Dramatic Performances Act
Encyclopedia
The Dramatic Performances Act was implemented by the British Raj
in India in the year 1876 to police seditious Indian theatre. India, being a colony of the British Empire
had begun using the theatre as a tool of protest against the oppressive nature of the colonial rule. In order to check these revolutionary impulses, the British Government proceeded to impose the Dramatic Performances Act. Interestingly, following India’s independence in 1947, the Act has not been repealed, and most states have introduced their own modified versions with certain amendments which have in fact, often strengthened the control of the administration over the theatre.
The Dramatic Performances Act, often shortened to "DPA", was brought into force in the year 1876 under the administration of Viceroy Northbrook
. The Act sought to empower the British administration to control better the theatre scene in India.
The Act outlined the restrictions that public performances of a play, pantomime or any other drama would have to adhere to. According to this Act, if the state government judged any play to be of a scandalous nature; disrupting social values; or felt that it might excite feelings of disaffection against the government established by law; or that it would corrupt persons, then the said performance would stand prohibited.
The Act further stated that if any person or groups on whom an order of prohibition had been served refused to comply with the same, such persons or groups would be liable to be punished. The penalty for disobedience of the terms of the Act was either imprisonment for a term extending to about three months, or a fine, or in some cases, both. The Act conferred upon the government the right to information, by which right the persons as empowered by the Act could demand the procurement of all such plays for verification whose content might violate one or many terms of the Act.
The police was granted the license to enter, arrest and seize any persons, scenery, costumes, and or articles whose use or intended use in the performance as prohibited under the terms of the Dramatic Performances Act, had been reasonably established. By this Act, no public performance was to take place in any local area without the sanction of a license.
, by the early 1860s the need for public theatres was strongly felt. Dramatic performances so far were private and irregular, open to a handful of spectators. Contemporary newspapers advocated the need for theatres to act as vehicles of social reform and instruction in a variety of subjects, as also, a focus of amusement and entertainment. It was to be a democratic space where, by the purchase of a ticket of minimal charge, anyone could be a spectator.
As early as 12 May 1862, the Som Prakas emphasized the need for a public theatre. The Naba Prabandha issue of August 1868 discussed the need for a healthy space which would counter the harmful effects of the vulgar pleasures provided by contemporary panchali
s, tarja
s and halfakdais. It further suggested the establishment of a public theatre on strict business principles where acting would become a professional domain.
Bhuban Mohan Neogi offered the Baghbazar Amateur Theatre a room in his house on the river Ganges for their practice sessions. The play chosen was Dinabandhu Mitra
’s Nil Darpan
. The endeavour won the enthusiastic support of such eminent persons as Sisir Kumar Ghose (1840-1911, editor of Amrit Bazar Patrika), Nabagopal Mitra
(1840-1894, editor of the National Paper), Mon Mohan Basu (1831-1912, editor of the Madhyastha, among others.
A short-lived controversy arose regarding the theatre's nomenclature. Nabagopal Mitra
, nicknamed "National Nabagopal" for his fervent nationalism expressed in his desire to attach the word "National" to every Bengali enterprise, suggested the name "The Calcutta National Theatrical Society", which was finally shortened to "National Theatre". Girish Chandra Ghose, who was the unofficial leader of the Baghbazar group was not ready to adopt this title and later, he parted company with his friends on account of this broil.
planters of the impoverished Bengali ryot
s. Sulav Samachar in the 10th December issue of 1872, not only praised the performance but called for the creation of many more such plays which would inspire the people and make them aware of their rights. The National Paper of 11 December 1872 described the play as "an event of national importance." Amrit Bazar Patrika suggested that the play should not be restricted to Calcutta, but should venture beyond Calcutta to such places as Krishnanagore, Berhampore
, Jessore and other such areas where the issues addressed in the play would be more relevant.
However, the staging of Nil Darpan with its blatant demonization of the white-skinned indigo planters, earned the displeasure of the Englishman which, in its 20 December 1872 issue condemned the play for having had damaging effects on the dignity and prestige of the British government and ordered that the performance of the play be immediately stopped. It wrote:
On the other hand, the new public theatre in Calcutta prepared to deal with its own shortcomings. The press did not spare the imperfections of the National Theatre. A letter published in the Education Gazette (13 December) commended the National Theatre for its height and width, but complained of the lack of sufficient light on the stage, absence of wings affecting the aesthetics of the play, and inadequate accommodation. At around this time, two letters appeared in the Indian Mirror (19 and 27 December) in which the so-called National Theatre was heavily criticized on account of its poor equipments and sub-standard acting. It was assumed that the writer of these two letters was none other than Girish Chandra Ghose himself. Faced with such pointed criticism, an appeal was made to the sponsors to uphold the dignity of the National Theatre and to replace the western concerts that were fashionable in Calcutta at this tine with more indigenous theatre. The second performance of Nil Darpan
was held on 21 December. Many other plays were also staged at around this time by the National Theatre.
Towards the end of March 1875, some members of the National Theatre (that had now become the "Great National Theatre") went on tour. In Lucknow
, during a scene of Nil Darpan--the scene where Torap, an Indian ryot, holds down the European Mr.Rouge who assaults the helpless woman Kshetramoni—British soldiers among the audience, enraged, rushed on to the stage and began behaving violently, which led to the breaking up of the play.
The following year, Edward, Prince of Wales
visited Calcutta. Soon after his visit, the Great National Theatre presented the play Gajadananda o Jubaraj (or Gajadananda and the Crown Prince), which sought to target Jagadananda Mukherjee, a well-known citizen of Calcutta, Junior Government pleader and member of the Bengal Legislative Council. This man had invited the Prince to his Bhowanipur residence on 3 January 1876 and had taken him on a tour of the ladies’ apartment of the house where he was given a traditional Bengali welcome by the female members of the family. This incident enraged the orthodox Bengali society for it appeared to them that Jagadananda had sacrificed his ethics and culture in a bid to placate the British masters and win favours from them. The satirical play Gajadananda o Jubaraj , based on this incident, was stopped by police order, yet it returned the following week on 26 February under a different name, Hanuman Charitra.
On 1 March, Upendranath Das’s play Surendra Binodini was followed by a satire called The Police of Pig and Sheep, burlesquing Sir Stuart Hogg, Commissioner of Police, and Mr.Lamb, Superintendent of Police for their hostile behavior towards the common people. Although this issue was taken to court, the High Court threw out the case.
On 29 February 1876, Lord Northbrook
, Governor-General of India, promulgated an ordinance. The Indian Mirror of 1 March 1876 reported as follows:
In March 1876 the Dramatic Performances Control Bill was introduced in the Viceroy’s Council. Despite strong public opposition, the Bill was passed into law in December 1876. While the immediate provocation for the promulgation of the ordinance was the play Gajadananda o Jubaraj, the actual motive of the Government was to silence such nationalistic plays as Nil Darpan, Bharat Mata, Puru-Vikram, Bharate Yavan, Banger Sukhabasan, Beer Nari. This Act also served as a weapon to proscribe, at one time or another up to 1911, the following works: Anandamath
, Chandrasekhar
, Mrinalini, Chhatrapati Shivaji, Karagar among others.
This case reflects the extent to which the rulers of colonial era sought to gag free speech, and noticing within the public theatre the germs of a nationalist movement, came down hard on theatre groups, individual directors of plays and even those who appeared to be the sympathizers of this creative domain.
Following the independence of India on 15 August 1947, this Act was not entirely abolished. Post-1947, many states have introduced their own amended versions of this Act and some have in fact modified it to such an extent that it has even increased the Government’s control over public theatre performance in Independent India. The Bombay DPA, brought into action in 1950, is one such case in point.
Stringent censorship of public theatres has in fact continued in India in the post-independence era. The police have often called upon members of a particular theatre association or individual persons to furnish entire manuscripts of plays for scrutiny by the censorship authorities, which then might or might not be banned or selectively abridged. In 1953, the Indian People’s Theatre Association was faced with such a trial when they were called upon to turn in about fifty manuscripts, which included the plays Nil Darpan and Nabanna
.
In 1953, Malayalam playwright and film director Thoppil Bhasi
’s play Ningalenne Communist akki i.e. You Made Me a Communist was banned by the Thiruvananthapuram
District Magistrate according to the provisions of the Dramatic Performances Act.The government alleged that the play contained provocative material which might prove harmful to the integrity of the state and encourage people to rise in revolt against the government. This play charts the life of a middle-aged man as he journeys from the cloisters of a conservative upper-class Hindu family to communism. After being banned, the play, its cast and director invited greater trouble upon themselves by violating the ban and performing the play at Kovalam
, near Thiruvananthapuram. This led to the immediate arrest of all the actors of the play. However, an effective opposition from the Communist Party
in Kerala compelled the High Court to declare the ban null and void two months later. West Bengal
repealed the Act in the year 1962 following persistent agitation from the ranks of the artists’ fraternity.
The India Code Compilation of Unrepealed Central Acts declared in 1993 that the Act is one of the "obsolete laws" that exists in India today.
British Raj
British Raj was the British rule in the Indian subcontinent between 1858 and 1947; The term can also refer to the period of dominion...
in India in the year 1876 to police seditious Indian theatre. India, being a colony of the British Empire
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
had begun using the theatre as a tool of protest against the oppressive nature of the colonial rule. In order to check these revolutionary impulses, the British Government proceeded to impose the Dramatic Performances Act. Interestingly, following India’s independence in 1947, the Act has not been repealed, and most states have introduced their own modified versions with certain amendments which have in fact, often strengthened the control of the administration over the theatre.
Provisions of the Act
Thomas Baring, 1st Earl of Northbrook
Thomas George Baring, 1st Earl of Northbrook PC, GCSI, FRS , was a British Liberal politician and statesman...
. The Act sought to empower the British administration to control better the theatre scene in India.
The Act outlined the restrictions that public performances of a play, pantomime or any other drama would have to adhere to. According to this Act, if the state government judged any play to be of a scandalous nature; disrupting social values; or felt that it might excite feelings of disaffection against the government established by law; or that it would corrupt persons, then the said performance would stand prohibited.
The Act further stated that if any person or groups on whom an order of prohibition had been served refused to comply with the same, such persons or groups would be liable to be punished. The penalty for disobedience of the terms of the Act was either imprisonment for a term extending to about three months, or a fine, or in some cases, both. The Act conferred upon the government the right to information, by which right the persons as empowered by the Act could demand the procurement of all such plays for verification whose content might violate one or many terms of the Act.
The police was granted the license to enter, arrest and seize any persons, scenery, costumes, and or articles whose use or intended use in the performance as prohibited under the terms of the Dramatic Performances Act, had been reasonably established. By this Act, no public performance was to take place in any local area without the sanction of a license.
Creation of the National Theatre
In CalcuttaKolkata
Kolkata , formerly known as Calcutta, is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located on the east bank of the Hooghly River, it was the commercial capital of East India...
, by the early 1860s the need for public theatres was strongly felt. Dramatic performances so far were private and irregular, open to a handful of spectators. Contemporary newspapers advocated the need for theatres to act as vehicles of social reform and instruction in a variety of subjects, as also, a focus of amusement and entertainment. It was to be a democratic space where, by the purchase of a ticket of minimal charge, anyone could be a spectator.
As early as 12 May 1862, the Som Prakas emphasized the need for a public theatre. The Naba Prabandha issue of August 1868 discussed the need for a healthy space which would counter the harmful effects of the vulgar pleasures provided by contemporary panchali
Panchali
Panchali may refer to:*Draupadi, the wife of the Pandavas in the Indian epic Mahabharata*Panchali , a form of narrative folk songs of Bengal region* The Barhai, also known as Panchali, are Hindu caste, found in North India...
s, tarja
Tarja (folk poetry contest)
Tarja is a form of folk poetry contest from Bengal with a long tradition. Historically it used to be performed in the village gathering around a chandimandap or altar for village god, mela and other social events, in streets, and marketplace religious festivals...
s and halfakdais. It further suggested the establishment of a public theatre on strict business principles where acting would become a professional domain.
Bhuban Mohan Neogi offered the Baghbazar Amateur Theatre a room in his house on the river Ganges for their practice sessions. The play chosen was Dinabandhu Mitra
Dinabandhu Mitra
Dinabandhu Mitra the Bengali dramatist, was born in 1830 at village Chouberia in Gopalnagar P.S., 24 Parganas and was the son of Kalachand Mitra. His given name was Gandharva Narayan, but he changed it to Dinabandhu Mitra.-Early life:Dinabandhu Mitra's education started at a village pathshala...
’s Nil Darpan
Nil Darpan
Nil Durpan is a Bengali play written by Dinabandhu Mitra in 1858-1859...
. The endeavour won the enthusiastic support of such eminent persons as Sisir Kumar Ghose (1840-1911, editor of Amrit Bazar Patrika), Nabagopal Mitra
Nabagopal Mitra
Nabagopal Mitra was an Indian playwright, poet, essayist, patriot and one of the founding fathers of Hindu nationalism. Along with Rishi Rajnarayan Basu he founded the Hindu Mela, the pioneer institution behind the genesis of Hindu nationalism...
(1840-1894, editor of the National Paper), Mon Mohan Basu (1831-1912, editor of the Madhyastha, among others.
A short-lived controversy arose regarding the theatre's nomenclature. Nabagopal Mitra
Nabagopal Mitra
Nabagopal Mitra was an Indian playwright, poet, essayist, patriot and one of the founding fathers of Hindu nationalism. Along with Rishi Rajnarayan Basu he founded the Hindu Mela, the pioneer institution behind the genesis of Hindu nationalism...
, nicknamed "National Nabagopal" for his fervent nationalism expressed in his desire to attach the word "National" to every Bengali enterprise, suggested the name "The Calcutta National Theatrical Society", which was finally shortened to "National Theatre". Girish Chandra Ghose, who was the unofficial leader of the Baghbazar group was not ready to adopt this title and later, he parted company with his friends on account of this broil.
Staging of Nil Darpan
The first public theatre was, ironically enough, housed in a private residence. The courtyard of Madhusudan Sanyal’s house at 33 Upper Chitpore Road was taken for a rent. On 19 November 1872 an advertisement appeared in Sulav Samachar which declared that the Calcutta National Theatrical Society would stage Nil Darpan on Saturday, 7 December. The play was a scathing exposure of the oppression of the British indigoIndigo
Indigo is a color named after the purple dye derived from the plant Indigofera tinctoria and related species. The color is placed on the electromagnetic spectrum between about 420 and 450 nm in wavelength, placing it between blue and violet...
planters of the impoverished Bengali ryot
Ryot
Ryot was a general economic term used throughout India for peasant cultivators but with variations in different provinces. While zamindars were landlords, raiyats were tenants and cultivators, and served as hired labour...
s. Sulav Samachar in the 10th December issue of 1872, not only praised the performance but called for the creation of many more such plays which would inspire the people and make them aware of their rights. The National Paper of 11 December 1872 described the play as "an event of national importance." Amrit Bazar Patrika suggested that the play should not be restricted to Calcutta, but should venture beyond Calcutta to such places as Krishnanagore, Berhampore
Berhampore
Berhampore may refer to one of several places:*Baharampur, in West Bengal, India, formerly known as Berhampore *Berhampore, New Zealand, a suburb of WellingtonSee also:*Brahmapur, a City in Orissa, India...
, Jessore and other such areas where the issues addressed in the play would be more relevant.
However, the staging of Nil Darpan with its blatant demonization of the white-skinned indigo planters, earned the displeasure of the Englishman which, in its 20 December 1872 issue condemned the play for having had damaging effects on the dignity and prestige of the British government and ordered that the performance of the play be immediately stopped. It wrote:
On the other hand, the new public theatre in Calcutta prepared to deal with its own shortcomings. The press did not spare the imperfections of the National Theatre. A letter published in the Education Gazette (13 December) commended the National Theatre for its height and width, but complained of the lack of sufficient light on the stage, absence of wings affecting the aesthetics of the play, and inadequate accommodation. At around this time, two letters appeared in the Indian Mirror (19 and 27 December) in which the so-called National Theatre was heavily criticized on account of its poor equipments and sub-standard acting. It was assumed that the writer of these two letters was none other than Girish Chandra Ghose himself. Faced with such pointed criticism, an appeal was made to the sponsors to uphold the dignity of the National Theatre and to replace the western concerts that were fashionable in Calcutta at this tine with more indigenous theatre. The second performance of Nil Darpan
Nil Darpan
Nil Durpan is a Bengali play written by Dinabandhu Mitra in 1858-1859...
was held on 21 December. Many other plays were also staged at around this time by the National Theatre.
Creation of the Dramatic Performances Act
Lucknow
Lucknow is the capital city of Uttar Pradesh in India. Lucknow is the administrative headquarters of Lucknow District and Lucknow Division....
, during a scene of Nil Darpan--the scene where Torap, an Indian ryot, holds down the European Mr.Rouge who assaults the helpless woman Kshetramoni—British soldiers among the audience, enraged, rushed on to the stage and began behaving violently, which led to the breaking up of the play.
The following year, Edward, Prince of Wales
Edward VII of the United Kingdom
Edward VII was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910...
visited Calcutta. Soon after his visit, the Great National Theatre presented the play Gajadananda o Jubaraj (or Gajadananda and the Crown Prince), which sought to target Jagadananda Mukherjee, a well-known citizen of Calcutta, Junior Government pleader and member of the Bengal Legislative Council. This man had invited the Prince to his Bhowanipur residence on 3 January 1876 and had taken him on a tour of the ladies’ apartment of the house where he was given a traditional Bengali welcome by the female members of the family. This incident enraged the orthodox Bengali society for it appeared to them that Jagadananda had sacrificed his ethics and culture in a bid to placate the British masters and win favours from them. The satirical play Gajadananda o Jubaraj , based on this incident, was stopped by police order, yet it returned the following week on 26 February under a different name, Hanuman Charitra.
On 1 March, Upendranath Das’s play Surendra Binodini was followed by a satire called The Police of Pig and Sheep, burlesquing Sir Stuart Hogg, Commissioner of Police, and Mr.Lamb, Superintendent of Police for their hostile behavior towards the common people. Although this issue was taken to court, the High Court threw out the case.
On 29 February 1876, Lord Northbrook
Thomas Baring, 1st Earl of Northbrook
Thomas George Baring, 1st Earl of Northbrook PC, GCSI, FRS , was a British Liberal politician and statesman...
, Governor-General of India, promulgated an ordinance. The Indian Mirror of 1 March 1876 reported as follows:
In March 1876 the Dramatic Performances Control Bill was introduced in the Viceroy’s Council. Despite strong public opposition, the Bill was passed into law in December 1876. While the immediate provocation for the promulgation of the ordinance was the play Gajadananda o Jubaraj, the actual motive of the Government was to silence such nationalistic plays as Nil Darpan, Bharat Mata, Puru-Vikram, Bharate Yavan, Banger Sukhabasan, Beer Nari. This Act also served as a weapon to proscribe, at one time or another up to 1911, the following works: Anandamath
Anandamath
Anandamath is a Bengali novel, written by Bankim Chandra Chatterji and published in 1882. Set in the background of the Sannyasi Rebellion in the late 18th century, it is considered one of the most important novels in the history of Bengali and Indian literature...
, Chandrasekhar
Chandrasekhar
Chandrasekhar or Chandra Shekhar is an Indian name and may refer to a number of individuals. Etymologically, the name comes from the Sanskrit words "चन्द्र ", meaning "moon", and "शेखर ", meaning "crest" or "crown" which is an epithet of Hindu god Shiva...
, Mrinalini, Chhatrapati Shivaji, Karagar among others.
After the Bill is passed
Following the promulgation of the Dramatic Performances Act, the government felt dissatisfied with its terms and sought to devise some sort of punishment for the sponsors of the prohibited plays. Their aim was to charge the sponsors if not on the ground of a play itself, then at least, on some other point. On 4 March, 1876, when the play Sati Ki Kalankini was being performed on the stage of the Great National Theatre, the police stormed the place and arrested the director Upendra Nath Das, the manager Amritlal Basu and eight others on the charge of immorality for an earlier play, Surendra Binodini. On 8 March Upendra Nath and Amritlal were sentenced to one month’s simple imprisonment while the rest were released. Later however, the High Court overruled the order of the Police Court and released the duo.This case reflects the extent to which the rulers of colonial era sought to gag free speech, and noticing within the public theatre the germs of a nationalist movement, came down hard on theatre groups, individual directors of plays and even those who appeared to be the sympathizers of this creative domain.
Post-Independence scenario
Stringent censorship of public theatres has in fact continued in India in the post-independence era. The police have often called upon members of a particular theatre association or individual persons to furnish entire manuscripts of plays for scrutiny by the censorship authorities, which then might or might not be banned or selectively abridged. In 1953, the Indian People’s Theatre Association was faced with such a trial when they were called upon to turn in about fifty manuscripts, which included the plays Nil Darpan and Nabanna
Nabanna
Nabanna is a Bengali harvest celebration usually celebrated with food and dance and music. It's a festival of food; many local preparations of Bengali cuisine like pithe are cooked and offered.-Celebration:...
.
In 1953, Malayalam playwright and film director Thoppil Bhasi
Thoppil Bhasi
Thoppil Bhasi was a Malayalam playwright, screenwriter, and film director. He was associated with the communist movement in Kerala and his play Ningalenne Communistakki is considered to be a groundbreaking event in the history of Malayalam theatre.Thoppil Bhasi was born in Vallikunnam, a small...
’s play Ningalenne Communist akki i.e. You Made Me a Communist was banned by the Thiruvananthapuram
Thiruvananthapuram
Thiruvananthapuram , formerly known as Trivandrum, is the capital of the Indian state of Kerala and the headquarters of the Thiruvananthapuram District. It is located on the west coast of India near the extreme south of the mainland...
District Magistrate according to the provisions of the Dramatic Performances Act.The government alleged that the play contained provocative material which might prove harmful to the integrity of the state and encourage people to rise in revolt against the government. This play charts the life of a middle-aged man as he journeys from the cloisters of a conservative upper-class Hindu family to communism. After being banned, the play, its cast and director invited greater trouble upon themselves by violating the ban and performing the play at Kovalam
Kovalam
Kovalam is a beach town on the Arabian Sea in Thiruvananthapuram city, Kerala, India. It is located around 13 km from the down town of Trivandrum.-Etymology:...
, near Thiruvananthapuram. This led to the immediate arrest of all the actors of the play. However, an effective opposition from the Communist Party
Communist Party of India (Marxist)
The Communist Party of India is a political party in India. It has a strong presence in the states of Kerala, West Bengal and Tripura. As of 2011, CPI is leading the state government in Tripura. It leads the Left Front coalition of leftist parties in various states and the national parliament of...
in Kerala compelled the High Court to declare the ban null and void two months later. West Bengal
West Bengal
West Bengal is a state in the eastern region of India and is the nation's fourth-most populous. It is also the seventh-most populous sub-national entity in the world, with over 91 million inhabitants. A major agricultural producer, West Bengal is the sixth-largest contributor to India's GDP...
repealed the Act in the year 1962 following persistent agitation from the ranks of the artists’ fraternity.
The India Code Compilation of Unrepealed Central Acts declared in 1993 that the Act is one of the "obsolete laws" that exists in India today.
External links
- http://www.pap.gov.pk/uploads/acts/6.html Text of the Dramatic Performances Act on the Government of Pakistan website
- http://www.commonlii.org/in/legis/num_act/dpa1876203/ Text of the Dramatic Performances Act on the Indian Legislation Database website