It is found that the history of South African Indian theatre is a gold-mine of raw material which fits neatly within the broader context of how theatre generally developed in the country. The overriding commonality invariably is the part played by politics. The thesis attempts to trace some of the significant parallels between South African politics and the development of South African Indian theatre from the fifties to the present day, to include both confluences and influences, from oppression to democracy; from repression to the freedom of …