Paper short abstract:

This paper analyzes the modus operandi of 19th century Parsi theatrical companies that worked at times along communal lines in their efforts to garner profit. The analysis thus focuses on the ruptures in what has been described as a quintessentially secular theatrical phenomenon.

Paper long abstract:

From its origins in 1853 as a tool for reform in Bombay, the Parsi Theatre grew into a pan-Asian theatrical phenomenon that catered to the growing needs of a new Indian middle and industrial working class. Although much has been written about the theatre's purportedly secular fare that comprised of and catered to people of all religious denominations, journalistic evidence at times tells a different story. This paper analyzes the manner in which Parsi theatrical troupes worked along pre-existing communal lines in their appetite for profit, marked by Dādābhāi Sorābjī Paṭel's decision in 1871 to produce the first Urdu play of the Parsi stage, Sũnānā Mulnī Khurśed in order to specifically attract Muslims to the theatre. Through its representations of Hindu, Muslim and Zoroastrian deities, prophets and royalty and its re-enactments of historical and mythological episodes the Parsi Theatre invented tradition, advertising and propagating new modes of veneration and worship particularly during times of religious festivities. However these representations and re-enactments occasionally served to ignite the ire of the communities that the Theatre aimed to please and ultimately contributed to the distancing of the Parsi community from the popular Parsi Theatre. The analysis will conclude with the study of emergence of sub-genres such as that of the Pārsī Sansārī Nāṭak which arose in the 1890's as a reaction to the increasing Hindu and Muslim presence within the Theatre and which served once again to create an interdictory space where the Parsi community's anxieties were articulated and negotiated.