# Kalakshetra Manipur

Kalakshetra Manipur is an Indian theatre group located in Manipur It was established on 19 July 1969 by Heisnam Kanhailal as Founder and Director and his wife Heisnam Sabitri as co-founder. It has been registered under Societies' Registration Act XXI of 1860 with its No. 1149 of 1972. Their eldest son Heisnam Tomba has taken over as the current Director.

## Overview

The main objective: To study, revive and project the culture of Manipur through the art of theatre and to set highest standards of performance to match not only the best in India but the world theatre scene.
Kalakshetra Manipur believes in the notion of a workshop that is a laboratory or research theatre rather than a production company it began its experiment in a continuous process of 'renewal of ancestral tradition' for a contemporary cultural expression as they are all the progeny of an ethno - social tradition of Manipur. The artists of the group endeavored to learn afresh the native lore traveling throughout the nook and corner of Manipur and strengthened their creative will. They created the performances for the 'work-in-progress' shows rather than 'Public Theatre'-a finished production for public exhibition.
Besides, the group launched cultural expedition in organizing theatre events with the non-actors in three different socio - cultural contexts. They were: (i)performance of NUPI LAN (Women's war of Manipur, 1939)in which market women around one hundred from women's market of Imphal town took the active participation in December, 1978 as players, (ii)At Umathel, a sleepy village in the remote corner of southern Manipur SANJENNAHA (cowherd) was performed by the villagers themselves in December, 1979, and (iii)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 remarkable performances that stood out as milestone of an originally alternate theatre.
Heisnam Kanhailal was awarded the Padma Shri award by Government of India in 2004 for his work. The Government of India awarded Heisnam Sabitri the fourth highest civilian honour of the Padma Shri, in 2008, for her contributions to Manipuri theatre.

## Major Production

| 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 the above, short improvisations and performances were created as part of the process of training and research. The group toured throughout India for the last 25 years for staging its shows. In abroad too like Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Egypt.
At Cairo in 1991 at the International Festival for Experimental Theatre Sabitri Heisnam won the Best Actress Award of the panel of critics in 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, as directed by H.Tomba and H.Kanhailal respectively.