ABSTRACT
Writing on the politics of cultural practice in India, Bharucha argues that a public discourse on sexuality is slowly emerging in the country. Bandit Queen (1994) and Fire (1998), two landmark fi lms that contributed to this discourse, led to a contentious debate on the representation of religion, caste, and alternative sexuality in post-independence India. In contrast, there has been little discussion about the prolifi c Indian dramatic scene where caste, gender, and sexuality had been pervasive concerns much before these fi lms politicized the discussion of sexuality. One possible reason for this could be that drama, despite its direct address to the audience, is a relatively marginal cultural form as compared to fi lm or fi ction. Among the proliferation of dramatic traditions in India, proscenium theatre productions in Indian languages and in English occupy a privileged role.1 They are staged almost exclusively in urban locations, the very centers of state power, and are often taken as representative of Indian drama at large, owing to national and international performance opportunities available to dramatists writing in English.
