Introduction

The Introduction presents a fluid performance map of pre-colonial communities alongside the emergence of artists and companies in the urban proscenium spaces of British India. The induction of women to public theatres in Bengal in 1873 meant that the changing equations between occupation and marital status, between sexual and aesthetic codes and the contradictions therein, were visibly embodied in the actress. It opened up an area of public debate that newly sought to define the legitimacy of impersonation. The reconfiguration of ideals and icons continues to be a pan-Indian phenomenon.