many tabooed issues found place in the writings of these writers. Women’s movement along with socially active Indian theatre began to show way to the oppressed ones. Theatre became medium for creating social changes. Soon, street theatre presented various issues especially those of women from women’s perspective. This also helps women to protest and resist against male domination and oppression. Women’s theatre is now predominantly concerned with women’s issues and feminist ideology.