ABSTRACT
The contemporary trend to consider folk theatres as part of our cultural legacy stems largely from nationalistic compulsions to construct an identity based on indigenous cultural models. As North Indian folk theatres are essentially hybrid constructs, it is important to underline how they use the power of assimilations and qualifications to reveal the nature of reality around us. Hybridity, as an important part of the structures of any culture, can also be located in rituals which are composite structures with investments in social, religious, empirical and cultural spheres. The fear of hybridity, due to its potential to challenge rigid hierarchies in social, religious, economic and political planes, is thus one of the main reasons responsible for avoiding and calumniating North Indian folk theatres. North Indian folk theatres also play an important role in the transference and consolidation of cultural values from one cultural space to another.
