He dreamt of visiting England to see Shakespeare's plays, but managed only to tour Burma, Java, Sumatra, and the Andaman Islands in 1875. Jehangir Pestonji Khambata established the short-lived Empress Victoria Theatrical Company during 1876-8 with the help of his rich friend Lalsingh Dulhasingh of Delhi. He was a skilful practitioner of stagecraft, who produced Alibaba in Lahore in 1878 with Chinese sets and costumes. He enthusiastically selected young boys from Gujarat's traditional Nayak-Bhojak communities of performers for his troupe. Khambata wrote five plays, creating realistic social situations in Juddin jhaghdo i.e. 'Juddin's Fiasco' in 1905. This was a farce with a thread of absurdity based on the true story of a Parsi husband, his non-Parsi wife, and their ambitious son. His memorable book Maro nataki anubhav i.e. 'My Dramatic Experiences' in 1914 looks forward and reveals his deep understanding of theatre. Jehangir Pestonji Khambata died in 1916. This article is a stub. You can enrich by adding more information to it. Send your Write Up to content@indianetzone.com |