This critical anthology interrogates the aesthetics of Mahesh Dattani’s plays, embedded in his deft constructions of the contemporary, urban, middle class people of India. What comes sharply under the scanner is Dattani’s notation of gender and class discriminations, familial affiliations and discords, communal politics and violence, as well as the dilemmas and tensions of the differently able, the transgendered, the gay and the lesbian. Equally does this study critique Dattani’s use of the (now) legitimized Indian English and its subtle variations, explorations of functional stage-spaces, enhancement of audience-participation, re-invention of text as performance, and his deep involvement in the issues and concerns of his drama without sounding didactic or prescriptive.

Angelie Multani is currently Assistant Professor of English at the Department of Humanities & Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi. She wrote her Ph.D. on the politics of performance and production of English Language Theatre in India from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. Her research interests include Indian Theatre in English, Fiction and Cultural Studies.

Contributors : Radha Ramaswamy, John McRae, Michael Walling, Payal Nagpal, Gouri Nilakantan Mehta, Swati Pal, G J V Prasad, Miruna George, Erin B. Mee, Angelie Multani.