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{{Short description|Indian theater actress, manager and playwright}}
{{Orphan|date=August 2023}}
'''Sukumari Dutta''' or '''Golap Sundari''' was an [[Indian people|Indian]] theater actress, manager and playwright. She was also known as a ''[[kirtan]]'' singer.

== Biography ==
[[File:Sukumari Dutta (d. 1910) aka Golap Sundari.jpg|thumb|Sukumari Dutta in 1910]]
Dutta’s mother brought her to Calcutta in order to be trained as a vaishnav singer. She would later be described as remarkable singer and dancer.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Smith |first=Bonnie G. |title=The Oxford Encyclopedia of Women in World History |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2008 |isbn=978-0-19-514890-9 |location=Oxford, UK |pages=120 |language=en}}</ref> She became one of the first four women hired to be an actress by the Bengal Theater.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=Gooptu |first=Sarvani |title=Performance and the Culture of Nationalism: Tracing Rhizomatic Lived Experiences of South, Central and Southeast Asia |last2=Pandit |first2=Mimasha |publisher=Taylor & Francis |year=2023 |isbn=978-0-367-63978-5 |location=Oxon |pages=161 |language=en}}</ref> This theater was noted for being the first public theater to employ actresses to act in female roles instead of male actors impersonating women.<ref name=":1" /> She later adopted the name Sukumari after she successfully played the heroine in Upendranath Das’s ''Sarat-Sarojini'', which was performed at the Great National Theater on January 2, 1875.<ref name=":1" /> It was the name of her character in the play.<ref name=":3">{{Cite book |last=Murshid |first=Ghulam |title=Bengali Culture Over a Thousand Years |publisher=Niyogi Books |year=2018 |isbn=978-93-86906-12-0 |language=en}}</ref>

In a published biographical sketch, Dutta is said to have married Goshtobihari Dutta,<ref name=":1" /> a respectable and middle class husband from [[Bengal]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Dutt |first=Bishnupriya |title=Engendering Performance: Indian Women Performers in Search of an Identity |last2=Munsi |first2=Urmimala Sarkar |publisher=SAGE Publishing India |year=2013 |isbn=978-93-85985-79-9 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Kannabiran |first=Kalpana |title=Challenging The Rules(s) of Law: Colonialism, Criminology and Human Rights in India |last2=Singh |first2=Ranbir |publisher=SAGE Publications India |year=2008 |isbn=978-81-321-0027-0 |location=Thousand Oaks, CA |pages=33 |language=en}}</ref> This was an arranged marriage made under the Native Marriage Act III of 1872, which allowed mixed-caste and mixed-faith marriages in [[India]].<ref name=":1" /> Goshtobihari also acted in Das’s ''Sarat-Sarojini.''<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bhattacharya |first=Rimli |title=Public Women in British India: Icons and the Urban Stage |publisher=Taylor & Francis |year=2018 |isbn=978-0-429-01655-4 |language=en}}</ref> Dutta retired from acting after their marriage.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Sahni |first=Rohini |title=Prostitution and Beyond: An Analysis of Sex Workers in India |last2=Shankar |first2=V. Kalyan |last3=Apte |first3=Hemant |publisher=SAGE Publications India |year=2008 |isbn=978-81-7829-784-2 |location=Thousand Oaks, CA |pages=333 |language=en}}</ref> During her time, actresses were ostracized because they were also considered prostitutes.<ref name=":1" /> Goshtobihari, however, deserted her, prompting Dutta to come back to theatrical performance. It is said that he followed Das in [[England]] after the latter fled India due to his anti-Raj sentiments.<ref name=":1" /> Dutta was left to raise their daughter.

== Career ==
Dutta’s career highlights included performances for the roles, Bimala in ''Durgeshnandini'', Rani Oilobala in ''Purubikram'', Birajmohini in ''Surendra-Binodini'', Girijaya in ''Mrinalini'', Malina in ''Asrumati'', and Surjamukhi in ''Bishbriksha''.<ref name=":3" />

She was also identified as a kirtan singer. Kirtan is a form of singing where marginalized women sing religious songs.<ref name=":0" /> She also managed the all-women “Hindoo Female Theater”, which was active during the early 1880s.<ref name=":1" /> She also co-wrote the play, ''Apurba Sati Natak'' (The Unvanquished Chaste Maid), which was published in 1876 and performed at the Great National on August 23, 1876.<ref name=":1" /> This play, which is about the tragedy of a prostitute’s daughter, is said to be a mirror of the author’s life, particularly her marriage to someone who belong to a different social class.<ref name=":2" />

== References ==
{{reflist}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Dutta, Sukumari}}
[[Category:Indian stage actresses]]
[[Category:Indian women singers]]
[[Category:Indian women dramatists and playwrights]]
[[Category:Year of birth missing]]
[[Category:Year of death missing]]
[[Category:Place of birth missing]]
[[Category:Kirtan performers]]

Sukumari Dutta - Revision history

Ajay Kumar: Created a new article