india author m 1- a-nan - University of Wollongong

REDDY, P. BAYAPPA. "Asif Currimbhoy's An Experiment with Truth: A Thematic Study."
Littcrit 9, no.1 (1983): 25-30.
Thematic study. The only other earlier plays to dramatise Gandhiji's life and ideals are
Bharati Sarabhai's The Well of the People (1943) and K. S. Rangappa's Gandhiji's Sadhana
(1969). In An Experiment with Truth, the internal conflict in Gandhiji regarding his sexual
abstinence is more important than the external conflict between the Indians and the British.
This three-act play is episodic in structure. The first act is set just before Mahatma Gandhi's
assassination in 1948, the second shows the Salt March of 1931, while the third shows him
being gunned down. The character of Vincent Sheean, the journalist, provides unity and choric
commentary. There are historical as well as symbolic characters, and stagecraft is complex,
with musical effects.
REDDY, P. BAYAPPA. The Plays of Asif Currimbhoy. Calcutta: Writers Workshop, 1986,
194pp.
Reddy's approach is thematic and descriptive. He categorizes the plays into romantic,
political, social, religious, etc. and proceeds to give summaries of the plays with brief critical
comments. There is a useful introductory chapter on the origins and development of Indian
theater. Has a comprehensive bibliography.
REDDY, P. BAYAPPA, "Reflections on Asif Currimbhoy's Plays" and "The Clock Symbol in
Asif Currimbhoy's The Clock." In Studies in Indian Writing in English with a Focus on Indian
English Drama, 35-40; 41-43, New Delhi: Prestige Books, 1990.
SAHA, SUBHAS. C. "Currimbhoy's Study of Love and Hate in Goa and Monsoon." The
Literary Half-Yearly 15, no.2 (1974): 96-105.
Currimbhoy combines the methods of realism, expressionism, and surrealism; conflict
is shown on the physical plane to project the conflict within. Goa (1964) and Monsoon
(1965) are his most intense plays because they have no light scenes. Goa shows the evil of
possessive love through the lives of Krishnan, the young and innocent girl whom he loves but
rapes, her promiscuous mother Miranda, and Alphonso who hankers after Portugal. The
period is December 1961 when India invaded Goa, but the political symbolism is not very
effective. Monsoon is not as brisk as Goa; the chief emotion is hate and the protagonist,
Andrew, is a megalomaniac. The play is reminiscent of Jacobean drama, with its lurid
atmosphere, ghosts, murder, and suicide.
VENUGOPAL, C.V. "Asif Currimbhoy's The Doledrummers: A Glimpse into the Bombay
Shacks." In Aspects of Indian Writing in English, edited by M. K. Naik, 262-67. New Delhi:
Macmillan, 1979.
Viewed as a whole, his achievement is impressive. The Doledrummers reveals the
mature artist. The stagecraft is superb, and the dialogue, true to the shack, is raw and physical.
The play is a sympathetic study of the shackdwellers, successfully portraying their basic
humanity.
Dalal, Nergis
BHATNAGAR, O.P. “Playing the Role in The Guide and The Inner Door”
Commonwealth Quarterly 4.13 (1979): 71-79.