Imphal, Dec. 1: The grandness of a Ratan Thiyam production was missing, but the raw brilliance of pastoral theatre more than made up for it.
The fortnight-long Theatre Summit 2002, organised by the Manipuri Theatre Academy at Wangoi under Imphal West district, ended yesterday with a thought-provoking play on the continuing tussle between militant outfits and the administration. However, what left aficionados of theatre pleasantly surprised was the depth in the performances of the rural groups that participated in the festival.
Of the 22 theatre groups that had been invited to the event ? held under the aegis of the 100-year-old Manipuri Diodrama and in collaboration with the Calcutta-based Eastern Zonal Cultural Centre and the state directorate of art and culture ? 13 were from the rural areas.
The objective of the summit was to ?create a bridge between urban and rural theatre?. A member of the organising committee said the participation of 13 rural-based theatre groups indicated that theatre had cut across socio-economic barriers.
The Imphal-based theatre groups that participated in the festival include the famous Aryan Theatre, Banian Repertory and Paradise Theatre. The last two groups have graduates from the National School of Drama in their ranks.
The convenor of the drama summit, Sarungbam Beeren, said theatre was a powerful weapon for social reform and theatre groups in Manipur had exploited it to the maximum.
Beeren?s organisation chose the concluding day of the summit to stage its maiden play, Numit Kappa (Shooting the Sun). Based on Nabakumar Singh?s short story Eewaipham, the play depicted how the tussle between militant outfits and the government has affected the people.
In a message to the organisers, the secretary-general of the India chapter of the International Amateur Theatre Association, B.M.D. Agarwal, said Manipuri theatre deserved all the laurels it had received so far. ?Theatre is the most powerful media of action, reaction, response, reflex, education and communication. It will continue to be so despite the presence and spread of electronic media,? he said.