Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-lj6df Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-08T21:47:44.909Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Maya Rao and Indian Feminist Theatre

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 August 2022

Bishnupriya Dutt
Affiliation:
Jawaharlal Nehru University

Summary

Maya Rao, performer, performance maker and feminist, has not only contributed to Indian feminist theatre, but is a trailblazer, who set new standards in solo performances, mapped an alternate career trajectory for women in theatre and, in the face of right-wing state repression in India, has engaged significantly in performance activism. This Element looks back at her early career in the 1980s when she was creating agit prop theatre for the feminist movement and forward to her performance activism in the twenty-first century, with detailed attention to Rao's acclaimed protest Walk, and her participation in the protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act. The study also encompasses her parallel work in the theatre, from early collaborations with feminist directors to her solo projects. The author traces her creative-political journey towards an egalitarian feminist future.
Get access
Type
Element
Information
Online ISBN: 9781009071987
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication: 08 September 2022

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Allana, Amal (2021). Interview by Bishnupriya Dutt [Zoom], 22 June.Google Scholar
Arora, Swati (2019a). Walking at Midnight: Women and Danger on Delhi’s Streets, Walking in/as Publics. Journal of Public Pedagogies, 4, 171–6.Google Scholar
Arora, Swati (2019b). Be a Little Careful: Women, Violence and Performance in India. New Theatre Quarterly, 35(1), 318.Google Scholar
Arora, Swati (2020). Walk in India and South Africa: Notes towards a Decolonial and Transnational Feminist Politics. South African Theatre Journal, 32(2), 1433.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Aston, Elaine, and Harris, Geraldine (eds.) (2007). Feminist Futures? London: Palgrave Macmillan.Google Scholar
Aston, Elaine, and Harris, Geraldine (2013). A Good Night Out for the Girls: Popular Feminisms in Contemporary Theatre and Performance. London: Palgrave Macmillan.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Balme, Christopher (2014). The Theatrical Public Sphere. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baxi, Pratiksha (2014). Public Secrets of Law: Rape Trials in India. Delhi: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Butler, Judith (2015). Notes towards a Performative Theory of Assembly. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Chakravarti, Uma (2012). Cultures of Resistance: The Women’s Movement As Performance. In Panjabi, Kavita and Chakravarti, Paromita, eds., Women Contesting Culture. Kolkata: Stree, Jadavpur University, pp. 5871.Google Scholar
Chatterjee, Partha (2016). Theatre and the Publics of Democracy: Between Melodrama and Rational Realism. Theatre Research International, 41(3), 202–17. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0307883316000419Google Scholar
Chaudhuri, Amit (2020). Reclaiming the Republic. Indian Express, 25 January, p. 15, columns 14.Google Scholar
Dean, Jodi (2018). Crowds and Party. London: Verso.Google Scholar
Diamond, Elin (1997). Unmaking Mimesis: Essays on Feminism and Theatre. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Durham, Meenakshi Gigi (2014). Scene of the Crime: News Discourse of Rape in India and the Geopolitics of Sexual Assault. Feminist Media Studies, 15(2), 175–91. https://doi.org/10.1080/14680777.2014.930061Google Scholar
Dutt, Bishnupriya (2015). Performing Resistance with Maya Rao: Trauma and Protest in India. Contemporary Theatre Review, 25(3), 371–86.Google Scholar
Durham, Meenakshi Gigi (2017). Protesting Violence: Feminist Performance Activism in Contemporary India. In Diamond, Elin, Varnay, Denise, and Amich, Candice, eds., Performance, Feminism and Affect in Neo-liberal Times. London: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 105–16.Google Scholar
Fisher, Tony (Forthcoming 2023). ‘Taxonomy of the Political Theatre’ . in The Aesthetic Exception: Essay on Art, Theatre and Politics. (Manchester University Press).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fisher, Tony, and Katsouraki, Eve, eds. (2017). Performing Antagonism: Theatre, Performance and Radical Democracy. London: Palgrave Macmillan.Google Scholar
Ghosh, Priyam (2014). Performing Protest: Feminist/Queer Sexuality in Public Spaces 2009 Onwards. Unpublished M.Phil. thesis, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi.Google Scholar
Milija, Gluhovic (2020). Theories of Theatre, Memories. London: Bloomsbury.Google Scholar
Goswami, Sohini (2021). Farm Laws Stir: All-Women Brigade Holds Kisan Sansad at Jantar Mantar Today. Hindustan Times, 26 July. www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/farm-laws-stir-all-women-brigade-holds-kisan-sansad-at-jantar-mantar-today-101627278225819.htmlGoogle Scholar
Griffin, Gabriele (2004). Troubling Identities: Clair Dowie’s Why Is John Lennon Wearing a Skirt? In Gale, Maggie B. and Gardner, Viv, eds., Auto/biography and Identity: Women, Theatre and Performance. Manchester: Manchester University Press, pp. 153–77.Google Scholar
Gupta, Ankush (2012). Pink Nights: The Queer (Male) Discotheques of Delhi and Music As the Site of Performance. Unpublished M.Phil. thesis, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.Google Scholar
Gupta, Paridhi (2018). Art(s) of Visibility: Resistance and Reclamation of University Spaces by Women Students in Delhi. Gender Place & Culture, 27(1), 86101. https://doi.org/10.1080/0966369X.2019.1586652Google Scholar
Haksar, Anamika (2018). Theatre of Metaphor and Meaning. YouTube, 26 January. www.youtube.com/watch?v=EfCtWCdM0tY&t=2608sGoogle Scholar
India Today (2019). Pulwama Attack: Kashmiri Students from Various Parts of India Allege Harassment. C. R. P. F. Launches Helpline. 16 February. www.indiatoday.in/india/story/pulwama-terror-attack-kashmiri-students-allege-harassment-crpf-helpline-1457910-2019-02-16Google Scholar
Indian Express (2019). Will Take Fight against Terror into Its Home. 5 March.Google Scholar
Jayal, Niraja Gopal (2019). Faith Based Citizenship: The Dangerous Path India Is Choosing. India Forum, 13 November. www.theindiaforum.in/article/faith-criterion-citizenshipGoogle Scholar
Jestrovic, Silvija (2020). Performances of Authorial Presence and Absence: The Author Dies Hard. London: Palgrave Macmillan.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
John, Mary E. (ed.) (2008). Introduction. In Women’s Studies in India: A Reader. Delhi: Penguin Books, pp. 122.Google Scholar
Joseph, Sarah (2007). Neoliberal Reforms and Democracy in India. Economic and Political Weekly 42(31). www.epw.in/journal/2007/31/perspectives/neoliberal-reforms-and-democracy-india.htmlGoogle Scholar
Anuradha, Kapur (2009). Reassembling the Modern: An Indian Theatre Map since Independence. In Bhatia, Nandi, ed., Modern Indian Theatre: A Reader. Delhi: Oxford University Press, pp. 3140.Google Scholar
Anuradha, Kapur (2021a). Interview by Bishnupriya Dutt [Zoom], 10 April.Google Scholar
Anuradha, Kapur (2021b). Interview by Bishnupriya Dutt [Zoom], 15 June.Google Scholar
Kishwar, Madhu, and Vanita, Ruth (2008). Initiatives against Dowry Deaths. In John, Mary E., ed., Women’s Studies in India: A Reader. Delhi: Penguin Books, pp. 42–5.Google Scholar
Kumar, Radha (2011). The History of Doing. Delhi: Zubaan.Google Scholar
Lieder, Frances K. (2015). Not-Feminism: A Discourse on the Politics of a Term in Modern Indian Theatre. Asian Theatre Journal 32(2), 598618. https://doi.org/10.1353/atj.2015.0053Google Scholar
Mangai, A. (2015). Acting Up: Gender and Theatre in India. Delhi: Leftword.Google Scholar
Menon, Nivedita (2011). Recovering Subversion: Feminist Politics beyond Law. 2nd ed. Delhi: Permanent Black.Google Scholar
Menon, Nivedita, ed. (2012). Introduction. In Gender and Politics in India. Delhi: Oxford University Press, pp. 136.Google Scholar
Narayanan, Mundoli (2010). The Politics of Memory: The Rise of the Anti-hero in Kathakali. In Chakravarti, Pallabi and Gupta, Nilanjana, eds., Dance Matters: Performing India on Local and Global Stages. New York: Routledge, pp. 237–64.Google Scholar
Om Swaha, Nukkad, Nukkad, Angan, Angan (1988). Delhi: Jagori Collective, pp. 4251.Google Scholar
Parameswaran, Ameet (2016). Performance, Protest, and the Intimate Public. The Drama Review, 60(2), 23.Google Scholar
Patil, Vrushali, and Purkayastha, Bandana (2018). The Transnational Assemblage of Indian Rape Culture. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 41(11), 1952–70. https://doi.org/10.1080/01419870.2017.1322707CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rai, Shirin M., and Reinelt, Janelle (eds.) (2015). The Grammar of Politics and Performance. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Rao, Maya (2020). Theatre and the Political in the Age of Global Pandemic. Cultures of the Left. YouTube. 15 June. www.youtube.com/watch?v=KxJLiigb6s8Google Scholar
Rao, Maya (2021a). Correspondence around Lady Macbeth at Home and Lady Macbeth Revisited. August.Google Scholar
Rao, Maya (2021b). Correspondence with Maya Rao. December.Google Scholar
Rao, Maya (2021c). Group discussion with members of the Theatre Union organized by Natrang Pratishthan as part of a lecture series titled Rang Smaran. 19 March. https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/arts/scapvc/theatre/research/current/culturesoftheleft/newsandevents.Google Scholar
Rao, Maya (2021d). Interview by Bishnupriya Dutt [Zoom]. 12 April.Google Scholar
Rao, Maya (2021e). Interview as part of an international online teaching programme, IVAC-DAAD workshop, a collaboration between Jawaharlal Nehru University, University of Cologne, and Theatre School, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. 9 July.Google Scholar
Ray, Raka (2000). Fields of Protest: Women’s Movement in India. Delhi: Kali for Women.Google Scholar
Reinelt, Janelle (1996). Beyond Brecht: Britain’s New Feminist Drama. In Keyssar, Helene, ed., Feminist Theatre and Theory. New York: St. Martin’s Press.Google Scholar
Reinelt, Janelle (2012). Keynote lecture given in Belgrade, Serbia, 8 November, on the occasion of the publication of Reinelt’s Politics and Performance: Collected Essays (Politika Iizvođačke Umetnosti: Zbirka eseja). Gluhovic, Milija and Vujić, Ivana, eds., and Kesić, Smiljka, Maksimović, Želijko, Pavlović, Marija, Sofrenović, Vesna, Stojnič, Aneta, and Šešić, Milica, trans. Belgrade: University of Belgrade Press.Google Scholar
Richmond, Farley P., Swann, Darius L., and Zarilli, Philipp B. (1983). Indian Theatre: Traditions of Performance. Delhi: Motilal Banarasidass.Google Scholar
Roy, Anupama (2014). Critical Events, Incremental Memories and Gendered Violence. Australian Feminist Studies, 29(81), 238–54. https://doi.org/10.1080/08164649.2014.959161Google Scholar
Roy, Anupama (2016). Citizenship in India. Delhi: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Salam, Zuya Us, and Ausaf, Uzma (2020). Shaheen Bagh: From a Protest to a Movement. Delhi: Bloomsbury.Google Scholar
Sangari, Kumkum (2012). Gendered Violence, National Boundaries and Culture. In Panjabi, Kavita and Chakravarti, Paromita, eds., Women Contesting Culture. Kolkata: Stree, Jadavpur University, pp. 324–43.Google Scholar
Schechner, Richard (2004). Performance Theory. New York: Routledge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sen, Samita (2003). Towards a Feminist Politics? The Indian Women’s Movement in historical Perspective. In Kapadia, Karin, ed., The Violence of Development. Delhi: Zubaan.Google Scholar
Shalson, Lara (2017). Theatre and Protest. London: Palgrave.Google Scholar
Shalson, Lara (2018). Performing Endurance: Art and Politics since 1960. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Shakespeare, William (2014). The Complete Works of William Shakespeare. San Diego: Cantebury Classics.Google Scholar
Shrangi, Vatsala (2020). As migrant workers return home, lack of workforce hits businesses in Delhi. Hindustan Times, 2 Jun. www.hindustantimes.com/delhi-news/as-migrant-workers-return-home-lack-of-workforce-hits-businesses-in-delhi/story-5I90E2zIUOSiWkpvIQaq6M.html.Google Scholar
Sen, Samita (2003). Towards a Feminist Politics? The Indian Women’s Movement in Historical Perspective. In Kapadia, Karin, ed., The Violence of Development, Delhi: Zubaan.Google Scholar
Zarilli, Philip B. (1984). The Kathakali Complex. Delhi: Abhinav.Google Scholar
Zarilli, Philip B. (2000). Kathakali Dance Drama: Where Gods and Demons Come to Play. London: Routledge.Google Scholar

Save element to Kindle

To save this element to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Maya Rao and Indian Feminist Theatre
Available formats
×

Save element to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Maya Rao and Indian Feminist Theatre
Available formats
×

Save element to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Maya Rao and Indian Feminist Theatre
Available formats
×