Performing the Radical
India in the 21st Century
Published on 14. May 2026
Book
Hardback
256 pages
978-1-350-46561-9 (ISBN)
Description
This volume redefines the radical by exploring a range of contemporary theatre and performance produced in response to the politico-cultural climate of 21st-century India.
Offering a critique of dominant power structures in India, this book showcases how the rise in censorship and intolerance of dissent has brought forth new forms of political and aesthetic radicalism. Theatre has found many ways to perform the radical as a form of resistance, intersecting with other art forms as well as the political itself in its performative articulations.
Chapters include discussions of the performance of protest; creation of an alternative worldview through indigenous rituals and cultural festivals; world-making through transformative encounters; devised plays and documentary theatre as tools of dissent; radical imperatives of care in animated videos and short films; scenography and the actor's body as sites of resistance, the performance of faith as survival in a hostile world and conversations with artists. The radical in contemporary Indian theatre and performance is shown to lie in creating a new 'transgressive aesthetic,' often formally hybrid, to project alternative perspectives and possibilities.
Balancing theory, context and performance analysis, this volume brings out an underexplored aspect of 21st-century Indian theatre and performance. Through its focus on different iterations of the radical in a democratic society and performance, it articulates theatre's ability to disrupt the status quo and reveal the possibilities of change.
Offering a critique of dominant power structures in India, this book showcases how the rise in censorship and intolerance of dissent has brought forth new forms of political and aesthetic radicalism. Theatre has found many ways to perform the radical as a form of resistance, intersecting with other art forms as well as the political itself in its performative articulations.
Chapters include discussions of the performance of protest; creation of an alternative worldview through indigenous rituals and cultural festivals; world-making through transformative encounters; devised plays and documentary theatre as tools of dissent; radical imperatives of care in animated videos and short films; scenography and the actor's body as sites of resistance, the performance of faith as survival in a hostile world and conversations with artists. The radical in contemporary Indian theatre and performance is shown to lie in creating a new 'transgressive aesthetic,' often formally hybrid, to project alternative perspectives and possibilities.
Balancing theory, context and performance analysis, this volume brings out an underexplored aspect of 21st-century Indian theatre and performance. Through its focus on different iterations of the radical in a democratic society and performance, it articulates theatre's ability to disrupt the status quo and reveal the possibilities of change.
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Illustrations
10 bw illus
Dimensions
Height: 216 mm
Width: 144 mm
Thickness: 20 mm
Weight
440 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-350-46561-9 (9781350465619)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
05/2026
1st Edition
Methuen Drama
€94.49
Available for download
E-Book
05/2026
1st Edition
Methuen Drama
€94.49
Available for download
Persons
Ashis Sengupta is Professor of English at the University of North Bengal, India.
Content
List of Illustrations
Notes on Contributors
Acknowledgements
Introduction
Ashis Sengupta (University of North Bengal, India)
1. Theatre on the Barricades: An Enquiry into the Performative Turn of Protest, its Potentials and Precariat Locations
Brahma Prakash (Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India)
2. Performing Adivasiyat/Indigeneity: Creating an Alternative Worldview
Subodh Kunwer (Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India)
3. Nearness as Radical: Overwhelming Proximity and Environments of Theatre in Amitesh Grover's Work
Trina Nileena Banerjee (Centre for Studies in Social Sciences Calcutta, India)
4. 'Making a Fist': Voices from the Cracks
Anuja Ghosalkar (founder of Drama Queen, India)
5. Pandemic Works: Care and its Radical Imperatives
Gargi Bharadwaj (Jindal School of Liberal Arts and Humanities, O.P. Jindal Global University, India) and Anita E. Cherian (School of Culture and Creative Expressions, Dr BR Ambedkar University Delhi, India)
6. Radical Breakthroughs: Challenging the Edifices of Gender and Sexuality in Classical and Contemporary Dance/Performance
A. Mangai (formerly Stella Maris College, Chennai, India)
7. The Kashmir Trilogy: A Conversation with Abhishek Majumdar
An online interview by Ashis Sengupta
8. Deepan Sivaraman's Ubu Roi: A Scenographic Foray against Authoritarianism
Ashis Sengupta ((University of North Bengal, India))
9. The Voice from the Margin: Bodo Theatre Practice and Okhrang-The Sky
Jeetumoni Basumatary (Cotton University, Assam, India)
10. Performing Faith in the Land of Eighteen Tides: Exploring the Radical in 'Bonbibir Pala'
Haimanti Mukhoti (University of Warwick, UK)
Index
Notes on Contributors
Acknowledgements
Introduction
Ashis Sengupta (University of North Bengal, India)
1. Theatre on the Barricades: An Enquiry into the Performative Turn of Protest, its Potentials and Precariat Locations
Brahma Prakash (Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India)
2. Performing Adivasiyat/Indigeneity: Creating an Alternative Worldview
Subodh Kunwer (Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India)
3. Nearness as Radical: Overwhelming Proximity and Environments of Theatre in Amitesh Grover's Work
Trina Nileena Banerjee (Centre for Studies in Social Sciences Calcutta, India)
4. 'Making a Fist': Voices from the Cracks
Anuja Ghosalkar (founder of Drama Queen, India)
5. Pandemic Works: Care and its Radical Imperatives
Gargi Bharadwaj (Jindal School of Liberal Arts and Humanities, O.P. Jindal Global University, India) and Anita E. Cherian (School of Culture and Creative Expressions, Dr BR Ambedkar University Delhi, India)
6. Radical Breakthroughs: Challenging the Edifices of Gender and Sexuality in Classical and Contemporary Dance/Performance
A. Mangai (formerly Stella Maris College, Chennai, India)
7. The Kashmir Trilogy: A Conversation with Abhishek Majumdar
An online interview by Ashis Sengupta
8. Deepan Sivaraman's Ubu Roi: A Scenographic Foray against Authoritarianism
Ashis Sengupta ((University of North Bengal, India))
9. The Voice from the Margin: Bodo Theatre Practice and Okhrang-The Sky
Jeetumoni Basumatary (Cotton University, Assam, India)
10. Performing Faith in the Land of Eighteen Tides: Exploring the Radical in 'Bonbibir Pala'
Haimanti Mukhoti (University of Warwick, UK)
Index