Censorship of Bengali Theatre during Colonial Rule

Censorship of theatre during colonial rule was a major aspect of theatre during the 19th century. But it was not always aestheticised politics that occupied centre stage in the Bengali theatre of late-nineteenth-century Kolkata; 1875 and 1876 were marked by the appearance of a handful of political plays that directly critiqued British presence in India, propagating independence. Two plays in particular Sharat-Sarojini and Surendra-Binodini by Upendranath Das (1848-95) became notorious. However, being of politically sensitive content, both plays were first published under the pseudonym of a certain late Durgadas Das.

But there was more to come. In the same year, 1875, the Great National Theatre came up with a farce titled Gajadananda o Jubaraj (Gajadananda and the Prince), allegedly by Upendranath Das. This play was a satirical account of one Jagadananda, a barrister, who had entertained the visiting Prince of Wales in his house, allowing the womenfolk of his family to meet him. This was regarded a total violation of native custom that forbade the British from trespassing into the inner sanctums of Indian households, the world of women. In the play Jagadananda became, by a simple twist of syllables, Gajadananda, the native-supplicant, the bootlicker. After the second night, Gajadananda o Jubaraj was closed down promptly by the government. It was, after all, referring not to `rogue` planters but to British royalty, the Prince of Wales himself. On 29 February 1875, Lord Northbrook issued the Dramatic Performances Control Ordinance.

The Great National Theatre, in protest, launched a new production overnight, a farce - The Police of Pig and Sheep, ridiculing Mr Hogg and Mr Lamb, two high-ranking British police officials.

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