Contents: Preface. Foreword. Introduction: Amal Allana. MS Sathyu: On Indian Theatre. 1. Professional theatre. 2. Group theatre: Hindi. 3. Group theatre: English. 4. Group theatre: Bengali. 5. Overview of regional theatres. 6. Group theatre: Regional languages and folk forms. 7. Theatre and Ibsen Centenary. 8. Theatre as training output. 9. Neighbourhood theatre. 10. Educational theatre. 11. Competitive theatre. Conclusion: Devendra Raj Ankur. Bibliography.

"The book covers the contemporary existing scenario of Indian theatre--over the current decade--after tracing its roots briefly for different language-groups. The book's uniqueness lies in its attention paid to the emerging professional theatre; wide prevalence of English, Hindi, Bengali and Marathi drama; overview of theatre in other regional languages (not covered in any recent tomes); and special focus in such ignored aspects as training theatre, educational theatre, competitive theatre and some nuances of theatre in Indian neighbourhood.

One major emphasis in the book remains on the actual performance milieu in the country, --how significant plays are presented by drama-groups, how they are to be critiqued for analysis and, in particular, how prominent directors visualise own productions for self-assessment. Again, such introspection has rarely been attempted in the prevalent ambience vis-a-vis the actual per-formative practice.

All in all, the effort is to depart from theorization on theatre as a whole, but concentrate on the realities of the ground and take stock of the holistic scenario. Introduction by Amal Allana present Chairperson of National School of Drama and Conclusion by Devendra Raj Ankur, NSD's immediate-past Director provide expansive outlooks on Indian theatre, besides Reoti Sharan Sharma's special narrative on Hindi theatre and M.S. Sathyu's incisive commentary on the prevailing scene." (jacket)