Since Bangsawan was established in Malaysia in the 1880s, theater activities began. It later became very popular and monopolized theater activities in Malaysia for over 70 years. Bangsawan started in Penang and then expanded throughout Malaysia to Indonesia. Bangsawan theater was influenced by the performance of the Wayang Parsi or Mendu, which acted out stories using Hindi and were acted by male and female actors brought from India at that time.

In the 1870s, a drama troupe from India, known as the "Persian Theater Troupe" or "Mendu," came to Penang to perform their plays. This troupe consists of male and female actors who are good at singing, acting, and dancing. The Bangsawan Theater reached its popularity around the end of the 1890s, with its peak beginning in 1911.

However, this theater suffered a decline in the early 1940s during the Japanese colonization of Malaya and began to lose popularity in the 1950s. After that, some small groups still staged Bangsawan in small events by invitation, but this did not last long. In the 1990s, with the existence of the National Theater and Istana Budaya, Bangsawan Theater began to be reproduced by these two agencies to preserve the country's cultural arts.

Bangsawa is again active in efforts to preserve the traditional theater, where performances are becoming more consistent under the support of the government. The National Department of Culture and Arts (JKKN) and Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) work together through the Semarak Bangsawan program, which started in 2007 and continues until now.