1876-An entertainment

Entry 123

Synopsis: 19years after the First Indian War of Independence, the colonial British Government in India passed a law to suppress and control theatre. This was a Dramatic Performances Act of 1876. The act gave sweeping powers to a government representative to ban the enactment of plays and dole out sever punishment, including imprisonment, to the playwright, actors, theatre owners and audiences for attending or getting associated with such plays.

The film uses the medium of theatre to present various classes of the Act which amazingly is still on the Indian statute books. Through interviews with theatre personalities one learns of the ways in which this act could be used or misuse, and the feeling towards the Act as represented by the members of the theatre fraternity. The film also briefly explores two other acts-the Entertainment Tax Act and the Societies registration Act, which together with the Dramatic Performances Act, create a stifling and oppressive environment for live performance in India.