The Gaiety Theatre opened on the Mall in 1887, as part of the town hall building, and was built for the amateur dramatics of the summer capital.

Its small auditorium, with a horseshoe of balconies, has hardly changed. It was restored about fifteen years ago and is used again almost every week.

Today the stage belongs mostly to Shimla's own theatre groups, who rehearse in the evenings after work and put on plays in Hindi and Pahari.

A director we spoke to said the audience is the same as ever: they come early, they know the actors, and they talk about the play on the way down the Mall.