Drama Kala Lahoo by Devinder Daman.wmv

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• published: 05 Jul 2010
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Interestingly, contemporary urban theatre with original plays in Punjabi is less than a century old. Modern Punjabi theatre owes its origin to an Irish actress, Norah Richards. Professor Richards came form England to take up the assignment of a professor of English in Dayal Singh College, Lahore, in 1911. His wife, Nora Richards accompanied him. She was an Irish actress connected to Abbey Theatre and a friend of Lady Gregory. Robustness of Punjabi life and the earthy tones of the Punjabi language charmed Nora. In 1914, she announced a drama competition on the condition that the play be original and written in Punjabi. The prize was a gold guinea. Her student I.C. Nanda won the guinea by writing the first play in Punjabi called Dulhan (The Bride) and staging it. Norah, a source of inspiration for Punjabi theatre, chose to stay on in India and died at Andretta in Himachal Pradesh where she remained active in theatre. Even today she is remembered as the grand dame of Punjabi theatre. Urban theatre in East Punjab developed with Balwant Gargi. Harcharan Singh, Atamjit and later Neelam Man Singh as well as Kewal Dhaliwal are making significant contributions towards the popularisation of Punjabi theatre. NRI Punjabi's has been promoting drama in North America, with the guest artists from India. Each year local artists participated in various stage shows. Now there is a Toronto based theatre group called Punjabi Arts Association which stages the Punjabi dramas. This drama Kala Lahoo was written by Devinder Daman, the actors are Jaspal Dhillon and Gursharan Maan, it was recorded in Toronto in year 1992.