Kalakshetra Manipur

Kalakshetra Manipur
Formation19 July 1969 (1969-07-19)
TypeTheatre group
Location
  • Manipur, India

Kalakshetra Manipur is an Indian theatre group based in Manipur. It was established on 19 July 1969 by Heisnam Kanhailal.[1] His wife, Sabitri Heisnam, was closely associated with the group. It is registered under Societies' Registration Act XXI of 1860 with its No. 1149 of 1972. Their eldest son Heisnam Tomba is the current Director.

Mission

A scene from the play Pebet

The main objective is to study, revive and project the culture of Manipur through the art of theatre and to set the highest standards of performance to match the best in India and the world theatre scene.

Laboratory

Kalakshetra Manipur believes in a workshop that serves as a laboratory, rather than a production company. it pursues a continuous process of 'renewal of ancestral tradition' for contemporary cultural expression. The artists of the group endeavored to learn afresh the lore of Manipur. They perform 'work-in-progress' shows rather than 'Public Theatre'-a finished production for public exhibition.

The group launched a cultural expedition, organizing theatre events with non-actors in three different socio-cultural contexts. They were:

  • Performance of NUPI LAN (Women's war of Manipur, 1939)[2] in which around one hundred women from the market of Imphal town participated in December, 1978 as players
  • At Umathel, a village in southern Manipur SANJENNAHA (cowherd) was performed by the villagers in December, 1979
  • Introduced theatre in the tribal area of Paite community of Churachandpur district with the production of THANGHOU LEH LIANDOU performed by tribal youths in March 1980.

Along with the training and research programmes the group created notable performances as milestone of an originally alternate theatre.

Heisnam Kanhailal was awarded the Padma Shri award by Government of India in 2004 for his work.[3] The Government of India awarded Heisnam Sabitri the fourth highest civilian honour, Padma Shri, in 2008,[4] for her contributions to Manipuri theatre.

Productions

Play Playwright Director Year
TamnaLai(Haunting spirit) Heisnam Kanhailal Heisnam Kanhailal 1972
Kabui-Keioiba(Half man half Tiger) " " 1973
Imphal`73 Improvisation on Shri Biren's poem H.Kanhailal 1973
Khomdon Meiroubi(the last maiden) W.Kamni H.Kanhailal 1973
Pebet Improvisation on the folktale Pebet H.Kanhailal 1975
Laigi Machasinga(with the children of God) Improvisation on the essay of Mao Naga, a major tribal group, of L.Samarendra H.Kanhailal 1978
Mrityu Swar H.Kanhailal H.Kanhailal 1985
Memoirs of Africa Improvisation on the poem by L.Samarendra H.Kanhailal 1986
Rashomon Film script of Akira Kurosawa dramatized and directed by H.Kanhailal 1987
Migi Sharang(Human Cage) H.Kanhailal H.Kanhailal 1991
Hijan Harao Based on the folk poem dramatized and directed by H.Tomba 1995
Karna H.Kanhailal H.Kanhailal 1997
Lajja Based on the Taslima Nasrin's novel dramatized and directed by H.Kanhailal 1997
Makokto Pokhaikhi(The head blasted) H.Tomba H.Tomba 1999
Draupadi dramatized from the story of Mahasweta Devi l H.Kanhailal 2000
Kshudito Pashan(Hungry stone) dramatized from the story of Tagore by H.Kanhailal H.Tomba 2003
Kangkhathang(The unused sword) H.Tomba H.Tomba 2005
Sati Dr.H.S.Shivprakash H.Tomba 2005
Dakhgar Rabindranath Tagore H.Kanhailal 2006
Samnadraba Mami Ensemble H.Tomba 2009
The Hungry Stones Rabindranath Tagore H. Tomba 2011

Besides these productions, the group created short improvisations and performances as part of its training and research process.

At Cairo in 1991 at the International Festival for Experimental Theatre Sabitri Heisnam won the Best Actress Award for her performance in Migi Sharang (Human Cage). The group worked with different ethnic groups from September, 2005 to August, 2006 and produced two multi-lingual plays, Sati and Dakhgar, directed by H.Tomba and H.Kanhailal, respectively.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Heisnam Kanhailal Theatre". E-Pao. Retrieved 20 May 2026.
  2. ↑ Women's War
  3. ↑ "Padma Awards". Ministry of Communications and Information Technology. Archived from the original on 29 April 2012.
  4. ↑ Heisnam Sabitri
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