ABSTRACT
Actors engage in small talk as they apply makeup and arrange their wardrobe even as tea and snacks are served. They have half an hour before the doors are opened at quarter past six. Some enquire about the amount of sales while others discuss work, other projects, or run lines. The ushers arrive backstage a couple of minutes before opening the gates to check if all is set backstage. Light designers fondly recalled their improvisations with rudimentary and defective equipment to create magic on stage. The material conditions of production and reception reflect on the state of the theatre culture, the attitude of a society toward theatre, as well as the value placed on their work by the artists themselves. A couple of recent studies on Indian theatre have sought to include modern urban performance within their ambit but these studies largely remain biographical and/or historical in nature.
