Manipuri Theatre Festival ends

The two-day Manipuri Theatre Festival ended at the Experimental Theatre Hall, Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy on November 8 with the staging of "Ingaal Aandhar Pala". "Ingaal Aandhar Pala" is the Bishnupriya Manipuri indigenous troupe's 25th and latest production, Written and directed by Shubhashish Sameer, "Ingaal Aandhar Pala" centres on the struggles of a Manipuri 'mridanga' player Prem Singh.

The second day's programme also included a ceremony, where Manipuri Theatre honoured four noted personalities -- Ramendu Majumder; renowned Manipuri danseuse Tamanna Rahman; Manipuri 'raash lila' artistes Thaibee Devi and Krishna Kumari Sinha. Chief guest Rasheda K. Chowdhury, adviser, Ministry of Cultural Affairs, handed over the crests to the honourees.

As the play begins, Prem Singh returns home with a big hilsa. He has made some money performing in a 'naatpala'. But his wife Thaibee is far from pleased. She reminds him that there are pressing needs in the family, like getting school supplies for their daughter Lakkh. But a nonchalant Prem Singh is too excited about a potential good meal to care.

Prem Singh as a hedonist, who has not grasped the consequences of the reality yet. Even when working in the fields, he dreams about playing 'mridanga'.

The plot however, changes soon. One day, while performing in a 'naatpala', Prem Singh falls on the stage and badly hurts his back. The 'kabiraj' announces that Prem Singh would never be able to play 'mridanga' again. Eventually the injury paralyses Prem Singh -- both physically and psychologically.

A distraught Thaibee takes over all responsibilities on her fragile shoulders. She starts making cloths and sells them to Aalta Mahajan. One day, an exhausted Thaibee dozes off. In her dream, her daughter Lakkhi appears as the goddess Vrinda and performs 'raash lila'. Waking up, Thaibee plans to arrange a 'raash lila.' She is convinced that a 'raash lila' will change her family's misfortune.

Lakkhan Sinha and Shukla Sinha played the roles of Prem Singh and Thaibee. The key parts of the story were narrated by a storyteller, played by Jyoti Sinha. The narration was in Bangla and other dialogues were in the Bishnupriya Manipuri dialect.

The programme was presided over by Samarjit Sinha, adviser, Manipuri Theatre. Jhuna Chowdhury, secretary general, Bangladesh Group Theatre Federation; Noted theatre personalities Aly Zaker and Ataur Rahman and Bhuiyan Shafiqul Islam, director general, Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy were the special guests at the programme.

Courtesy: The Daily Star