Saang (सांग) is a popular folk dance drama or folk theatre form in Rajasthan, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Malwa region of Madhya Pradesh. Saang incorporates suitable theatrics and mimicry (or nakal) accompanied by song and dialogue. It is dialogue-oriented rather than movement-oriented. Religious stories and folk tales are enacted by a group of ten or twelve persons in an open area or an open air theatre surrounded by the audience.
Tradition credits Kishan Lal Bhaat for laying the foundation of the present style of Saang about two hundred years ago. Since women did not participate in the dance-drama form, men have traditionally enacted their roles.
Features
The stage may consist of a clear circular open area, or at the most, a wooden platform about three and a half metre in length. There are no elaborate stage arrangements similar to modern dramatic performances. There are no backdrops, curtains or green-rooms. Typically, there are no microphones or loudspeakers either. An hour or so before the show, the musicians of the orchestra begin to sing religious or other songs connected with the play in order to create the proper atmosphere for the play. The 'Guru' then appears and the artistes touch his feet to evoke his blessings. The play opens with a song ('bhait' or offering) in praise of Bhawani, the Goddess of Knowledge:
(Oh Goddess Bhawani, open the doors of knowledge to me. Live on my tongue so that all I speak is pure.)
With a brief introduction about the play, the performance starts. It consists mainly of mimicry, from which the name of the theater form derives (saang means disguise or impersonation). Also featured prominently are long question and answer sessions between the actors. Much of the dialogue is improvised and the actors must be able to trade quotations, puns, proverbs and songs at the drop of a hat. There is much singing and dancing and there is always a clown character called the makhaulia (jester). Saang theatre is traditionally restricted to men, who also play the female roles, the latter often involving elaborate make-up and costumes. But female troupes are not altogether unknown. Towards the end of the 19th century, all-women Saang troupes performed in western Uttar Pradesh and the adjoining Khaaddar area of Haryana. All parts in these troupes were played by women. Sardari of Kalayat (Jind), Natni of Gangaru, and Bali of Indri (Karnal) were some of the leaders of such troupes.
A single presentation of saang may continue for up to five or six hours. There is much song and music, especially the famous Haryanvi style of singing known as Raagani.
Saang themes draw variously from themes of morality, folk tales, lives of inspiring personalities, stories from Indian mythology and in recent times, more current themes like health and hygiene, literacy, AIDS awareness and women's empowerment. In temple based religious theatre, Indian epics and Puranas are the major source material for characters, while the community-based secular theatre is of lighter variety. Several themes may be mixed together - mythological love, popular history, and religious themes, all with overtones of secular values. All dramas typically end with the victory of good over evil.
Popular mythological themes include Prahlad Bhagat, Gopi Chand, Bharthari, Harishchander, Raja Bhoj, Kichak Badh, Draupadi Chir Haran, and other tales from old literature. Also popular are Punjabi romances like Pooran Bhagat, Heer Ranjha, etc. Historical and semi-historical themes include Raja Rissalu, Amar Singh Rathor, Sarwar Neer, Jaswant Singh, Ramdevji, etc. Other popular tales include romances likeSorath, Nihalde, Padmavat, etc.
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