From the Sanskrit dramas to our folklore and from all the Western influences to the more recent contemporary works, the journey and development of Indian theatre for centuries together, has been a magnificent and alluring one of all. Indian cinema and most of our veteran actors owe it all to the theatre arts for how well Indian theatre arts have prepared them and where they are in Bollywood now.
Here are the top and rich facts about the Indian Theatre Culture that many would not have known about:
1.Our theatre culture is almost 5 millenniums old, i.e. it goes back to 5000 years, and NatyaShastra (written by Bharat Muni) can be placed between 2000 B.C to 4th Century A.D.
2.It was the British rule that made Indian theatre more pragmatic. The 200 years that British ruled over India did, in a way, bring the Indian theatre in contact with the Western theatre and Indian theatre writings then geared more towards naturalistic or realistic presentations.
3.It was the women who played a very pivotal role in getting the modern theatre to the stage it is today. Women were a huge part of this development and with leading works of women like Anamika Haskar and Anuradha Kapur, the avant-garde Indian theatre has been on a rise.
4.Indian Theatre Culture has been heavy on the narrative aspect i.e. singing, dancing, reciting and other such aspects, ever since its inception.
5.Indian Theatre Culture can be divided in to three phases, to better understand the development, which are- Classical period, Traditional period and Modern period.
6.India has been according to importance of theatre way more than it has to most vocations. Theatre in India has also consistently and constantly evolved throughout history.