ABSTRACT
This chapter analyzes North Indian folk theatrical space as a performance genre. This section has three major critical orientations. In the first part a brief description of major folk theatrical performances in the North India is undertaken. The second part of the chapter is devoted to an eclectic study of postulations from performance studies. This appraisal is coalesced with an interdisciplinary use of insights from anthropology, sociology, folk lore studies and literary studies. The third part of the chapter examines performance structure of North Indian Folk theatres, their points of departure as well as their salient performance distinctions as folk genres situated within a particular culture and time. While evaluating performance structure of folk theatres, it is scrutinized how they contest and amalgamate certain tendencies which are part of their growth, reflecting an independent trajectory situated in a typical regional culture.
