Imphal, June 17: Call it the drama of survival. When not staging or rehearsing plays, one of Manipur’s acclaimed theatre groups makes sanitaryware to augment its meagre earnings. Imphal Banyan Repertory Theatre’s sanitaryware production unit is the brainchild of its director M.C. Thoiba, who was an engineer with the public health engineering department before theatre beckoned.
Everyday, after drama rehearsals are over, members of the theatre group shift focus to an entirely different creative process: making low-cost sanitaryware for the rural market.
It is an alternative source of income that provides for their basic needs and sustains their motivation for theatre.
Imphal Banyan Repertory Theatre, which has been performing regularly at drama festivals across the country, was a hit with the audience at the recent National School of Drama (NSD)-organised festival in New Delhi.
But as its director said, accolades alone cannot keep the show going.
“Theatre is not only a passion, but also a mission. But to sustain this mission, we need funds,” Thoiba said.
Apart from making sanitaryware, the group has been using the medium of theatre to spread the message that sanitation is an important facet of life. “Theatre can help mobilise opinion on various issues, and our priority is raising awareness about sanitation in the rural areas,” the director said.
Before starting the sanitaryware production unit, Thoiba staged a street play, Pankhei Ama, in 35 villages of Imphal West district. The play, on the theme of sanitation, was a big hit.
At the national level, Imphal Banyan Repertory Theatre has a history of sterling performances. One of its productions, Disrupted Spring, got rave reviews in the media after it was staged during NSD’s sixth national festival.
Thoiba said the sanitary ware production unit was doing well, too. The public health engineering department recently placed an order for materials to build 5,000 low-cost latrines in the rural belt of Imphal West district. Prospective individual buyers have now started making enquiries about the products.
“We have yet to start selling our products to individual buyers, but will do so very soon. Poor families in the rural areas do not have proper latrines, which is why they are prone to several diseases. We want each rural house to have a proper latrine,” Thoiba said.
Future plans of the repertory include opening sanitary marts in all the district headquarters. The group owns a 20-acre plot on which it intends to develop a complex, including a full-fledged industrial unit to be manned by the artistes, some of whom have undergone training in production of sanitaryware.