ABSTRACT

Tamil musical theatre (isai natakam) became a thriving form of public entertainment in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. During this formative period, Parsi theatre companies from Bombay frequented Madras and staged Urdu-language spectacles before heterogeneous audiences. The legacy of historical contact between Tamil drama and Parsi theatre is visible at multiple levels: nomenclature, tale types, song genres, orchestration, troupe organization, use of the proscenium stage. The positive reception of Parsi theatre in Madras, however, was not a foregone conclusion, given the linguistic, social, and cultural boundaries to be crossed. Through an analysis of Parsi company performances, this essay shows the process of creating a multilingual theatrical public at the crossroads of urban Madras. It brings to light the patronage of an unsung sector, the community of Urdu-speaking Muslims clustered around the titular nawabs of Arcot. The sponsorship of the Begum of the Carnatic for a local troupe, the Madras Mahomedan Operatic Company, helped to disseminate the imported art, carrying it into wider networks of circulation.

摘要

泰米尔音乐剧院（isai natakam）在19世纪末和20世纪初成为一种蓬勃发展的公共娱乐形式。在这个形成时期，来自孟买的帕尔西（Parsi）剧院公司经常光顾马德拉斯（Madras），并在异类观众面前上演乌尔都语眼镜。泰米尔语戏剧和帕西剧院之间的历史交往的遗产在多个层面上可见：命名法，故事类型，歌曲体裁，编排，剧团组织，舞台使用。然而，鉴于语言，社会和文化界限的跨越，在马德拉斯（Macras）的帕尔西（Parsi）剧院的积极接受并不是一个定局。通过对Parsi公司业绩的分析，本文显示了在城市Madras的十字路口创建多语言剧院公众的过程。它揭示了一个无名部门的赞助，讲乌尔都语的穆斯林社区聚集在Arcot的名叫纳瓦布的地方。迦太基人乞eg为当地一个剧团马德拉斯·马霍梅丹歌剧团的赞助，有助于传播进口艺术品，并将其带入了更广泛的流通网络。