Staging Authority: A Power Structure Analysis of Contemporary Marathi Plays

Marathi theatre occupies a central position in India’s performative traditions not merely due to its artistic excellence but because of its persistent engagement with social realities and political consciousness. Evolving from mythological spectacles and reformist narratives of the 19th and early 20th centuries, Marathi drama has transformed into a dynamic mode of cultural expression that mirrors and critiques the social order. In particular, the post-independence phase of Marathi theatre has served as a fertile ground for dramatising power dynamics, often grappling with the authoritarian structures embedded in the social fabric of Maharashtra and India. This tradition, rich in both textual complexity and performative innovation, has been instrumental in challenging dominant discourses on caste, gender, class, and institutional authority. Contemporary Marathi playwrights, such as, Vijay Tendulkar, Mahesh Elkunchwar, and Satish Alekar have significantly contributed to this critical theatre by placing questions of power and resistance at the centre of their dramaturgy. Their plays function not merely as narratives of oppression or social critique but as dialogic spaces where authority is interrogated, dismantled, and sometimes, ironically reinstated. Tendulkar’s political allegories, Elkunchwar’s existential dissections of familial and cultural collapse, and Alekar’s absurdist critique of bureaucratic and religious institutions together form a triadic lens through which the performance of power can be understood and evaluated. This paper seeks to examine how these playwrights negotiate, represent, and resist various forms of power whether it is political, patriarchal, caste-based, linguistic, or institutional. In doing so, it emphasizes that the plays do not depict power as a static or external force but rather as a relational and performative process enacted through discourse, space, and the body. The characters in these plays are not merely victims or perpetrators of power; they are also mediators and sometimes unwitting agents of hegemony, caught in complex webs of societal expectations and institutional constraints.