The Making of 'Umrao'

The Making of 'Umrao'

On April 3, Sally Jones was at the NCSU campus to talk about the production of her play Umrao. While sharing with the audience the making of Umrao, Sally also showed some videotaped scenes from the play. A highly acclaimed English-language adaptation of the classic Urdu novel Umrao Jaan Ada, the play has been staged several times in Toronto. Written in 1895 by Mirza Hadi Ruswa (1858-1931), the novel tells the trials and tribulations of Umrao, a mid-nineteenth century courtesan-poet from Lucknow, who was also a virtuoso in the arts of singing and Kathak dancing.

Originally, from Massachusetts, Sally Jones has been involved with the theatre since her high school days. She completed graduate work in Theatre Arts from Toronto, where she also met people from the South Asian community. While writing her PhD dissertation on 19th Century American Drama and Nationalism, she signed up for a kathak dance class. Her love for the kathak style of dancing led her to a wider interest in South Asian culture. In 1993, Sally went to India to research and study kathak. Over the years, her interest in South Asian theatre and literature has expanded and deepened. Eventually, she decided to bring some of these cultural art forms to North America.

In 1993, she happened to be in Delhi when the play Umrao was being staged. She could not understand its Urdu. She read the novel in English translation by David Mathews and Khushwant Singh and the whole magical world of Umrao opened up to her. She also saw the movie Umrao Jaan Ada made by Muzaffar Ali. Sally found that every one seemed to know about Umrao Jaan Ada as a cultural icon and an important figure. She was fascinated by the character and story of Umrao and thought that kathak dance and music could be used in the play to very good effect.

So in 1997, she met the playwright and director of Umrao. Vishwa Mitra Adil of Hyderabad completed its translation into English in 2000. It was a very dense and poetic script, very hard to translate. Her dream has always been to better appreciate Urdu and become more conversant. In 1999, she came to Chapel Hill, NC to study Umrao Jaan Ada as part of a summer course - 'Introduction to Modern Indian Literature' taught by Afroz Taj.

On her return to Toronto, she felt she was ready to start casting and producing Umrao. She also had to work on getting the funding. Gathering the right costumes and music was also quite a challenge. Most of the dresses and jewelry for the play came from Delhi. She auditioned many young people from Pakistan and India, who have studied classical arts and have acted in plays. Actual rehearsals started in May 2001. There are twelve actors in the cast who have worked very hard to make the play a great success. Sally was lucky to have people like Anwar Khursheed who is not only well versed in Urdu but is also an accomplished musician. Mr. Khursheed composed the music for the play. He plays the sitar and Sally worked closely with him in picking and composing the music.

The play Umrao was performed in Toronto from September 6 through September 16, 2001. It was a very well directed play. The audience was very impressed with the unique presentation. Sally would like many more people to see and appreciate it. The play expresses the mood of the novel very well and is successful in presenting the rich culture and beauty of the story. The play captures the timeless beauty of Umrao and is a fitting homage to the book. In some ways, it is much more faithful to the book than the movie because of its depth and perspective. Sally Jones may bring Umrao to NCSU by next spring.