History of Urdu Literature Theatre (1853 – 1970)A Critical Stage: A Perspective towards Urdu Literature TheatreIndependent Theatre Company

The modern states of Pakistan and India were created in 1947. Pakistan’s two parts, East Pakistan and West Pakistan, were separated by more than 1000 miles of Indian Territory. In 1971, East Pakistan became the independent state of Bangladesh.

The history of the theatre of modern Pakistan is the history of Urdu-language theatre which started in 1853 with the composition of Mirza Amanat’s “Inder Sabha” performed at the court of Wajid Ali Shah of Oudh in the city of Lucknow in north central India. Pakistan is an Islamic state and like neighbouring countries of the Middle East has not, for religious reasons, condoned or encouraged the production of plays. It is not surprising that theatre in this region of the subcontinent has been relatively slow in developing and only recently became a part of the cultural heritage of the people. In Pakistan, there was no classical tradition on which a theatre could be built and what folk heritage there may have been is obscure, except for performances of “Bhand” of the Punjab, a recitation of dramatic poetry and puppetry theatre.

“Inder Sabha” was not intended to be a landmark production but was designed to satisfy the cravings of a lavish court ruled by an extravagant composer-king. The play is in verse and requires musical accompaniment, dance and elaborate costumes to be fully realized. In 1856 the kingdom of Oudh came to an abrupt end when the British deposed the Shah and exiled him to Calcutta. However, for at least two generations after that, actors and musicians from Oudh sang the songs of “Inder Sabha” and kept alive the potential of Urdu-language theatre.

The next major dramatic activity in Urdu occurred in an entirely different region of the Indian subcontinent when some Parsi entrepreneurs of Bombay, motivated no doubt by economic gain, set about developing a form of theatre in Urdu which was to captivate the public imagination, not only in the whole of India but even in Sri Lanka and Malaysia, as well. Producers such as Pestonji Framji and Khurshidji Balliwala developed a popular form of theatre known as the “Parsi musical”. In 1870, assisted by several Muslim poets, they composed Urdu plays which were set to music. After 1880, Raunaq Banarsi, Mian Zarif, Vinayak Prasad Talib, Ahsan Lucknowi, Narain Prasad Betab and Aga Hashar Kashmiri are among the better known writers of Parsi musicals staged by the Victoria Theatrical Company, the Alfred Company and the New Alfred Company.

The plays were designed exclusively to entertain and thus satisfy the taste of audiences of the day. Themes of romantic love, chivalry and generosity, from a wide array of literary sources – Hindu and Muslim classics, history and legends – were elaborated upon in the plays. Even some Shakespearean plays were re-assembled and the characters provided with Indian names while the bard’s dialogue was transformed to Urdu verse. Two distinct plot lines – one humorous and the other serious – were made to correlate and interweave in each play.

From the outset, dancing girls were a part of every show. This led to an expression of outrage in 1914 when the New Alfred Theatrical Company visited Lahore to stage Betab’s “Mahabharata”, based on the Hindu epic of the same name. The audience reacted negatively to characters with religious names such as Rukmini and Draupadi when they were played by women whom they considered questionable morals. As a consequence, the company refrained from presenting the show.

Some authors of the time demonstrated a social consciousness by attacking social evils of the day, such as child marriages and the rigidity of purdah system. Others expressed an interest in political subject matter by addressing issues such as the controversy over the formation of Punjab state and border disputes.

With the development of film industry in 1930s, audiences quickly shifted their allegiance to the cinema and many of the most successful companies closed their doors for good and their personnel went into the film industry. Only the smaller groups and minor companies remained a testament of an active past.

Scattered activity in modern theatre began in the western half of the country soon after independence in 1947 with the formation of dramatic clubs in colleges and universities. The dramatic club of Government College of Lahore was managed by students under the supervision of interested staff members. At first both Urdu and English plays were presented. The Urdu plays were mostly translations from Western dramas. Some of the plays staged between 1951 and 1957 were “Sawan Ran Ka Sapna”, a Punjabi version of Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”, an Urdu version of Gogol’s “The Inspector General” and adaptations of one-act plays by Molière. Many of the students who were part of this early activity have since entered the profession fields of films and television.

In 1956 the Pakistan Arts Council opened a small theatre in the council building and invited productions from Government College students. For the next three years the citizens of Lahore found an alternative theatre outside the college environment.

History of Urdu Literature Theatre (1853 – 1970)A Critical Stage: A Perspective towards Urdu Literature TheatreIndependent Theatre Company

Among the better-known productions were Priestley’s “An Inspector Calls” and Ibsen’s “A Doll’s House”, both of which were presented in Urdu. After 1960 the production of comedies grew larger and more regular audiences.

In 1964 the Arts Council attempted to turn Alhamra Theatre into a year-round theatre rather than an occasional place for performance. By 1966 plays were running on a regular basis and a campaign was begun to produce original plays in Urdu. In 1967 the theatre in Lahore was broad-based and had gained considerable momentum.

After independence, theatre in Karachi still clung to the old theatrical traditions inherited from Bombay and Calcutta. Then, in 1950-51, the Osmania University Old Boys produced Khwaja Moinuddin’s “Zawal-e-Hyderabad”, a tense drama portraying the conditions of Kashmiri’s under Indian Army rule. The play had touching lyrics and music which helped make it a popular success. His “Naya Nishan” was produced in the same year and gained even greater recognition; it was banned by the government for probing a sensitive political issue at the very time the Indian and Pakistani governments were attempting to negotiate a treaty over Kashmir.

In 1953 Moinuddin wrote “Lal Qile Se Lalukhet” which revolved around the trials of a family that had to migrate to Pakistan from India after partition. It was produced in the K. M. C. Stadium and the four-hour drama set a record attendance by drawing nearly 10,000 people. It was later staged in Karachi at the Katrak Hall and ran for 140 performances. Later it played in Lahore, Hyderabad and Mirpurkhas and was revived in 1956 in Karachi and Lahore.

Numerous productions were staged by various groups formed in Karachi between 1952 and 1955. Some of these were supported by the oil companies that encouraged dramatic activity under their welfare programme for the benefit of employees. Throughout this entire period the British Amateur Society of Karachi, better known as the Clifton Players, produced a number of drawing-room comedies in English.

In 1956 Karachi Theatre was formed. It was born of the Theatre Groups of the Arts Council headed by Sigrid Nyberg Kahle, German wife of a diplomat, the play-write Khwaja Moinuddin and the actor Zia Mohyeddin, whose work in the film “A Passage to India” and the televised series “The Jewel in the Crown”, later gained him worldwide recognition. Productions included Molière’s “School for Wives”, “Gas Light”, “Our Town”, “Antigone” and Khwaja Moinuddin’s “Lal Qile Se Lalukhet”, among others.

When Ms. Kahle left the group to go abroad, the Avant Garde Arts Theatre came into being presenting Urdu versions of Gorky’s “The Lower Depths”, Molière’s “Perfect Gentlemen”, Beckett’s “Waiting for Godot” and Coward’d “Hay Fever”. Much of the success of the group was due to the work of Meherji and Pervez Dastur, who later broke away from the AGAT and formed The Seekers.

In 1967-68 many of the theatre organizations in Pakistan’s cites began to tour the country, much as groups do in India, in order to sustain their activities through revenues earned in the smaller towns of the countryside. During this period, theatre came to the attention of the central government when it exempted plays from paying a small but annoying entertainment tax. Similarly, state awards by the president of Pakistan helped to bring greater national recognition to theatre. Then, too, the period saw many plays published in Urdu, the formation of a number of small semi-professional theatre companies, and an increase in the number of men and women interested and skilled in theatre, television and film.

Bibliography

M. Ahmed Qureshi, Wajid Ali Shah’s Theatrical Genius, Lahore, 1987