This book was first published in 1989 on the occasion of the Nehru Shatabdi Natya Samaroh, a festival of contemporary theatre organized by Sangeet Natak Akademi to mark the birth centenary of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. Playwrights and directors, who built up the Indian theatre post-independence, were well represented in this unique festival and almost all were specially interviewed on its eve by well-known theatre critics. We took care to gather documentation on the Participants that was not easily available in print at that time, and photographs of staged productions which too were not easy to come by. The late Rajinder Paul, editor of Enact and Vice-Chairman of Sangeet Natak Akademi, conceived of this publication and gave it its basic form. The handsome volume was well received during the festival, and has remained in demand since then.

This useful work on Indian theatre has been out of print for some time. It is therefore reissued with all its content intact, and in a new cover. I am sure playgoers and theatre workers, as well as students of theatre and the general readers, will greet the publication with enthusiasm.

From the Jacket

This book puts together views of twenty-six playwrights and directors whose work was featured in the unique 'retrospective' of Indian theatre, the Nehru Shatabdi Natya samaroh in 1989, organized by Sangeet Natak Akademi. As a document of a phase of Indian theatre in the twentieth century, the book is invaluable.

Bibliographies of published drama, lists of staged productions, and a large number of photographs give it added value as a reference work.

Rajinder Paul (1940-1991), who conceived this book, was the founding editor of Enact, the widely ciculated theatre review published from Delhi. He ws Vice-Chairman of Sangeet Natak Akademi from 1988 to 1991.