Theatre takes an integral part of Kashmiri culture. There are historical records like the Nilamata Purana and Kalhanas Rajatarangini in twelfth century. There it revealed that it had already attained its glory when these texts were written. This idea is further anchored by considering theorists and aestheticians such as Abhinavagupta in tenth century. He said to have lived in Kashmir, the northernmost part of India. Royal palaces were the main centres of theatrical activity, where literary connoisseurs were always present to point out merits and flaws. This golden age of drama in Kashmir lasted 1500 years. It started from the beginning of the Christian era to the fifteenth century. But very little of the dramatic literature has descended to, and that too only in Sanskrit. Yet it is known that theatre was inseparably associated with royal glamour. There also existed a performatory tradition in the vernacular, which, unlike the elite drama, was based on the spontaneous folk imitation of elemental life. These include birth, calamities, death, and rebirth. All of these are in connection with celebrations and festivals of sowing, reaping, and threshing. The Nilamata Purana advised that the descendants of Kasyapa should mark occasions with song, dance, and music, and that a public performance was a form of religious obligation.

Thus in the earliest form of Kashmiri theatre, any person could mimic for mere entertainment a king, a sadhu, a soldier, a bridegroom, or other respectable social figures. The function of this primitive burlesque was only to provoke mirth. Although as a natural mimetic activity, Lagun did not require professional training, certain people called kelak or `buffoons` that attained a special prowess in it and adopted it as their profession. A couplet by the poet Nur-ud-Din (1400) goes, Kyiliky gari gari resh lagan, Iyithi pethir lagan manz rangan i.e. `The ascetics of today, like actors, go from door to door` and perform as if they are on the stage floor`. Equipped with simple musical instruments like a drum, dahri i.e. a rod with iron rings), or surnay i.e. swarnai, a pipe. Such folk performers wandered from house to house, exhibited their skill, and got their aliment from those whom they entertained. Some blithesome public entertainers who masqueraded as people of different vocations, mythical characters, or even animals and birds, were called rangiryeviny i.e. `harlequins`.

An improved form of Kashmiri folk theatre was the Pethir. This is a satirical comedy in which several actors exaggeratedly represented individuals, classes, or supernatural beings with the purpose of ridiculing human follies, frailties, and cruelties. Pethirs on social themes, with musical interludes and boisterous harlequins, are still known as Bandi Pethir. This is a genre preserved through the efforts of Mohammad Subhan Bhagat. The impresario of a Pethir repertoire, called the magun, could assume more than one role, improvising dialogue and action on stage to make the audience laugh. A Pethir was performed in any open place where the audience could sit or stand in rings and have full view of the players from all sides. It relied mainly on dialogue and changes of costume to appeal to spectators. The task was particularly difficult for a magun. This can be understandable as Nur-ud-Din writes, Pethir byon byon tiakoy magun i.e. `Characters are various while the magun is one`. Some Pethirs on religious and mystical themes have been preserved through folk memory. Sivilegin i.e. `Siva`s Marriage` and Akanandun are perhaps the most popular which can be traced in Kashmiri folk songs. Sivilegin is the dramatic representation of Parvati`s birth, youth, and marriage to Siva. Akanandun is the story of man`s complete submission to the will of God. A Brahman is given the boon of a son after much worship, but when the child grows into a handsome boy, the Brahman`s surrender to God`s will is tried when he is asked to kill his son and cook the flesh for the sadhu who had prayed for him.

Parallel to the Bandi Pethir, there flourished a tradition of devotional theatre that primarily aimed at conveying the message of truth and revealing the pleasure of leading a pious life. A repertoire of Hindu plays was always available to the performers and temple premises were the centres of these activities. However, no early manuscript of such drama is extant. Some can be mentioned among the preserved ones, Satich kahvet i.e. `Touchstone of Truth` is the oldest accessible to readers. The author, Nandalal Kaul Nana during 1877-1940, composed it on the life of Raja Harishchandra. This was in rhymed dialogue with lyrical interludes. It was first performed in 1932 at Raghunath Mandir, Srinagar. Inspired by its success, Tarachand Bismil also wrote a play on Harishchandra published under the title Satich vath i.e. `Path of Truth` and staged by Krod Tirath Sabha Dramatic Club, Baramula. His other works include Rama avatar, Akanandun, and Premich kahvet i.e. `Touchstone of Love`. Bismil was a good lyricist and his dialogue, free from archaisms, comes closer to natural discourse. The religious drama of Nilakantha Sharma during 1881-1970, such as Bilvamangala and Swapni Vasavadatta i.e. `Vision of Vasavadatta`, though derived from other sources, was also much admired.

The popularity of gramophones during the 1930s helped to create a liking for the Rajpal Company`s recorded dramatizations of traditional romances like Shirin Khusrav i.e. `Shirin and Khusrav` and Laila Majnun i.e. `Laila and Majnun`. The scripts, by Ghulam Nabi Disoz during 1916-41, were never staged but certainly stimulated other authors to write plays on secular themes. In 1938, Grisy sundgari `A Peasant`s House` by Mohi-ud-Din Hajani during 1917-93 was a definitive departure from tradition, the first drama to depict the socio-economic conditions of the peasantry, through the misery of a family living in the grip of the feudal system. It also featured humour and satire in dialogue free from the deliberate artifice of poetic prose, which was a convention in Kashmiri drama. Abdul Satar Aasi authored the realistic Vidhva i.e. `Widow`, staged by the Natak Vibhag. Prem Nath Pardesi during the 1906-55 wrote the plays Qiidus Gojari and Bati har i.e. `Food Feud`. However, the scanty drama of the fourth and fifth decades, written under the influence of the new political awakening and the predominant social realism in Urdu literature, was essentially readably in character. People`s theatre was still an ill-defined idea, despite the availability of versatile actors like Jagan Nath Saqui.

With the establishment of the Jammu and Kashmir Cultural Front after India`s independence, theatre received serious attention. Several plays were written and staged to strengthen the Front`s political viewpoint. However, it did not receive any encouraging response from the common masses, its desired audience. The historical programme of `Land to the Tiller` had been successfully implemented, centuries-old feudalism was being abolished by the new government and, as such, the revolutionary anti-establishment message of the `progressives` was an anachronism. In 1950, a new repertory, Kala Kendra, emerged but after presenting two plays on the socialistic pattern, Tabiri khab i.e. `Interpretation of the Dream`` and Son gam i.e. `Our Village`, it returned to the old religious and romantic drama like Krishnajanam i.e. `Krishna`s Birth` in 1952 and Habba Khatun in 1956. The Sri Pratap College Dramatic Club appealed to a wide audience with its productions, which also deviated from the revolutionary theatre. The important playwrights of the day, Dina Nath Nadim and Amin Kamil, won acclaim for their operas. The founding of the Jammu and Kashmir Academy of Art, Culture and Languages in 1958 initiated a new wave of enthusiasm for non-propagandist theatre, and several amateur clubs emerged in the capital, Srinagar, and other towns. Nav Rang Dramatic Club in 1964 attracted people`s attention by performances of Makhan Lai Kaul`s Bari geyi yimbirzal i.e. `Withered Narcissus` in 1964 and Mayi menzi tshay i.e. `Shadows in Love` in 1969, and Mod Lai Kemmu`s Lalbidrayaslolarey i.e. `Lai in Love`s Quest` in 1972. Rangmanch in 1967 was perhaps the most popular theatre of the time, staging the collaborative comedies of Pushkar Bhan and Som Nath Sadhu, and the "metatheatre" of Hari Krishan Kaul. In Anantnag, the Valleys second largest town, the Royal Theatre in 1967 gained great popularity through the activities of Firdous Gul, M. R. Noushad, Bashir Dada, and Zahid Mukhtar. Other significant productions in the early 1970s included Bansi Nirdosh`s Basakh tamah i.e. `Just One Desire`, Ghulam Rasool Santosh`s Akanandun and Avtar Krishan Rahbar`s Badshah i.e. `Emperor`. Even in Delhi, several plays were presented by the Kashmiri Samity, a cultural organization of Kashmiri Pandits. For instance, Ziy gabar i.e. `Two Sons` in 1966 by Prem Nath Dhar during 1914- was an unforgettable performance.

In June 1974, eighteen repertories working in the Valley set up an association called the Kashmir Theatre Federation under the able guidance of Pran Kishore, Ali Mohammad Lone, Som Nath Zutshi, Bansi Mattoo, M. L. Kharoo, Moti Lai Keramu, and Makhanlal Saraf. This led to some memorable presentations during that decade. That was a glorious period in Kashmiri theatre of plays by Pushkar Bhan, Kemmu, Som Nath Sadhu, Sajood Sailani, Farooq Masoodi, and Mohan Nirash for Ratidevyposh, i.e. `Bleeding Flowers`. Among the many young performers who achieved remarkable success in those years were actor-directors Shabir Mujahid and Bashir Ahmad Qadri, and Nazir Josh during 1953- . He was a versatile comedian of the National Theatre in Badgam and author of popular comic plays like Timigoryigayi i.e. `Gone Are the Days`, Mtual i.e. `Vagabonds`, and Hazar dastan i.e. `Thousand Tales`. The contribution of Pran Kishore and Ashok Jailkhani as directors, Gayoor Hassan for make-up, Abdul Rashid as set designer, and Abdul Ghani for special effects cannot be ignored even in a brief excursus like the present one. In the following years, more groups joined the Federation and participated in various theatre festivals.

Meanwhile, the drama clubs of Nawakadal Girls` College, S. P. College, and M. A. Road Girls` College also produced several plays, specially those of Shamla Mufti during 1928- . This aroused interest in theatre among college students. The government`s Song and Drama Division organized a dance-drama with exaggerated costumes and effects, Esyi esy ti esyi asav i.e. `We Were and Shall Be`, in the open purlieus of Parbat Hill, which was much admired by audiences. The show was presented daily for several weeks and people thronged the site to watch it. In the 1980s, theatre received fresh impetus as the Jammu and Kashmir Academy strived to reinvigorate the cultural movement by coordinating the activities of all rural and urban troupes. Among these units the Kashmir Cultural Society deserves special mention for staging successful plays by Abid Bashir Qadri, Amin Shakir, and Bhushan Lai Bhushan, while Roshan Cultural Organization produced a play by Tariq Umar Batsh. Kashmir Valley Theatre featured Sheikh Mohammad Hanif. He was a talented actor and rising theatre-activist who performed memorably in Bashir Dadas Fankar `Artist` and Zalur `Spider`, Shamas-ud-Din Shamim`s Byegur bani i.e. `Cracked Vessels`, and R. K. Braru`s Yahu i.e. `Yahoo`, for Navratan Natsar, in 1982.

In the mid-1980s, the theatre movement began to fade and in 1989, the sudden emergence of militant politics brought it to a complete standstill. The famous Tagore Hall was burnt down and all theatre groups closed under pressure. There has been no stage activity since then. Only radio drama, television serials, and cinema keep the actors` tradition alive. No serious or promising attempt is being made to revive Kashmiri theatre, now remembered as a thing of the past.