LAHORE, June 21: Vulgarity in comedy and musical shows has forced the City District Government to restrict the number of dances and make furnishing of an undertaking to abide by the provisions of the Dramatic Performances Act compulsory for theatre owners and organizers of the shows.

The organisers of the shows and theatre owners will have to assure the CDG that they would not only ensure wearing of reasonable dresses by the artistes but would also be liable to prosecution for vulgar dances and exchange of indecent dialogue by the artistes. Maximum number of dances during a show has been restricted to seven.

Theatre owners and organizers of shows will also have to ensure the CDG that they will maintain a no smoking atmosphere in the halls during the performances. No eatables will be served in the halls during the performances either.

The CDG officials said that vulgar musical and comedy shows had become the easiest way to mint money. The organizers could easily collect upto Rs500,000 from a show and save at least Rs100,000 after paying the artistes and theatre rent. The organizers included upto 30 dances in such shows and artistes wore indecent dresses besides exchanging vulgar dialogue.

The CDG Community Development Department resorted to sealing of theatres and imposing bans on artistes performing vulgar dances and exchanging indecent dialogue to check vulgarity in musical and comedy shows. A ban was also imposed on permissions for such shows for some time with the result that many stage artistes had stopped performing in Lahore and shifted to other cities.