- Location: India, Haryana
- Major Scene: Heroic, Mythological
- Meaning: Imitation
Haryana is a village state but still it has preserved and developed some performing arts. Among the performing arts, the folk drama which is known as Swang is very much popular art form of the Haryana state. This folk drama depicts the emotion of love, displays the stories of brave and courageous of modern and mythological period. It also displays the humor, sacrifice and different emotions and thoughts which come from the heart and mind. The actual meaning of this folk drama Swang is imitation or disguise. Within the Haryana state, this drama is majorly known as sang, a theatre form which showcase the internal Culture of the state. The name sang is corrupted of shortcut word of the actual word Swang. This folk drama has a very depth tradition. This sang has base of type of open theatre that’s why they always perform their dramas in the open theatre.
The major noticeable elements of this theatre drama are the conversation dialogues which done in the 2 characters, music of drama, costumes of character etc. there are also some traditional elements which are also the major factors of the drama performance such as musical instruments which used in the folk performances Tasha, Cymbals, Dholak, Been and Nagara etc. this Swang folk drama is commonly play by the resident villagers. Swang is a show which has several touches of music of Haryana, folklore and narration. The show of the Sang is too performed in the beautiful star night of the Haryana. in this folk drama, the character of the lady is played by the men by making whole dress up like a women. As per the time change, the thinking pattern of the village people has been changed, that why now the character of the women is played by the women. Not only this, women of the villages, started organizing their independent plays in which they play the character of the men by wearing the male dress.
During the sixteenth century period, theatre of Haryana state has found the strong base of to show their folk art, which is today became a very famous. In the Haryana, there is one more show is now organized which is similar to the Swang; which is known as Nautanki. There is saying that the father of the Haryana state’s folk theatre’s father is Ali Baksh, who is belongs to the Rewari. They have performed Padmavati and some historical and mythological saga. Haryana’s Pandit Deep Chand were popular as a Kalidasa of the state Haryana or Shakespeare, he was polished and developed under the guidance of the Ali Baksh, in their folk theatre style. There are many great people who belongs from the Swang theatre such as Dhoom, Pandit Lakshmi Chand, Swami Har Dev, Pandit Bhartu Qutabi and the several host of the theatre which were in the Swang while the rule of the British and after his rule of British.
The theatre Swang is not a well structured theatre; it is a very well simple stage which opened from the all sides. Any open space can be used for the several purposes, whether it is space of Verandah temple or country yard. During the show, if any actor unfortunately forgot the dialogue lines, the prompters can help them from the back side, that’s why there is no need to get scared for actors. From the green room also you can see the stage; after reading this, you can imagine the structure of the theatre. After reaching at the Haryana, must visit this theatre.
