The transition from scribal to print culture in colonial South Asia profoundly reshaped intellectual, political, and performative landscapes. Yet, unlike print and cinema, theatre remains an understudied expressive medium in cultural historiography. This talk examines how regional theatre circuits across the Deccan—spanning Marathi-speaking ‘Southern Maratha Country' and Kannada-speaking ‘Bombay Karnataka'—negotiated linguistic formations, caste hierarchies, and political possibilities within colonial modernity.
12:00 PM - 1:15 PM