Punjabi theatre between 1931 and 1947 was mainly dominated by playwrights of the modern Punjabi theatre. Harcharan Singh, a pioneering force in Punjabi theatre, and the playwrights who followed his lead, added quantitatively to the body of dramatic literature in Punjabi, but they have offered little by way of quality, which appeared only when stalwarts like Sant Singh Sekhon, Balwant Gargi, and Amrik Singh (1921) made their contribution. These writers have brought vigour and freshness to Punjabi theatre. With them began the trend of progressive writing. Sekhon has given a new dimension to Punjabi theatre by committing the genre to a dialectical interpretation of contemporary reality.
Some of his very well known plays include Kalakar (The Artist 1946), Moyian Sar na Kai (Gone and Forgotten), Bera Bandh Na Sakyo (You did Not Bind the Logs of the Float), Narki (Denizens of Hell, 1952), Damyanti (1962), and Mitter Pyara (The Dear Friend). It is generally believed that Sekhon has failed to write plays meant to be staged, and his works do not go beyond intellectual discussions, which, of course, are stimulating. His characters are automatons and devoid of any physical action, but still his writing offers an exciting fare for mature and lively debate.
During this period, there seemed to have developed a cleavage between literary drama and drama meant for the stage. The plays of Sant Singh Sekhon, though impressive, were scarcely staged. Defending his plays, he argued that they could not be staged for they represented times ahead of him. The existing theatre was not adequate to produce his plays because of its limitations. On the other hand, some Punjabi critics characterized these plays as literary plays at best, having no potential to turn into a stage reality. Roshan Lal Ahuja accepted that there could be both kinds of plays, literary meant for reading only and others worthy of stage production.
Gargi, under the impact of progressive movement, wrote a number of plays with a Marxist slant - notable among these are Ghuggi (The Dove), Biswedar (The Feudal Lord), SailPathar (Still Stone), Kesro (Name of Woman), and Girjhan (Vultures, 1951). These plays are on themes such as the world peace and movement, the agrarian struggle, national reconstruction, and polemics of committed art. Gargi is also an author of a scholarly treatise on Indian stagecraft entitled Bharti Drama, which won him a Sahitya Akademi Award.
Among the older generation, Kartar Singh Duggal, a leading fiction writer, wrote plays that have been produced mainly by All India Radio. He is credited with developing a form of the radio play in Punjabi. To meet the needs of the radio play, he uses his characters as symbols. His play Puranian Botlan (The Old Bottles) is a meaningful critique of the unscrupulous behaviour of the urban middle class.
