GLOBAL TEXT AND LOCAL PERFORMANCE: A STUDY OF “ALICE IN ASSAM” AS ASSAMESE EXPERIMENTAL THEATRE
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.29121/shodhkosh.v7.i12s.2026.8152Keywords:
“Alice in Assam”, Assamese Experimental Theatre, Global Text, Local Performance, Multiverse, Intertextuality, Adaptation, Cultural Localisation, Stylized TheatreAbstract [English]
This article studies “Alice in Assam” as an example of Assamese experimental theatre that brings a global literary text into a local performance world. The play is based on Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, but it does not present a simple adaptation. It sends two Alices from different universes to Assam and makes them meet local figures, folk memories, historical symbols, animal characters, political satire and contemporary cultural questions. Using qualitative performance analysis, the paper reads the script, English version, production brochure, AANK website material and the recorded video uploaded on YouTube. The discussion focuses on intertextuality, cultural localisation, multiverse dramaturgy, non-linear structure, stylized acting, language, scenography and satire. The study argues that the play transforms Alice from a child figure of wonder into a travelling witness who enters Assam as an outsider and slowly reveals local anxieties about identity, history, environment, politics and cultural change. The global source gives the play a familiar entry point, while the Assamese performance field produces a new meaning. The paper concludes that “Alice in Assam” is not a copy of Carroll's text. It is a local re-performance that uses a global text to create a critical, playful and experimental theatre of Assam.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Jonalee Patowary, Pranjit Bora
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