Digital Humanities, Social Science and Cultural Preservation
Staging Resistance: Gender, Social Memory, and Womenâs Representation in Modern Indian Theatre
Abstract
Udaya Narayana Singh and Anwita Maiti
This article examines modern Indian theatre as a politically engaged cultural space through which gendered violence, patriarchal control, and women’s resistance are collectively articulated, remembered, and contested. Moving beyond the understanding of theatre as a medium of entertainment or literary representation, the study positions performance as a form of social archive that preserves embodied histories of oppression while transforming private suffering into public discourse. Through an interdisciplinary interpretive analysis of six significant plays-Aurat, Dafa 180, Putulkhela, Kanyadaan, Madhabi, and Hum Mukhtara—the article investigates how Indian theatre stages the intersections of domestic patriarchy, caste violence, sexual assault, reproductive commodification, and feminist political resistance.
Drawing from performance studies, feminist criticism, and cultural memory studies, the paper argues that theatre serves not merely as a reflective cultural form but as an active site of civic witnessing and social intervention. These performances do not simply depict women’s victimization; they reconstruct silenced narratives, mobilize public consciousness, and challenge normalized structures of gendered injustice. By foregrounding women’s embodied experiences across private and public spheres, the selected plays demonstrate how theatre becomes a medium of cultural preservation, retaining histories that institutional narratives often marginalize or erase. The article ultimately contends that modern Indian theatre remains a critical arena for preserving gendered social memory and fostering collective resistance against enduring patriarchal structures.