[13] THE UNFINISHED BUSINESS: HISTORICAL AND THEORETICAL FOUNDATIONS OF BRITISH SOUTH ASIAN THEATRE

How to Cite : C. S. Biju (2026). The Unfinished Business: Historical and Theoretical Foundations of British South Asian Theatre. International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research & Reviews, 5(8),123-135. https://doi.org/10.56815/ijmrr.v5i8.2026.123-135

Abstract

This article explores the historical and theoretical underpinnings of British South Asian theatre as a cultural product not only of, but also in response to, the un-resolved histories of British imperialism. The article combines diaspora theory, critical race and caste theory, and postcolonial legal history to suggest that British South Asian theatre cannot be read simply as a late arrival of a minority art onto a national stage. It did not arise from any other imperial paths of labour, war and administration than those of Britain itself, and it was not institutionalized until artists started to see the racial violence of the 1970s as a historical break that required a collective theatrical response. The conversation spans four interrelated themes: the theoretical shift from essentialist diaspora models to relational and processual models of identity; the racialisation of British citizenship in the wake of the postwar immigration laws; the ambivalent institutional recognition provided by Naseem Khan's 1976 report on 'ethnic arts'; and the establishment of companies like Tara Arts in the immediate aftermath of a racist murder in Southall. The article concludes by following the development of an initially disorganized network of local initiatives that became a network of interconnected cultural infrastructure that constituted a diasporic counterpublic in the 1980s and 1990s. The article adds to theatre historiography by suggesting catastrophe as the most historically accurate lens for understanding the origins of this field, rather than heritage or celebration.