The Colonial Public and the Parsi Stage : The Making of the Theatre of Empire (1853-1893)

__The Colonial Public and the Parsi Stage__ is the first comprehensive study of the Parsi theatre, colonial South and Southeast Asia’s most influential cultural phenomenon and the precursor of the Indian cinema industry. By providing extensive, unpublished information on its first actors, audiences, production methods, and plays, this book traces how the theatre―which was one of the first in the Indian subcontinent to adopt European stagecraft―transformed into a pan-Asian entertainment industry in the second half of the nineteenth century. Nicholson sheds light on the motivations that led to the development of the popular, commercial theatre movement in Asia through three areas of investigation: the vernacular public sphere, the emergence of competing visions of nationhood, and the narratological function that women served within a continually shifting socio-political order. The book will be of interest to scholars across several disciplines, including cultural history, gender studies, Victorian studies, the sociology of religion, colonialism, and theatre. "Working against the grain of the pan-Indian generalities and unproblematized pluralism of the Parsi theatre, Rashna Nicholson focuses on fiery debates in the public sphere around Parsi theatre - debates relating to Aryanism, Darwinism, communal violence, masculinity, and pure and impure blood, pan-Zoroastrianism, and conflicting positions on the critical question, 'Are Parsis Indian?' With historiographical rigor and an unsentimental reading of community, Nicholson has written a book that could be regarded as an eye-opener for both performance and social historians." - Rustom Bharucha, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi "This window into colonial history combines archival detail with theoretical sophistication. The Parsis emerge from Nicholson's account as entrepreneurs but also myth-makers, helping create a non-Western public sphere packed with enchantment, battling conflicting forms of nationalism, and English hypocrisy." - David Wiles, University of Exeter The Colonial Public and the Parsi Stage is the first comprehensive study of the Parsi theatre, colonial South and Southeast Asia's most influential cultural phenomenon and the precursor of the Indian cinema industry. By providing extensive, unpublished information on its first actors, audiences, production methods, and plays, this book traces how the theatre--which was one of the first in the Indian subcontinent to adopt European stagecraft--transformed into a pan-Asian entertainment industry in the second half of the nineteenth century. Nicholson sheds light on the motivations that led to the development of the popular, commercial theatre movement in Asia through three areas of investigation: the vernacular public sphere, the emergence of competing visions of nationhood, and the narratological function that women served within a continually shifting socio-political order. The book will be of interest to scholars across several disciplines, including cultural history, gender studies, Victorian studies, the sociology of religion, colonialism, and theatre. Rashna Darius Nicholson is Assistant Professor of Theatre Studies at the University of Hong Kong. She has published works on colonial and postcolonial South Asian performance, theatre historiography, and cultural development Acknowledgments Glossary Transliteration Note Contents Abbreviations List of Figures 1 Introduction The Cultural Comprador The Public Sphere Religion and Revolution Women The Archive Part I Discipline 2 Parsi Compradors and the Public Sphere Parsi Compradors, Colonial Education, and the Anatomy of Discipline The Birth of the Vernacular Public Sphere Conversion 3 Social Reform, Lawmaking, and the Origins of the Parsi Theatre Persian Myth Traditionalists Rational Amusement and Shakespeare Women Law The Parsi Panchayat The Culture of Charity The Ruin of Reform 4 Corporeal Discipline The Persian Warrior Performed The Origins of the First Professional Parsi Theatre Troupe: The Victoria Nāṭak Maṇḍalī (Victoria Theatrical Company) The Parsi Theatre’s First Playwrights Aryanism Pan-Zoroastrianism Part II Re-Enchantment 5 Science, Secular Mythology, and the Professionalization of the Parsi Theatre Technology A Pedagogy of Wonder Mesmerism The Talesmātī Khel (Spectacular Play) Competition and Class The First Hindustani Play of the Parsi Stage The Inception of Cultural Nationalism The Commercialization of the Parsi Theatre Parsi–Muslim Animosity The Parsi–Muslim Riots of 1874 6 The Expansion of the Parsi Theatre Touring North India The Prince of Wales in India The Growth of the Victoria Nāṭak Maṇḍalī Delhi and Jaipur Regulations Parsi Theatre in Southeast Asia The Victoria Theatrical Company in Burma The Victoria Theatrical Company in England Part III Revolution 7 The Reformers in Need of Reforming The Society for the Amelioration of the Drama The First Hindu Mythological Play Women and/as Nationhood Communalism and the Theatre The Social Drama The Parsi Girl of the Period 8 Race-Thinking and the Parsi Social Drama The Parsi Theatre’s First Actress The Pārsī Nāṭak Mandalī (Parsi Theatrical Company) The Alfred Nāṭak Mandalī (Alfred Theatrical Company) ‘Is a Parsi a Native of India?’ Actresses 9 Conclusion Correction to: The Colonial Public and the Parsi Stage Correction to: R. D. Nicholson, The Colonial Public and the Parsi Stage, Transnational Theatre Histories, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-65836-6 Bibliography Index The Colonial Public and the Parsi Stage is the first comprehensive study of the Parsi theatre, colonial South and Southeast Asia's most influential cultural phenomenon and the precursor of the Indian cinema industry. By providing extensive, unpublished information on its first actors, audiences, production methods, and plays, this book traces how the theatre—which was one of the first in the Indian subcontinent to adopt European stagecraft—transformed into a pan-Asian entertainment industry in the second half of the nineteenth century. Nicholson sheds light on the motivations that led to the development of the popular, commercial theatre movement in Asia through three areas of investigation: the vernacular public sphere, the emergence of competing visions of nationhood, and the narratological function that women served within a continually shifting socio-political order. The book will be of interest to scholars across several disciplines, including cultural history, gender studies, Victorian studies, the sociology of religion, colonialism, and theatre. Winner of the Theatre Library Association George Freedley Memorial Award Special Jury Prize. Shortlisted for the TaPRA David Bradby book prize. Finalist for the American Society for Theatre Research Barnard Hewitt Award.