This book addresses the political and aesthetic concerns of modern Indian theatre, tracing its genealogies, and looking in particular at its appropriation of 'folk' theatre, as it sought to constitute itself anew after independence. Vasudha Dalmia delves into the past, to the plays of Bharatendu Harishchandra in 1870s Banaras, and to Jayshankar Prasad and Mohan Rakesh, landmark figures in the history of modern Indian drama. Dalmia then focuses on the intense urban interaction with folk theatre forms, their politicization in the 1940s and later again in the 1970s. With an overall focus on the politics of modern Indian theatre, particularly the action and reaction inspired by official policy-making in the capital of the nation as well as its international representation, the book will be of interest to theatre students, critics, cultural historians, scholars of South Asian theatre, as well as general readers.