ABSTRACT
This chapter traces salient features of Sanskrit dramaturgy which have an impact on North Indian folk theatres. In the ‘Natyotpatti’ chapter of Natyasastra, the myth of origin of theatre is traced as symbolic representation of extant socio-cultural conditions which gave birth to theatre and how it was soon enclosed within reductive structures so as to isolate it from common people. This drive separated mass-oriented folk theatres from exclusive Sanskrit theatres and resulted in Sanskrit theatre’s alienation through its codification by Brahmanic culture. The chapter focuses on the constant stream of synthesis between folk and Sanskrit theatrical forms, as both art forms relied on the same cultural material through a symbiosis of mythic themes. It has been argued that a proper assessment of Sanskrit theatre cannot be made without reference to extant folk theatres which are embedded within its vital organs and sustain it from within. To create exclusive terrain for Sanskrit theatre and enclose it within the binary opposition is to falsify all the attendant myths of its origin and its subsequent development.
