Comic Performance in Pakistan

Claire Pamment is Assistant Professor of World Theatre in the Department of Theatre, Speech and Dance at the College of William and Mary, USA; former Yale Institute of Sacred Music, Worship and the Arts Fellow (2015-16), and has taught at various universities in Pakistan. Her articles on South Asian performance, censorship, burlesque, comedy and transgendering have appeared in TDR, Comedy Studies and Asian Theatre Journal. She is Performance Reviews Editor for Ecumenica.

“Claire Pamment’s book Comic Performance in Pakistan: The Bhānd (Palgrave Macmillan, 2017) is a fantastic new book centered on the Punjabi folk art of the Bhānd, or comic performance. … This lyrically written book on a long-running and hugely important tradition of Islamicate humor will interest much scholars of Islam, South Asia, Anthropology, and Performance Studies.” (SherAli Tareen, New Books network, newbooksnetwork.com, March   15, 2019)“Claire Pamment’s incisive research on comic performance in Pakistan, with specific reference to the Bhānd, is an invaluable contribution to the scant scholarship on theatre and performance in the country. … This book is immersive for the uninitiated reader, and expands the subject for scholars in the field of performance in Pakistan. A supporting glossary of terms and extensive notes in each chapter illuminate the subject at hand and provide contextual information comprehensively.” (Asma Mundrawala, Theatre Research International, Vol. 43 (3), October, 2018)“Pamment’s book treats bhānd as a living form, not a relic, with its own future and subversive possibilities that are commensurate with the creative capacity and imagination of performers. Pamment’s book, thus, contributes something important to the ongoing project of drawing the study of theatrical performance out of its Euro-American orbit.” (David Mason, Asian Theatre Journal, Vol. 35 (2), 2018)

• Introduction.- Part One: Genealogies.- 1.In the Centres and Margins of the Historical Record.- 2.Brahmin Jesters and Sufi Wise Fools.- Part Two: Contemporary Performance.- 3.Wedding Bhānds: ‘From the Donkey Cart to the Aeroplane’.- 4.Bhānds in the Drawing Room: The Popular Punjabi Theatre.- 5.Satellite Bhānds: Playful Outsiders.- Conclusion: Future Moves?