This statement by Dr B.R. Ambedkar aptly clarifies the importance of theatrical performance to enlighten mostly the ignorant Dalit and marginalised people about the real cause of their exploitation. It is a known fact that it was under the supervision of Babasaheb Ambedkar that the Dalit theatre movement actually started its journey to make the Dalit people cognisant of caste oppression. Hence, there is no doubt that the Dalit theatre movement was initiated with a specific purpose. It primarily seeks to highlight issues like the abuse of Dalits’ human rights, various forms of caste discrimination, ordering by local upper castes for parading Dalit women naked, and the rape of Dalit women by males from higher castes, and gives poor ignorant people the courage to protest against the existing exploitative system. It is rightly pointed out by T. Marx in his article “Towards Equality: The Rise and Drive of Tamil Dalit Theatre” that “Dalit theatre is a form of resistance politics. Dalit theatre, by its very nature, became the theatre of the oppressed. As it does not aim at monetary gains but only at community outreach, it can also be appropriately called the ‘Poor Theatre’ in India” (107). In the same article, he also narrates one story that might be accepted as one of the most important reasons why the initiation of Dalit theatre has been inevitable in our country. He writes, “On the 21st March 1899, a play titled Abirama Sundari was slated for performance by Hindu Vinodha Sabha in a theatre in Wal[sic] Tax Road (present day V.O.C Road) Chennai. In the advertising posters displayed for the above performance, it was publicized that ‘Panchamas not allowed. Entry restricted for Panchamas’” (107). The same thing has also been recorded by eminent Tamil Dalit playwright, director, and performer Professor K.A. Gunasekaran: “This caste-ridden society shunned the Shudras (the oppressed) and the Panchamas (the depressed) as actors and spectators of the Pothuviyal Arangam (Public Theatre)”.2 Hence, it is true that historically, Dalits have not been allowed to participate in performing plays or watching dramas in mainstream theatres. It has been said that drama is the fifth Veda. However, this fifth Veda, primarily Sanskrit drama, continued to be incomprehensible to Dalit sensibilities since it is the Vedas that support the Varna system, which holds the doctrine that untouchables cannot be classified as human beings within the four Varnas. Hence, Dalits began staging their own plays in their own localities for their own people due to this ongoing restriction of space in public theatres.

Dalit Theatre: Production and Performance

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发表日期：

2025年

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Shubhendu Shekhar Naskar

摘要

This statement by Dr B.R. Ambedkar aptly clarifies the importance of theatrical performance to enlighten mostly the ignorant Dalit and marginalised people about the real cause of their exploitation. It is a known fact that it was under the supervision of Babasaheb Ambedkar that the Dalit theatre movement actually started its journey to make the Dalit people cognisant of caste oppression. Hence, there is no doubt that the Dalit theatre movement was initiated with a specific purpose. It primarily seeks to highlight issues like the abuse of Dalits’ human rights, various forms of caste discrimination, ordering by local upper castes for parading Dalit women naked, and the rape of Dalit women by males from higher castes, and gives poor ignorant people the courage to protest against the existing exploitative system. It is rightly pointed out by T. Marx in his article “Towards Equality: The Rise and Drive of Tamil Dalit Theatre” that “Dalit theatre is a form of resistance politics. Dalit theatre, by its very nature, became the theatre of the oppressed. As it does not aim at monetary gains but only at community outreach, it can also be appropriately called the ‘Poor Theatre’ in India” (107). In the same article, he also narrates one story that might be accepted as one of the most important reasons why the initiation of Dalit theatre has been inevitable in our country. He writes, “On the 21st March 1899, a play titled Abirama Sundari was slated for performance by Hindu Vinodha Sabha in a theatre in Wal[sic] Tax Road (present day V.O.C Road) Chennai. In the advertising posters displayed for the above performance, it was publicized that ‘Panchamas not allowed. Entry restricted for Panchamas’” (107). The same thing has also been recorded by eminent Tamil Dalit playwright, director, and performer Professor K.A. Gunasekaran: “This caste-ridden society shunned the Shudras (the oppressed) and the Panchamas (the depressed) as actors and spectators of the Pothuviyal Arangam (Public Theatre)”.2 Hence, it is true that historically, Dalits have not been allowed to participate in performing plays or watching dramas in mainstream theatres. It has been said that drama is the fifth Veda. However, this fifth Veda, primarily Sanskrit drama, continued to be incomprehensible to Dalit sensibilities since it is the Vedas that support the Varna system, which holds the doctrine that untouchables cannot be classified as human beings within the four Varnas. Hence, Dalits began staging their own plays in their own localities for their own people due to this ongoing restriction of space in public theatres.