Imphal, Feb. 27: A Manipuri play will shine in Athens ahead of the Olympics this year. Sanaleibak Nachom, a drama group, which stages sumang leela, a popular form of local theatre, will leave for Greece in June with Lidice-gee Gulap (Roses of Lidice) in hands.
The play, to be staged in seven cities of Greece during June and July, has been invited especially to the Peace Olympics. The World Peace Council, headquartered at Athonos in Athens, and the Greek Peace Movement are organising the event. The 17-day Athens Olympics kicks off on August 13.
World Peace Council secretary Irkish had shown special interest in the Manipuri leela (play) before art and culture minister M. Nara, who had represented the state in the World Social Forum meet in Mumbai from January 16 to 21. Nara, who is also the state president of the All India Trade Union Congress, had introduced the play to the Greek representative.
The play, dealing with the trauma of World War II, carries anti-war and global peace messages. In his play, young Manipuri dramatist Ranjit Ningthouja is experimenting on a theme centred around an event of June 11, 1942, with a small village called Lidice in the Czech Republic as the backdrop.
German dictator Hitler had ordered the execution of the 500-strong population of the village on that particular date. Even the cattle in peaceful village were not spared. The barbaric exercise was on even as a treaty of peace was in force between the Soviet Union and the Germans.
The Sanaleibak Nachom artistes had staged the play World Trade Center in the International Video Format Film Festival in New York last year. The playwright was Ranjit Ningthouja.
The Lidice-gee Gulap has been staged in the state for not less than 100 times till today. It is also participating in the ongoing 32nd All Manipur Sumang Leela Festival, organised by the Manipur State Kala Akademi. The play was performed yesterday in the jam-packed auditorium of Th. Iboyaima Sumang Leela Shanglen at Hapta Kangjeibung here.
The World Peace Council, which will soon provide the list of the cities where the play will be performed, will bear all expenses of travelling, food and board.