BARRICADE

A political play staging the Nazi takeover of Germany with an eye on India.

Although Utpal Dutt is acknowledged as a trailblazer of post-Independence Indian theater, English readers have not had access to the range and wealth of his drama. Barricade is a political play that stages the Nazi takeover of Germany in 1933 with an eye on India. Today, the surge to power of far-right parties and fundamentalist fanaticism across the world means that the co-option of democracy and civil society that led to Nazi fascism can happen again—or indeed has already happened—granting Barricade its immediate urgency. Equipped with an introduction analyzing its historical context, this translation of Barricade is also a very rare product in dramatic literature, collating both the printed original as well as a documented performance of the production directed by Dutt.

Utpal Dutt (1929–93) was a playwright, director and actor whose revolutionary theatre reshaped modern Indian performance. Working across proscenium stages, street theatre, jatra and cinema, he brought political drama to mass audiences. His confrontations with authority led to imprisonment and periods underground; his plays and criticism remain central to Indian theatre history.

Ananda Lal is a theater specialist and a former professor of English at Jadavpur University, Kolkata, where he also directed university theater. His books include Rabindranath Tagore: Three Plays and the Oxford Companion to Indian Theatre. He directs Writers Workshop, Kolkata, and runs Kolkatatheatre.com.