Pre-Independence Phase: INDIAN ENGLISH DRAMA

Pre-Independence Phase:

            After the British set up their regime in India, the crippled Indian drama witnessed a revival. With the impact of Western civilization on Indian life, a new renaissance dawned on Indian arts, including drama. English education gave an impetus to the critical study of not only Western drama but also Classical Indian drama. English and Italian dramatic troupes toured India and performed many English plays mainly Shakespeare’s in cities like Bombay and Madras (now called as Mumbai and Chennai). The Portuguese brought a form of dance drama to the West-coast. Russian music director Lebedoff is said to have produced the first modern drama in Calcutta (Kolkata) towards the end of the 18th century. For the first time in the history of modern Indian theatre two comedies, Disguise and Love is the Best Doctor were translated from English into Bengali by Lebedoff and Goloknath Das, and on the 7^th of November 1795, they were produced in Kolkata. The first Bengali theatre ‘The Hindu Theatre’ was established by Prasannakumar Tagore in 1831, and some English plays and translations also were staged.

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Dr. Vishwanath Bite