(presented by FIRES (FEZANA Information Research Education System)

The Colonial Public and the Parsi Stage:
The Making of the Theatre of Empire (1853-1893) 
by Rashna Darius Nicholson
Hong Kong, Palgrave MacMillan, 2021
978-3030-65935-9

This book is the first comprehensive study of the Parsi theatre, colonial South and Southeast Asia’s most influential cultural phenomenon, and the precursor of the Indian cinema industry. By providing extensive, unpublished information on its first actors, audiences, production methods, and plays, this book traces how the theatre—which was one of the first in the Indian subcontinent to adopt European stagecraft—transformed into a pan-Asian entertainment industry in the second half of the nineteenth century. Nicholson sheds light on the motivations that led to the development of the popular, commercial theatre movement in Asia through three areas of investigation: the vernacular public sphere, the emergence of competing visions of nationhood, and the anecdotal function that women served within a continually shifting socio-political order.

The book will be of interest to scholars across several disciplines, including cultural history, gender studies, Victorian studies, the sociology of religion, colonialism, and theatre.

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FEZANA Information, Research and Education System (FIRES) is a centralized collection of books, manuscripts, literature, magazines, and scholarly research materials in print and electronic form, primarily pertaining to Zarathushti faith, culture, and history.

FIRES was established in 2010, and is housed and managed by the Zoroastrian Association of Houston (ZAH) Library. It is accessible by all FEZANA Associations and individuals.

www.fires-fezana.org