The starting point for this lecture is the Marathi play ‘Trutiya Ratna' (1855) written by Mahatma Phule. Unlike most plays written in the country at the time—it was not based on indigenous folk-theatre, Sanskrit theatre, or the works of Shakespeare, but it was deeply connected to the time and space in which it was written. It sharply criticized the modes of exploitation rooted in Brahmanical discourse and practice. Phule’s subsequent plays also reflect this remarkable reality of exploitation. The theatre tradition that followed Phule in the 19th and 20th century, continued to conceal and legitimize mythical narratives produced by caste-Hindus, thus bypassing the ethos initiated by Trutiya Ratna.
The starting point for this lecture is the Marathi play ‘Trutiya Ratna' (1855) written by Mahatma Phule. Unlike most plays written in the country at the time—it was not based on indigenous folk-theatre, Sanskrit theatre, or the works of Shakespeare, but it was deeply connected to the time and space in which it was written. It sharply criticized the modes of exploitation rooted in Brahmanical discourse and practice. Phule’s subsequent plays also reflect this remarkable reality of exploitation. The theatre tradition that followed Phule in the 19th and 20th century, continued to conceal and legitimize mythical narratives produced by caste-Hindus, thus bypassing the ethos initiated by Trutiya Ratna.