Manjft Pal Kaur was the only woman dramatist of Punjabi theatre. He was also a feminist poet. She was born in 1948. Her first play, Sahiban in 1986 was a poetic drama. She drew its subject matter from a medieval love story named after the heroine, much maligned for betraying her lover who otherwise would have killed her brothers. Bandhan te sarap i.e. `Constraint and Curse` in 1988 contains two plays, one in verse and the other in prose. Kaur`s most famous work is Sundran that she wrote in 1994. This one was her poetic kind. Titled after a benevolent woman contrapuntal to the malevolent heroine of an ancient legend, it feminizes the patriarchal content in a profoundly poignant way. Essentially intellectual, it enters into dialogue with writings composed upon this legend from the patriarchal viewpoint.
A theatre academician by profession, Kaur has published three books of criticism devoted exclusively to drama and theatre. Panjabi kav-nat as for example `sabhiachar de sandharbh vich i.e. `Punjabi Poetic Drama: In Cultural Context` in 1989 is an elaborate study of this genre, its genesis, growth, and diversity. Panjabi drama te rangmanch de vikas dian samasianvan i.e. `Problems of the Growth of Punjabi Drama and Theatre` in 1993 and Panjabi drama te rangmanch i.e. `Punjabi Drama and Theatre` in 1996 are compilations edited by her to probe crucial issues of past significance and present meaning.
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