In addition to providing the first English translation of the anticolonial Marathi classic 'Kichaka-Vadha', this volume is the only edition of the play, in any language, to provide an extensive historical-critical analysis which draws on a comprehensive range of archival documents. It is also the first study to locate this landmark text within such an expansive theatre-historical and political landscape. 'Globalization, Nationalism and the Text of "Kichaka Vadha"' illuminates the complex policies and mechanisms of theatrical censorship in the British Raj, and offers many rare production photographs.

In addition to providing the first English translation of 'Kichaka-Vadha', this volume offers the most detailed scholarly analysis to date of the anticolonial Marathi classic, drawing on a comprehensive range of archival documents.

The documentary material comes from colonial-era police, judicial, administrative, legislative, and newspaper sources. The commentary provides a broad overview of the formation of the modern Marathi theatre as well as a close reading of 'Kichaka-Vadha' itself. It illuminates the major events and personalities alluded to in the play and highlights the dramaturgic strategies used to advance a radical political agenda.

The play attracted immense audiences at the height of the Independence movement in early-twentieth-century India, making it extraordinarily influential, both politically and theatrically. Numerous playwrights sought to emulate its successful nationalist strategies and produced a significant body of political theatre in colonial India, while British authorities undertook several measures to minimize their impact.

This study of how anticolonial plays operated in an Indian context encourages fruitful comparisons with the resistance strategies employed by plays in other Asian and African countries facing various colonial mechanisms of regulation and suppression of public performances.