The Colonial Public and the Parsi Stage is the first comprehensive
study of the Parsi theatre, colonial South and Southeast Asia's most
influential cultural phenomenon and the precursor of the Indian cinema
industry. By providing extensive, unpublished information on its first
actors, audiences, production methods, and plays, this book traces how
the theatre--which was one of the first in the Indian subcontinent to
adopt European stagecraft--transformed into a pan-Asian entertainment
industry in the second half of the nineteenth century. Nicholson sheds
light on the motivations that led to the development of the popular,
commercial theatre movement in Asia through three areas of
investigation: the vernacular public sphere, the emergence of competing
visions of nationhood, and the narratological function that women served
within a continually shifting socio-political order. The book will be of
interest to scholars across several disciplines, including cultural
history, gender studies, Victorian studies, the sociology of religion,
colonialism, and theatre.
Winner of the Theatre Library Association George Freedley Memorial Award
Special Jury Prize.
Shortlisted for the TaPRA David Bradby book prize.
Finalist for the American Society for Theatre Research Barnard Hewitt
Award.