Hindi theatre
These sources had also provided themes to the native Swang tradition, leading to cross-enrichment after Victoria Natak Mandali became the first Parsi theatre company to perform in Varanasi, in 1875.
Rooted in the rising tide of Indian nationalism, he is most noted for his politically charged plays like, Andher nagari (City of Darkness) written in 1881, a clear satire on the British Raj, as it implied that a society which tolerates a lawless state is doomed to fail.
Soon theatre actors, director, writers and technicians followed suit, shifting to Mumbai, the base for Hindi cinema, where the promise of easy money from studios was too captivating to resist.
With its principal instruction language being Hindi, and stalwarts like Ebrahim Alkazi and Shanta Gandhi, in the coming decades it produced a number a noted theatre actors and directors.
[19] RADA-trained Alkazi turned out to be the most influential director in the post-independence period; his Hindi productions of Sanskrit classics, like Abhijnana Shakuntalam, Dharamvir Bharati's Andha Yug, Girish Karnad's Tughlaq, and the realism of his take on Mohan Rakesh's Asadh Ka Ek Din brought a fresh approach to theatricality, and sophistication to Hindi theatre, and set up standards that inspired an entire generation.
[22] A pioneer of the modern theatre movement in North India, Raj Bisaria- a highly revered stage director, he has a through grounding in western classics and contemporary dramatic works.
Through the productions of European and Indian plays since 1966, Raj Bisaria presented a wide spectrum of contemporary world drama as director and designer, setting his own parallel, pursues the theatre of excellence.
His major productions of Indian plays have included Dharamvir Bharati's Andha Yug, Badal Sircar's Baqi Itihas, Adya Rangacharya's Suno Janmejaya, Elkunchwar's Garbo, Mohan Rakesh's Aadhe-Adhure, Mohit Chatterjee's Guinea Pig etc.
Just as IPTA-inspired Jana Natya Manch (JANAM) of Safdar Hashmi did in the 1970s and 1980 as did M. K. Raina, who staged his production of Maxim Gorky's The Mother in front of factories, inspiring many other practitioners to take theatre to the communities.
Created a very healthy theatre environment and popularize Hindi plays and theatre by constantly and regularly staging plays like Dharmvir Bharti's Andha Yug, Mudrarakshash's Merjeeva, Mohan Rakesh's Adhe-Adhure, Ashadh Ka Ek Din and Lahron ke Rajhans, Badal Sircar's Baki Itihas, Ballabhpur Ki Roopkatha, Pagla Ghora and Juloos, vijay Tendulkar's Khamosh Adalat jari hai, Jat Hi Puchho Sadhu Ki, Gireesh Karnad's Tughlaq, Sophocles Greek tragedy Oedipus, Rambriksha Benipuri's Ambapali, Shanti Mehrotra's Thahra Hua Pani, Ek Tha Gadha, Kisi Ek Phool Ka Naam Lo, Godan, Chandrashekhar Kambar's Aur Tota Bola, Ibsen's Enemy of the people(Janshatru), Ben Johnson's Volpony (Chor Ke Ghar Mor), Delhi Uncha Sunati Hai, Manoj Mitr's Rajdarshan, Debashish Majumdar's Tamrapatra, Sushil Kumar Singh's Singhasan Khali Hai, Bertolt Brecht's Three Penny Opera ( Do Takkey Ka Swang), Jyoti Mahpseker's Beti Aayee Hai etc.
Variety in designing the play-productions with innovative ideas and high class powerful performances injected and created a keen interest for theatre among the people of Bihar.
A large number of working women and school-college-going girls were allowed by their guardians and parents to participate actively in plays and they made their presence felt with their talents.
Kala Sangam presented its five plays, Andha Yug, Ashadh Ka Ek Din, Lahron Ke Rajhans, Ballabhpur Ki Roopkatha and Singhasan Khali Hai.
Kala Sangam also toured Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bhubaneshwar, Bhopal, Ujjain, Guwahati, Kota, Jaipur, Jodhpur, Bikaner, Hanuman Garh, Ganga Nager, Lucknow, Allahabad etc.
He was the first to perform modernist Mohan Rakesh, starting with his magnum opus Ashadh Ka Ek Din (One Day in Ashad) in 1960 and in the coming years bridged the gap between Hindi theatre and Bengali theatre, by mounting Hindi productions of works by Bengali playwrights, like Badal Sircar's Evam Indrajit (1968) and Pagla Ghora (1971), which in turn introduced Sircar to rest of the country.
Subsequently, along with his wife Chetana Jalan, the well-known Kathak dancer and stage actress, and actor Kulbhushan Kharbanda, he left Anamika in 1971 and established Padatik (literally foot-soldier) theatre group in 1972, of which he was the founding director.
He has got trained under leading figures of Indian Drama and Theatre world through different workshops he attended like Habib Tanvir, B.V. Karanth, Prasanna, Ratan Thiyam, D. R. Ankur and many more.
[46] Yet we have playwrights like Jagdish Chandra Mathur (Konark) and Upendranath Ashk (Anjo Didi), who displayed a steadily evolving understanding of thematic development, theatrical constraints and stagecraft, and Gyandev Agnihotri stood out for his symbolism, wit and satire as visible in classic Shuturmurg written in the 1960s[47] before moving into screenwriting for Hindi films in the 1970s.
[42][43][48][49] The first important play of the 20th century was Andha Yug (The Blind Epoch), by Dharamvir Bharati, which came in 1953, found in Mahabharat, both an ideal source and expression of modern discontent and predicament of a society riddled with corruption.
[51] Mohan Rakesh went on to write two more plays, Aadhe Adhure (Halfway House) and Leheron Ke Raj Hans (Great Swans of the Waves) and left one, Paon Taley Ki Zameen (Ground beneath the Feet) unfinished by the time of his death in 1972, but he had shifted the landscape of Hindi theatre.
[51] Today, his rise as a prominent playwright in the 1960s is seen as the coming of age of Modern Indian playwriting in Hindi, just as Vijay Tendulkar did it in Marathi, Badal Sircar in Bengali, and Girish Karnad in Kannada.
[54] Be it Habib Tanvir's Agra Bazar (1954) and Charandas Chor (1975), which brought in new indigenous forms of expression,[32] On the other hand, there were younger playwrights like Surendra Verma, with his Surya Ki Antim Kiran Se Surya Ki Pahli Kiran Tak (From Sunset to Sunrise, 1972), Draupadi and Athwan sarga (Eighth Chapter, 1976), rapidly experimented with forms and formats,[43] and writers who ventured into playwrighting to produce important works, like Bhisham Sahni who has been associated with both IPTA and Progressive Writers Association, most noted for his partition-novel Tamas wrote, Hanush (1977), Madhavi (1982) and Muavze (1993).
Over the years the repertoire of Hindi plays has expanded to include translated and adapted works of successful playwrights from other languages, like Vijay Tendulkar, Girish Karnad, Mahesh Elkunchwar, G. P. Deshpande and Badal Sircar (Evam Indrajit, 1963, Pagla Ghoda, 1967).
Dazzling use of Kathak choreography by Rani Khanum and her Troupe, and authentic costumes including head gear, swords and period art work was a treat for the eyes.
Another notable Drama of Danish Iqbal is Dilli jo ek Shehr Thaa depicts the life and times of a Delhi lost during the invasion of Nadir Shah.
'Dilli Jo Ek Shehr Thaa' has all the markings of a classic stage play combining high voltage conflict with realistic characterisations, treacherous conspiracies, romance, poetry, dances and catchy dialogues.
"Life is not a Dream", Balchanda", "Main Krishna Krishn Ki", "Ek Nayi Menka", "Bhikharin", "Naurangi Natni", "Bimb- Pratibimb" are her solo plays, being staged in & around the world.
On the other hand, theatre criticism which had also begun with Bhartendu, saw new voices emerging in the mid-20th century, like Lakshmi Narayan Lal, which were now subjecting recent Indian playwriting to touchstone of Ibsen and other western masters.
Started staging plays under the direction of renowned Thespian Sangeet Natak akademi award winner, Dadasaheb Phalke awardee Ranjit Kapur.
Some of its noteworthy productions are Jis Lahore Nahin Vekhya Wo Janmeya Hi Nahin- Asghar Wajahat, Tajamhal Ka Tender- Ajay Shukla, Mujhe Amrita Chahiye- Yohesg Tripathi, Kabira Khada Bazar Mein- Bhishm Sahni, Court Martial- Swadesh Deepak, Gagan Damma Bajiyo -Piyush Mishra, Jab Shehar hamara sota hai, Bakri-Sarveshwal Dayal Sharma, Ujbak Raja Teen Dacoit- Alakhnandan, and many more.
