Theatre and Drag Identity: A Comparative Study of Cross-gender Performance Traditions in Manipur, India and New Zealand

Abstract

[Thesis embargoed until 18 November 2026]. Starting from the premise, following Judith Butler (1990), that gender identity is a form of performance, this thesis explores the values, attitudes, and lived realities underpinning drag performance traditions. Utilising an ethnographic methodology, it examines how cross-dressed and drag performers in Manipur, India, and in New Zealand use their theatrical personas to communicate strategies for navigating a stigmatised identity, and how their professional practices contribute to distinct traditions of drag and gendered performance.

In Manipur, the Nupi Manbi (“to act like or resemble a girl”) occupy a significant position within the region’s theatre culture, mirroring patterns of everyday life, language, and social relationships. This thesis considers the significance of this theatrical tradition for Manipuri communities and the cultural, social, and historical factors that shape such practices within Eastern theatre. It also reflects on similarities and divergences between these practices and those found in neighbouring Asian contexts—such as Thailand, Japan, Korea, Indonesia, and China—and contrasts them with the traditions and styles of drag performance in Western theatre.

Drawing on unstructured interviews with male cross-dressing performers, supported by visual analysis of live theatre, film, and television performances, this study investigates how performers negotiate gender identity and the sense of self within liminal spaces where conventional social boundaries are momentarily suspended. While drag has often been framed in the literature as subverting heteronormativity, far less attention has been given to the psychological and existential costs incurred by performers who publicly inhabit a stigmatised subculture.

This research, therefore, asks: How do performance styles, peer networks, public attitudes, and conceptions of selfhood shape the construction of identity in theatre? It further examines how shifts over the past twenty-five years—technological advances, changing performance practices, and evolving theatre cultures—have complicated the relationships between gender identity, censorship, and national identity.

By analysing the social status of performers and their responses to societal norms surrounding sex and gender, this thesis offers a comparative, cross-cultural account of how practitioners negotiate, resist, and reimagine identity within their respective artistic, social, and cultural environments.