Actresses in a Period of Transition (1947–1952)

Abstract

Abstract Actresses and women performers, although very active in the Calcutta amateur theatre scene during the 1940s and 1950s, have been grossly neglected in the writing of its histories. The amateur theatre scene in the purview refers to activities affiliated to St. Xavier’s College and The Amateur Shakespeareans, who performed Shakespeare in English with actresses from various communities in Calcutta at that time: English, Anglo Indians, and Jews. The chapter aims to look at the meagre archive which exists to retrieve the names and backgrounds of these actresses and locate them within the historical transition from the pre- to postcolonial period; to understand their contribution to postcolonial theatre practice, particularly Utpal Dutt’s theatre which draws its lineage from The Amateur Shakespeareans. The chapter highlights the postcolonial cosmopolitanism inherent in the practice distinct from envisaging the nation along the lines of ethnic-Indian identities.