The life-stories of a quartet of early Indian actors and poet-playwrights translated here. Their memoirs, replete with anecdote and humour, are as significant to the understanding of the nationalist era as the lives of political leaders or social reformers.

The vanished world of India's late-colonial theatre provides the backdrop for the autobiographies in this book. The life-stories of a quartet of early Indian actors and poet-playwrights are here translated into English for the first time. These men were schooled not in the classroom but in large theatrical companies run by Parsi entrepreneurs. Their memoirs, replete with anecdote and humor, are as significant to the understanding of the nationalist era as the lives of political leaders or social reformers.

A seminal study of a historically significant theater style.   Unrivaled in its long-term impact, Parsi theater remains a crucial component of South Asia’s cultural heritage. Like vaudeville in America, Parsi theater dominated mass entertainment in colonial India in the era before cinema. Drawn by the magic of sight and sound, crowds filled the country’s urban playhouses each night. Marked by extravagant acting, operatic singing, and melodramatic stage effects, this cosmopolitan theater brought an unprecedented level of sophistication to the South Asian stage and transformed commercial drama into a modern industry, paving the way for Indian cinema. This volume presents Somnath Gupt’s classic history of Parsi theater in an English translation enhanced by illustrations, annotations, and appendices, which make it a more comprehensive and accurate reference work.

The nautanki performances of northern India entertain their audiences with often ribald and profane stories. Rooted in the peasant society of pre-modern India, this theater vibrates with lively dancing, pulsating drumbeats, and full-throated singing. In "Grounds for Play," Kathryn Hansen draws on field research to describe the different elements of nautanki performance: music, dance, poetry, popular story lines, and written texts. She traces the social history of the form and explores the play of meanings within nautanki narratives, focusing on the ways important social issues such as political authority, community identity, and gender differences are represented in these narratives.
Unlike other styles of Indian theater, the nautanki does not draw on the pan-Indian religious epics such as the "Ramayana" or the "Mahabharata" for its subjects. Indeed, their storylines tend to center on the vicissitudes of stranded heroines in the throes of melodramatic romance. Whereas nautanki performers were once much in demand, live performances now are rare and nautanki increasingly reaches its audiences through electronic media--records, cassettes, films, television. In spite of this change, the theater form still functions as an effective conduit in the cultural flow that connects urban centers and the hinterland in an ongoing process of exchange.

This practical book provides evidence-based and safe techniques for behavioral sleep disorders. It follows a streamlined approach to delivery of care and offers tools to partner with a new provider, ensuring solutions are presented in a structured manner. Each chapter focuses on behavioral approaches to a specific sleep disorder and features key points and resources for additional insights. Practical and easy-to-read, this book is the ideal companion for sleep medicine and behavioral sleep medicine (BSM) fellows, and newly board-certified sleep medicine and BSM specialists. This book is also ideal for primary care physicians and residents. Furthermore, those studying for board-certification, and in training, can utilize the book's tools to follow the clinical approach to the concepts they are learning about.