Paper Details

The Indian English drama has its distinguished position in Indian literary and cultural life. Although poetry and fiction have always occupied the centre stage in Indian writing in English, drama has contributed significantly to the expression of social facts, cultural conflicts, and political changes in India. The theatre has been an effective platform to portray behavior like caste discrimination, gender inequality, colonialism, religious wars, and class struggles, and identity crisis. English Indian dramatists have used theatre as an instrument of artistic expression and as a way of criticizing the society and promoting social consciousness. Girish Karnad, Vijay Tendulkar, Mahesh Dattani and many other playwrights have given stories that reflect the concealed social frameworks and dispute the prevailing thought processes. Their works are evidence of how drama can move audiences at the emotional level, and at the intellectual level, and make people think about the social injustice and cultural contradictions. This essay discusses the development of the Indian English drama and how it interacts with the social realities. It examines the use of the theme of tradition as opposed to modernity, gender oppression, caste hierarchy, communal tensions and urban alienation by the playwrights. Through the analysis of the selected plays and theatrical methods, the paper will bring out the importance of drama as a reflection of the society and a means of social transformation in India.

Indian English Drama, Social Realism, Modern Indian Theatre, Cultural and Social Issues, Postcolonial Literature.