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Abstract

India houses a number of folk theatrical forms that are simple and closer to the rural milieu. After the decline of Sanskrit classical drama in India, from the 14th to the 19th century, folk theatre emerged in myriads of rural languages. These theatrical forms can be categorised under two broad genres, viz., “Ritual Theatre” that was religious in nature, and the “Theatre of Entertainment,” which was more secular in mood. One such example of the secular form is Bidesiya, the dynamic and popular theatre of Bihar. Bidesiya, like the name suggests, revolves around the “bides” / “pardes,” i.e., foreign land / homeland dichotomy. Bidesiya emerged and was given shape by Bhikhari Thakur, the highly-acclaimed poet, playwright, and actor, and aimed at disseminating some kind of social message through the plays. Bidesiya also makes use of a plethora of folk songs that are rooted in Bihar’s soil, and these plays were primarily performed by actors belonging to lower-caste communities. The most crucial aspect of Bidesiya is that this folk theatrical form is fundamentally radical and fluid in terms of how it deals with gender. Bidesiya showcases Launda naach — or the dance native to Uttar Pradesh and Bihar that is performed by female impersonators — as a powerful theatrical technique. The present paper seeks to scrutinise Bidesiya as a gender-fluid folk theatrical form of India, and further explores the manner in which Bidesiya problematises the essentialist notion of fixed gender identity. The paper, therefore, begins with an elaborate discussion on the origin of Bidesiya, and moves on to study its various aspects, including the structure of the plays and the performers’ troupes, the “men’s” and “women’s” folk songs which are associated with the genre, and the underpinnings of the staged performances. The paper then investigates the obfuscation of gender by the actors, visible in Launda Naach — the central element of Bidesiya plays — and the presentation of the songs, written from feminine perspective, by men. The concluding section of the paper highlights the pedagogical implications of Bidesiya and its relevance in classrooms, with a special emphasis on how gender is revealed as performative in the plays. Introducing Bidesiya in classroom education resists didacticism by promoting hands-on learning, creates a space for the students to locate themselves within the broad spectrum of gender identities, and also indulges imaginative voyages, as this paper will show.

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