Gujarati theatre refers totheatre performed in theGujarati language, including itsdialects. Gujarati theatre is produced mainly inGujarat andMaharashtra, in cities likeMumbai,Ahmedabad andBaroda, Surat and elsewhereGujarati diaspora exists, especiallyNorth America.Rustam Sohrab, performed byParsee Natak Mandali on 29 October 1853 in Mumbai, marked the beginning of Gujarati theatre.
The region of Gujarat has a long tradition of folk-theatre,Bhavai, which originated in the 14th-century. Thereafter, in early 16th century, a new element was introduced by Portuguese missionaries, who performedYesu Mashiha Ka Tamasha, based on the life of Jesus Christ, using theTamasha folk tradition of Maharashtra, which they imbibed during their work in Goa or Maharashtra.[1]Sanskrit drama was performed in royal courts and temples of Gujarat, it did not influence the local theatre tradition for the masses.
DuringBritish Raj, British officials invited foreign operas and theatre groups to entertain them, this in turn inspired local Parsis to start their own travelling theatre groups, largely performed in Gujarati.[2] The first play published in Gujarati wasLaxmi Natak byDalpatram in 1850, it was inspired byancient Greek comedyPlutus byAristophanes.[3]
In the year 1852, aParsi theatre group performed aShakespearean play in Gujarati language in the city ofSurat. In 1853,Parsee Natak Mandali the first theatre group of Gujarati theatre was founded by Framjee Gustadjee Dalal, which staged the first Parsi-Gujarati play,Rustam Sohrab based on the tale ofRostam and Sohrab part of the 10th-century Persian epicShahnameh byFerdowsi on 29 October 1853, at theGrant Road Theatre in Mumbai, this marked the begin of Gujarati theatre. The group also performed afarceDhanji Gharak at the same venue.[1][4] In its early days, Gujarati theatre largely adopted the entertainment-led style and themes of Parsi theatre, and the plays which were presented in a mix of Gujarati withUrdu and English languages.[5] From being performed without a stage as in the case of Bhavai, raised platforms were added, then backgrounds, which gradually led to theproscenium theatre.[2] Dalpatram formed a theatre group to reform the vulgar element in the bhavai performance of the time, and also the faulty Gujarati language used by Parsi theatre across Mumbai theatre circuit.[6][7]
Gradually as the numbers of plays being written and performed in Gujarati increased things changed, and finally a theatre group to steer away from the tradition of Parsi theatre and the Bhavai and incorporated elements ofIndian and Westerndramaturgy wasArya Subodh Natak Mandali was formed in 1878, inMorbi by Mulji and Vaghji Oza, and their first production,Bharthari continued to be staged in Gujarat andSaurashtra region for many years. In the 1880s, as many as seven theatre groups came up, includingDeshi Natak Samaj started by Dahyabhai Dholashaji, which lasted from 1889 to 1980.[1]Gujarati Natak Mandali (1878–89) and its successorMumbai Gujarati Natak Mandali (1889-1948) were pioneer Gujarati theatre companies.[8]
In late 19th-century, theatre gained strength and travelling theatre companies became popular, performing plays based on a limited repertoire of mythological and religious plays. On the other hand, commercial theatre stuck to entertainment-oriented comedies, which delayed the arrival of experimental amateur theatre movement.[9] That happened only in the 1920s and 1930s, with the rise of playwrights likeC. C. Mehta (1901-1991), who wrote plays with a social context andRanchhodlal Udayaram Dave (1837- 1923), playwright and producer. They are regarded as the father of modern Gujarati theatre.[3][7] Mehta's most important play,Aag Garhi (Fire Engine), about an ailing fireman, marked the rise of amateur theatre movement in Gujarati theatre.[10][11][12] Mehta went to write over 25 plays, numerous one act plays and radio plays; then in 1970, he himself translated his most known work,Aag Garhi asIron Road.[13]Sarjanhar was another important play of the period, inspired byGandhian ideologies, it dealt withuntouchability and was staged by popular actors of the time Sukhlal and Harilal.[9]
.jpg)
By the 1920s, theatre had become an integral part of the festive calendar. Elaborate sets and costumes became the high point of the period, and important actors of the era wereBapulal Nayak andJaishankar Bhojak 'Sundari' (1889-1975), who worked both in old-style as well as the emerging experimental theatre, and became a legend likeBal Gandharva inMarathi theatre. In 1937, Ranbhoomi Parishad, was formed in Ahmedabad which tried to present major dramatists of the period on common platform for the first time.[2][9][11]
K. M. Munshi wrote notable social satires[14] and foreign plays were getting translated as well,[9] includingIbsen'sA Doll's House was translated into Gujarati asDhinagli by Pranjivan Pathak in 1923, though realism in acting which the production demanded was yet to arrive.[15] However, the rise Mehta and Munshi as playwrights unfortunately fell in an era of overall decline of theatre, initiated by the birth of talkies inIndian cinema in the 1930s,[16] by the 1950s, the old school professional theatre has all but disappeared, and the itinerant Parsi theatre vanished completely.[11]
In the post-independence era, a new spurt in growth of Gujarati theatre was seen in the 1950s, and theatre groups started rising again in Mumbai, Ahmedabad andBaroda, includingNat Mandal andRang Mandal, and most notably, the commercial theatre company,Rangbhumi.[10] Besides Mehta, Pragji Dosa, wrote some award-winning play in the 1950s, though playwriting in Gujarati largely remained limited to adaptations and translations.[11] In 1952, Nat Mandal, was formed in Ahmedabad, which once again aimed to provide a common platform to various far flung practitioners of Gujarati theatre.[9]
Soon the traditional Bhavai musicals were also revived by theatre directors, likeShanta Gandhi, who wrote and directedJasma Odan (1968) based onGujarati folk tale, whileDina Pathak (then Gandhi) produced and performed the lead role inMena Gujari.[17] In 1957, when she performed the play in front then President,Rajendra Prasad at theRashtrapati Bhawan in Delhi, it became the first and the only Gujarati play to have achieved the feat so far.[9]
Meanwhile, Gujarati diaspora inNorth America saw not just quality literature coming out from their midst, but also a vibrant Gujarati theatre.[18] InVadodara theatre was patronized bySayajirao Gaekwad III, and the city dubbed the cultural capital of Gujarat, and known for theGandharva Natak Mandali. In the 1950, numerous groups were formed in the city including,Nutan Sanskar Kendra,Trimurti,Natya Vihar,Bhartiya Kala Kendra andUniversal Art Forum, and the following decades saw formed for groups like Rangavali (1974), Kashunk, Vishkambhak, Aakar Theatre (1980), Intimate, Jayashree Kala Niketan and Navchetan. The city still had ten theatre groups in the 1990s, but gradually lost much of its theatre groups and audiences by the 2000s, despite theatre groups still existing in Surat andRajkot. After mid 2000s, Gujarati theatre experienced a revival and has been growing steadily.[19][20]
However, the struggle for dominance betweendouble meaning comedies, big stars-led commercial theatre and experimental theatre continues well into the present times, though many have tried to straddle the middle road and bridge the gap.[21][22] In 2011,National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA), Mumbai in an effort to promote experimental theatre hosted its first Gujarati theatre festival,Vasant - Gujarati Natya Utsav.[22]