RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — The lights dimmed, the conductor emerged and the nearly full house applauded as he stood before the orchestra. Then the lights went up and the cast appeared on stage in historical Arab garb.

“My love, speak to me in a poem,” sang the female lead, opening an opera about racism, war and love. It was remarkable not for the show itself, but for the fact that it was happening at all, on a public stage, in the conservative capital of Saudi Arabia. The recent production of “Antar and Abla” was part of a new, large-scale push by the Saudi government to create — virtually from scratch — a vibrant entertainment sector for its 29 million people.

Saudi Arabia has long been known as one of the world’s most conservative places, where bearded religious police enforced strict social codes and women cloaked their bodies and often covered their faces in public. Concerts and theater were largely banned, and even the notion of fun was often frowned upon as un-Islamic.