Not knowing a particular language is no crime, but for Heisnam Kanhailal his lack of command in Hindi and English was reason enough to get him expelled from the National School of Drama in 1968, although the official reasons remained something else. That expulsion would influence his theatre practice, which eschewed language and concentrated on conveying ideas through body and gestures.
The Kalakshetra Manipur theatre group, started by the legendary Manipuri dramatist who passed away last October, came to the National Theatre Festival here with one of his longest running plays, Pebet . Staged first in 1976, the play expresses some of his concerns including cultural colonisation of the Meitei people.
It is based on one of the old ‘fireside’ stories passed down over several generations in Manipur, of a family of the extinct Pebet birds, facing an external threat, from a cat. The clever mother, played by Heisnam Kanhailal’s wife Sabitri Heisnam, keeps on distracting the cat through flattery until her children are big enough to take care of themselves.
“Kanhailal twisted the folk tale a bit to give it a contemporary political meaning. It has been constantly evolving from the time it was first staged. He was commenting mainly on the indoctrination of Hindu culture in Manipur and its colonisation over the Maitei identity.
There are multiple ways of reading the play. When theatrepersons from Africa came to watch, they could also relate to the themes of colonisation and divide and rule,” says Usham Rojio, a disciple of Sabitri and co-ordinator of the group.
He says that Kanhailal has been constantly taking a path different from the nationalist idea of theatre. “He was averse to this very spectacular style of theatre aimed at selling the exotic culture of India. Most of his plays use minimal props and communicate through body language. After he left NSD, he started creating his own acting methodology and he was successful in creating a school of his own,” says Usham.
Back in 2000, Kanhailal created quite a stir in Manipur with his play Draupadi . In the climactic sequence, the lead character played by Sabitri was shown discarding her clothes and challenging a soldier to encounter her. Though he faced much flak then, four years later, a nude protest by the mothers of Manipur in front of an army camp, brought back memories of the play, with those who criticised him praising him for his prophetic take.
