History of Nepal Theater
Festivals signify Nepali identity. Nepali festivals set off everything – rituals, culture, history, politics, even theater. Without close reading of Nepali festivals, history of Nepali theater is incomplete. Rulers of Nepal have always been patron of arts. They were not only the spectators but also the playwrights. Most of the dance-dramas performed during Nepali festivals were composed by the Kings in different times of history.The roots of performative culture in Nepal lie in folk tales, myths, legends and rituals.
A comprehensive history of Nepali theater is yet to be written; however, theater and art historians say, it is at least 2000 years old. According to Harsiddhi Purana, the tradition of dance-drama began in 154 BC under the name Harsiddhi, and was set up by King Bikramsen. Harishiddhi Dance-Drama is still performed in Nepal. Nepali theater lives in folk as well as classical foundations, in written, visual and oral forms.
Modern Nepali Theater
In the history of Nepal, 1950’s has a great significance. Nepal not only opened up for the Westerners, but also entered into the modern era by embracing democracy. Nepali theater left commercialism in search of aesthetic taste. Writers and artistes like Balkrishna Sama, Prachanda Malla, Gopal Prasad Rimal not only wrote and produced original plays, but also took theater to the doorsteps of commoners. The 1950’s became the foundation of modern Nepali theater and literature by embracing realism and naturalism. Writers not only wrote plays but also performed and produced plays.
During the height of monarchial rule (1960-1990), Nepali theater workers used theater as a political medium. They voiced concern for freedom and democracy. Streets became the center stage for Nepali theater artists. Street theater emerged in Nepal in the 1980s, during the height of monarchial rule. Ashesh Malla, Artistic Director of Sarvanam, a theater group in Nepal, is credited for the street theater in Nepal.
After the end of monarchial rule in 1991, freedom of speech was guaranteed by the new government. Political change of 1991 paved a way for everything, including Nepali theater. Nepali theater flourished during the late 90s and early years of the new millennium. The people’s movement of 2006 heightened it further. Nepali theater is now outgrowing, theater workers are beginning to see stage as a career. There are hundreds of theater groups active on stage, they perform and produce regular shows. Nepali theater groups like Aarohan-Gurukul Mandala, Shilpe have organized national and international theater festivals, to place Nepal on the international theater map.
At present, Nepali theater use folk tradition such as rituals, oral tales, festivals, theologies, and blend with modern dramatic form. Nepali theater is experimenting with form and content. Today, Nepal Government not only sponsors and supports theater but also has established National Cultural Corporation and Academy of Dance and Drama.
Early Nepali Theater
The substantial theater culture dates back to the Licchavi dynasty (4th – 10th century). Nepali theater flourished during the Malla dynasty (10th – 18th century AD). Even the Shah Dynasty (Ghurkha Kings), the last ruling dynasty of Nepal (1769 – 2006) contributed considerably to Nepali theater.
The Licchavi dynasty is very important historical era, not only because it was a golden period that gave birth to the present day cultural set-up of Nepal, but also because history began to record itself formally. Plays belonging to Licchavi dynasty are still performed in Nepal. Hand written manuscripts of plays like Sundar Chrit by Chabilal Sharma (8th or 9th century) and Dushyantupokhan (10th century) are still preserved at the National Library, which shows popularity of theatre culture during the Licchavi period.
Nepali theater culture grew further during Malla dynasty. Malla Kings were writers, dancers, musicians, and accomplished actors. Pratap Malla ruled Nepal for 50 years (1639 – 1689). During his reign, Pratap Malla introduced many theatrical performances, which still are part of Nepali festivals. The Malla Kings were theater-lovers and practitioners, and drama was performed in open-air stages during festivals. Plays composed by Pratap Malla and Jayaprakash Malla are much loved even today.
Malla dynasty was toppled by the Shah dynasty, nevertheless, Ghurkha Kings became patron of everything initiated by the Mallas. The early Shah Kings were poets, theater lovers, music composers, and playwrights. Prithvi Narayan Shah (1723 – 1775), the founder of modern Nepal, had organized literary festival, which was attended by Nepali and Indian artists. His son Pratap Singh Shah composed musicals.
Ranas were the regents of Nepal from 1846 to 1951. Rana dynasty introduced commercial and professional theater in Nepal. Commercial theater known as Parsi theater in Nepal was a direct influence of Persian theatrical style, copied from Indian productions. Ranas introduced professionalism in Nepali Theater by remunerating theater artistes and technicians. Nevertheless, Nepali theater in the time of Ranas was restricted to royal courts. Commoners did not have access, either as actor or audience.
Modern Nepali Theater
In the history of Nepal, 1950’s has a great significance. Nepal not only opened up for the Westerners, but also entered into the modern era by embracing democracy. Nepali theatre left commercialism in search of aesthetic taste. Writers and artistes like Balkrishna Sama, Prachanda Malla, Gopal Prasad Rimal not only wrote and produced original plays, but also took theatre to the doorsteps of commoners. The 1950’s became the foundation of modern Nepali theatre and literature by embracing realism and naturalism. Writers not only wrote plays but also performed and produced plays.
During the height of monarchial rule (1960-1990), Nepali theatre workers used theatre as a political medium. They voiced concern for freedom and democracy. Streets became the center stage for Nepali theatre artists. Street theatre emerged in Nepal in the 1980s, during the height of monarchical rule. Ashesh Malla, Artistic Director of Sarvanam, a theatre group in Nepal, is credited for the street theatre in Nepal.
After the end of monarchial rule in 1991, freedom of speech was guaranteed by the new government. Political change of 1991 paved a way for everything, including Nepali theatre. Nepali theater flourished during the late 90s and early years of the new millennium. The people’s movement of 2006 heightened it further. Nepali theatre is now outgrowing, theatre workers are beginning to see stage as a career. There are hundreds of theater groups active on stage, they perform and produce regular shows. Nepali theater groups like Aarohan-Gurukul Mandala, Shilpe have organized national and international theatre festivals, to place Nepal on the international theatre map.
At present, Nepali theatre use folk tradition such as rituals, oral tales, festivals, theologies, and blend with modern dramatic form. Nepali theatre is experimenting with form and content. Today, Nepal Government not only sponsors and supports theatre but also has established National Cultural Corporation and Academy of Dance and Drama.
Nepali theatre has about two thousand years of history, which began with Harishiddi Dance-Drama, in the beginning of the Common Era. However, the roots of modern Nepali theatre lie in the Rana Era. During the Rana Regime, Nepali theatre had two classes of audience, the rulers and the ruled. Even the theatre had two types, the Parsi theatre and the reality based plays. When Ranas and the elite were relinquishing with the extravagant Parsi theatre, the commoners were getting interested in reality-based performances. They paid to watch such performances. Outside the Kathmandu valley, plays were performed in the palaces of the Ranas evicted from the capital.
The present phase of Nepali theatre has witnessed experimentation as well as the emergence of new theatre forms. The social and political upheavals of the past decade burnished Nepali theatre; today Nepali theatre is all about thoughts, sentiments and dreams of common Nepalis. However, it also true that theatre has failed to strike roots in the life of the community and reach out to wide sections of society. In spite of all deftness with technicalities, superb performance and best textual element, even the best plays are often performed to half-empty halls or before invited audiences. Productions meeting their cost through ticket sales are substantially few.
The film medium, which has incredible possibilities and wide appeal, has completely swallowed Nepali theatre. The interaction between the stage on the one hand and modern media, like film and TV and even radio, on the other can prove to be enriching and cross-fertilizing exercise. Furthermore, when confrontation between the two medium is replaced with coordination and cooperation, it can be very fruitful. The film may acquire a greater degree of artistic dimension and social relevance, where as the theatre may be able to get out of its feeling of being wretched to film.
Ancient Theatrical Tradition in Nepal
Indra Jatra is the beginning: everything sets off here—the rituals, the culture, the history, even theatre. That’s why it is understandable that Prachanda Malla begins his book on the theatre of Kathmandu, KantipurKoRangamanch, from the festival of IndraJatra. This historical writing on Nepali theatre is a follow-up of Malla’s Nepali Rangamanch which was published nearly 30 years ago. The book also includes various essays and articles written by Malla over the years.
The author presents a fairly exhaustive chronicle of the theatre in Kathmandu from its earliest day to the beginnings of modern theatre with the likes of Bal Krishna Sama and Bhim Nidhi Tiwary. The issues covered in the book as diverse; it includes sections on theatre training, infrastructure, criticism, cultural policies, censorship, and funding, while seriously engaging with the questions of aesthetics and the overall practice of theatre in the past. Written by an author who himself has been associated with theatre on and off the stage under the tutelage of Sama, this book is an exhaustive history of theatre in Kathmandu, and one can safely say it has no comparison by any other writer. He writes based on his experiences, on the works of his predecessors, about anecdotes from local culture, and a variety of notes by different authors.
The thrill of a live performance is inexplicable, as is the traditional dance-drama performed in open-air theatres or dabali. What we get to watch in the Harsiddhi, Mahakali dance is a unique experience of Nepali culture. The tradition of a green room preparation has dominated our theatre since ancient time. It is the attention paid to details such as these that give the book great cultural relevance.
In the history of Nepal, the Lichhavi era is an important one, not only because it was a golden period that gave birth to the present day cultural set-up, but also because history begins to record itself formally from this era onwards. Malla very briefly but precisely explains the theatrical heritage of the Lichhavis. If theology, i.e. the HarsiddhiPurana, is to be believed, the tradition of dance-drama began in 154 BC under the name Harsiddhi, and was set up by King Bikramsen, based on tantric traditions. It used to be performed at 11 different places in Kathmandu; unfortunately, the scripts since then have been lost and only some sections were ever recovered.
Similarly, there are several stone inscriptions and statues belonging to the period where deities are shown dancing or acting. Copies of plays like SundarChrit by Chabilal Sharma (8th or 9th century) and Dushyantupokhan (10th century) are still preserved at the National Library today; strong evidence of a culture of drama during the Lichhavi period.
During the Malla dynasty, Kathmandu’s theatre culture grew further. PratapMalla was a writer, dancer, musician, and an accomplished actor. (The cover of the book shows the king playing a musical instrument). Similarly, JayaprakashMalla was a playwright. The state and its monarchs supported a culture of theatre during the Malla era. The kings were theatre-lovers and practitioners, and drama was performed in open-air stages during festivals. The author cites dialogues and songs from these plays which were written and performed during the era, and for which the language used was a hybrid of Sanskrit, Maithili, Nepali, and Newari. These plays are examples of a perfect harmony between people of different races, cultures, and languages. Though these were based on religion and theology, they were mostly musicals, and many of them are still preserved in the National Archives. He explains the stage, its arena, and the settings in which the theatre of the time was performed.
The conquest of the Valley by Prithvi Narayan Shah and the subsequent regime change did not halt or alter the existing culture of theatre. The early Shahs were poets, theatre lovers, music composers, and playwrights as well. They became the patrons of everything that had been initiated by the Malla kings. Prithvi Narayan Shah, Pratap Singh Shah, RanaBahadur Shah, and RajendraBikram Shah were creative geniuses. Prithvi Narayan Shah had also organised a poetry reading event that was chaired by the then-crown prince Pratap Singh. Numerous poets from India are known to have participated in this mega event.
With the rise of Ranas, Kathmandu’s theatre changed dramatically—it became commercial and more professional, because Persian theatre entered the royal courts. Indian theatre artists were paid to perform in Kathmandu. Many Nepalis too became interested in stage performances. Those who were disgusted at the unnatural acting and blatant plagiarism of Hindi and Urdu plays tried to become more creative by writing or performing in realist plays. KantipurKoRangmanch brims with numerous such accounts.
PrachandaMalla covers 1,500 years of theatre history of Kathmandu within this book. He has promised to bring forth a further history of theatre in Bhaktapur and Patan in the near future. In fact, Malla says the manuscript is almost complete. When these books come out, the documentation of the history of theatre of Nepal will be almost complete.
Contemporary Theatre in Nepal
It was rightly said that theatre training can be coherent and meaningful only if it has a clear objective and is related to actual theatre practice. Theatre programs in universities aim at creating not just accomplished performers or practitioners, but also initiating and motivating spectators, and if possible also serious theatre scholars and critics with reasonable exposure to actual performances and some insight into the practical questions of theatre. Generally our university system is rarely concerned with theatre, though drama forms part of all degree and post-graduate courses in various languages and literature. As a result, most of our young people in the universities learn to understand drama primarily as a story in dialogues or conversation, not as a complex mixed art form.
Interestingly, the modern Nepali theatre was born at the centre of education. Those who taught and studied at Durbar High School performed plays on different occasions; they were a kind of prototype in our theatre history. In India, the owners of the Parsi theatre were hard-headed businessmen who found a lucrative unrestricted market for minting money by titillating entertainment. They weren’t interested in using theatre as a means of refining the sensibility of the people or cultural self expression. Though the Ranas and Shahs enjoyed the emulation of Parsi theatre here in Nepal, Bal Krishna Sama created plays and performances that gave voice and form to the cultural consciousness of Nepali people. Early theatre practitioners’ attempts to stage reality-based Nepali stories were in some way issues of nationality.
The recent staging of Devkota’s Shakuntala at Tribhuvan University featured a pioneering attitude, but it was frequently modish and avant-garde. There is nothing wrong with encouraging a novel approach such as this — adapting the epic-poem into a play and staging it with post-modern elements. But it was too fanciful in its innovation, not adhering to the form and the substance of the play. But it doesn’t matter if it was amateur or unrehearsed. In fact, such neglected groups should be provided with a proper forum for their talent and efforts. Still, there is a bitter reality that the regional and linguistic parochialism is rampant among the cultural elite.
But there is this burning question. With the television and video bringing a performance experience right into the living rooms is there any future for ancient art forms like the theatre?
Street Theater in Nepal
Streets are very important spaces in our country; here, everything happens in the streets. On the political front, the 1950 revolution and the popular uprisings of 1990 and 2006 were largely successful because the streets had provided the platform. The festivity of jatras like MachhindranathJatra, BhotoJatra, Indra Jatra, Gai Jatra, and KartikNach are performed in the streets and help to keep our culture and tradition alive.
In modern times, a street is a space for the arts. A street is a canvas for installation performance and also a theatre for artistes to perform plays.
Theatrical performances are not restricted to the auditorium. Since ancient times, the street – dabali in Nepali culture – has become art space. Street theatre is essentially a special use of theatrical techniques for a social and political cause. It is more of an effective audio-visual communication rather than a form of artistic expression. The success of street performances is primarily weighed by its ability to put a message across instantly rather than any artistic standards.
The Malla kings were not only patrons of the arts but also artists themselves. They wrote and arranged performances on the dabali, a raised platform on the street. During the Rana and Shah period, the theatre entered the durbars. Common people did not have access to the palaces but were equally passionate about plays. Hence, art enthusiasts performed on the dabalis or sometimes set a temporary proscenium stage during Gaijatra and Indrajatra.
During the heydays of the Panchayat and also in the post-1990 period, an arresting development had become noticeable on the theatre scene in the country. Theatre artistes involved themselves in open air performances in the streets, which was very distinct from dramatic productions in the proscenium theatre. This was perhaps because adequate theatre facilities were absent.
In most cities and towns, well-equipped play houses do not exist or are rare. Even where these do exist, as in Kathmandu, their exorbitant rents put them out of reach for most of the groups that have meagre resources but unbound enthusiasm. Street theatre seems a possible way out of these limitations.
Our traditional forms have always used the open field, town square or the streets to perform. Of late, theatre people the world over have been disenchanted with the rigid proscenium theatre and have been on the lookout for a more flexible and intimate theatrical space.
But more than any other reason, it is because of the initiative and involvement of theatre enthusiasts. The artistes are also political activists who have made the street theatre a way of activism.
They are keen to reach out to communicate to the ordinary man in the street than to the usual well-to-do theatre-going audiences.
Sarvanam, a theatre group led by playwright/director AsheshMalla, is a prototype of the street theatre in Nepal. Its performances in the streets are meant to raise awareness as well as to entertain people. Apart from the proscenium theatre Gurukul, a school of theatre headed by Sunil Pokharel, it also does street performances. Its performances are solely aimed at raising awareness and are free.
With the growth of theatrical activities in the country, many theatre groups are also sprouting. And most of them start with street performances. These days, theatre workers in Nepal have taken their street performances to another level with the practice of the forum theatre.
Street theatre is a performance by a group of actors on social issues in an open space, on the sidewalk or ground. Forum theatre, on the other hand, is a performance in which the spectators can also participate in the performance. During the performance, a problem is raised, and the audience is asked to solve it. A street theatre or forum theatre cannot be a substitute for actual theatrical expression, but if pursued with sensitivity, imagination and sincerity it can pave the way for a theatre which is both relevant and artistic.
According to theatre critic Shiva Rizal, a drama is a mishmash genre that can be read, watched, touched, remembered and explained. “The modern theatre depends on a consumer culture. That’s why theatre persons must have ownership of production resources, and their mobilisation. Creation and safeguarding of theatre art must be left to the artistes,” he says.
Performing art, especially a play, is a western tradition in this part of the world. It came to India with the Greeks, later after the reign of Alexander was over, some of the Greeks and a generation of Indo-Greeks kept the tradition alive by adapting Greek mythologies into plays in the local languages.
The ancient plays, if they can be called drama in today’s interpretation, used to be somewhat like an opera or a ballad. The modern theatrical performance is all western, but looks perfectly compatible with Nepali culture.
Nepali Theatre: Past and Present
In recent years, Nepali theatre is growing. And to incorporate its history and current movement, Prof. Abhi Subedi has written about Nepal’s performative culture, which is personal, as its title suggests, Nepali Theatre As I See It. In this well researched and chronological account on performance art, Prof. Subedi gives intriguing interpretations of ritualistic dances and religious festivals, drawing parallels with the lives lived by people of Nepal. Nepalis have kept their performance culture alive, unobtrusively, despite lack of reinforcement or meddling from the state. Interactions between the divine and humans during the Jatras and dance-dramas, is very unique. The ancient and the present-day Nepali theatre focusing on ordinary human beings, in fact, is a mirror of Nepali culture and political history. The performance tradition is very strong here. It is assimilative in characters covering spatial and cultural forms. The genres of art – architecture, sculpture, painting, dance – are interdisciplinary and related to the theatre.
One of the interesting anecdotes the author presents is about conquering of Kathmandu during Indra Jatra. To him, this incident is cognate with a performance – an act of entering the stage where the Vestal Virgin lives, and performing the roles of a king and a worshipper. The king was a prop, a character, a player in the system of performance. And for the people, the relationship of between the ruler and the ruled was a relationship of a carnival. Indra Jatra, according to Subedi, is god arrested in ritual theatre. Festivals like this are the dramatic versions of myths and reality.
Theatre heritage having folk as well as classical foundations are living in written, visual and oral forms in the present reality. The king is replaced by a president, he is the main recipient of festivals where power and rituals merge. The king had the clout to synthesize the forming with the Indic dramaturgy. During the Malla dynasty, most spectacular fetes, festivals, dance-dramas and processions manifested. And it was interesting to find out that linguistic medium in those plays were Newari, Maithili, Sanskrit, and Bengali hybridism. Prof. Subedi also mentions about plays written by the Malla and Shah kings.
Writing on the medieval theatre, Subedi gives detailed accounts on mask dances like Hari Siddhi, Kartik, Gai Jatra etc that were/are also street performances, like the pulling of chariots, which are the animation of grief and the memories of the deceased.
“Streets in Nepal have always represented wrought drama with dances and songs. Every major cultural and historical performance is made on streets,” Subedi argues. “Journey and street have shaped the Nepali theatre and politics.”
Processions like those of Machhindranath Jatras exhibit a culture giving the inference on the background for demonstrations for regime changes during different times in Nepal’s history. Powers of street marchers have been great in both cultural and political spectrums. Subedi draws parallels between the establishments, evocative of Jatras having great theatrical implications.
Folk tales, rituals and religious sagas were the precursor to Nepali theatre. The Tharu people have a ballad-like performance called Barka Nach which is actually an episode of Mahabharata in dance-drama. Many people in the Tarai still perform Ram Lila during Dashain. It is a ten-day drama performance based on the Ramayana.
When consumerism came to Nepal, the Ranas imported Parsi theatre to their courts. But to the people, it came only during Gai Jatra. Subedi gives brief profiles of the people who brought and tended Parsi performances in Nepal, how they designed the stage and what was the textual element. Parsi performance was the commodification of theatre, and paved the way for films for creating public interests in stories performed decoratively with melodramatic elements. It had evolved in India from the Persian people using Hindu myths and writing in Urdu. While sketching the personal narrative of theatre practitioners, Subedi narrates the history of theatre in the early 20th century.
And then the Nepali theatre changed for better reasons. More people began writing and performing. It was a shift from commercialism to aesthetic taste after the 1950 revolution. Along with the tradition of bringing original plays on stage, realistic and naturalist theatre also developed. Some playwrights started the tradition of popular theatre having streaks of social panorama, others gave space to culture. Gai Jatra, as it is also the festival of humor, gave birth to satirical performances with an objective to portrait the foibles of the government during the Panchayat regime. Some poets were interested in drama and thus began writing lyrical plays. Along came street plays which was/is seen as theatre for education. And now there is Forum Theatre for raising awareness.
At present, many theatre groups use folk drama as part of life they have experienced. Folk drama follows certain culture and rituals, stories from oral tales, and theologies are dramatized. The theatre persons are today voicing for a separate academy of drama/dance, art/sculpture, and literature, which are until now cluttered into one: the Nepal Academy.
The Broadway in the United States is the most prestigious theatre in the world, but it hardly experiments with play performance. To get going, most of the time, it showcases musicals. When movie makers witness the charms of those plays, they turn them into movies, for instances, Mama Mia, Sweeny Todd, and this year’s Academy Awards nominated “Doubt”. They need almost US$10 million to produce a musical at Broadway, and to cover that expense, their productions must run for at least a year. That’s the reason why they don’t usually opt for metaphorical or highly symbolic plays.
In Nepal, the budget for the theatre festival at Gurukul was less than Rs. Five million. As the cost is relatively low, and the impact high, Nepali theatre persons are experimenting with form and presentation. Private theatre groups are doing a lot in Nepal. Contrarily, the government’s Cultural Corporation has turned its Nach Ghar into a shopping mall. There are numerous shops in that giant structure but only one auditorium.