Manipur Theatre Today Festival
‘Kumudini’ enthralls audience:
Imphal: It is not often that a play provokes the audience to think. So when one comes along, it is an experience that not just entertains but also plays on your mind long after the curtain comes down.
Watching M.C. Arun’s Kumudini, directed by M.C. Thoiba of Banian Repertory Theatre and staged at the Jawaharlal Nehru Dance Academy in Imphal on December 20, one was impressed as much by the intricacies of the unfolding plot as by the skill and craft of the director and his actors.
Kumudini is a commentary on Manipuri women and their social status in relation to men. It deconstructs and reinterprets the social fabric of 19th century Manipur and the life and times of the queen of the same name, the widow of King Gambhir Singh, who liberated Manipur from the Burmese.
The queen’s involvement in governance began when her husband died, leaving behind a two-year-old heir, King Chandrakriti. She not only became involved in palace intrigue but succeeded in it, too.
One of the questions that the play raises is: was Kumudini an independent woman or a mother who acted out of compulsion? In trying to find an answer, it explores a woman’s space in democracy, her struggle for emancipation and freedom of choice.
As Asha, one of the protagonists, says: “There is difference between a woman’s involvement in politics and politics to destroy the gender-based social stratification.”
Not once did Thoiba falter in handling this complex theme. The seamless depiction of two sets of people -- historical and contemporary -- was not only new to Manipuri theatre, but also testimony to Thoiba’s skills as a director. His adaptation of Rajarshi Bhagyachandra, written by the same playwright, is still a topic of discourse in theatre circles.
Kumudini was staged during the Manipur Theatre Today festival, jointly organised by the Eastern Zonal Cultural Centre, art and culture department and the Manipur State Kala Akademi.
Posted On: The Telegraph
Imphal: It is not often that a play provokes the audience to think. So when one comes along, it is an experience that not just entertains but also plays on your mind long after the curtain comes down.
Watching M.C. Arun’s Kumudini, directed by M.C. Thoiba of Banian Repertory Theatre and staged at the Jawaharlal Nehru Dance Academy in Imphal on December 20, one was impressed as much by the intricacies of the unfolding plot as by the skill and craft of the director and his actors.
Kumudini is a commentary on Manipuri women and their social status in relation to men. It deconstructs and reinterprets the social fabric of 19th century Manipur and the life and times of the queen of the same name, the widow of King Gambhir Singh, who liberated Manipur from the Burmese.
The queen’s involvement in governance began when her husband died, leaving behind a two-year-old heir, King Chandrakriti. She not only became involved in palace intrigue but succeeded in it, too.
One of the questions that the play raises is: was Kumudini an independent woman or a mother who acted out of compulsion? In trying to find an answer, it explores a woman’s space in democracy, her struggle for emancipation and freedom of choice.
As Asha, one of the protagonists, says: “There is difference between a woman’s involvement in politics and politics to destroy the gender-based social stratification.”
Not once did Thoiba falter in handling this complex theme. The seamless depiction of two sets of people -- historical and contemporary -- was not only new to Manipuri theatre, but also testimony to Thoiba’s skills as a director. His adaptation of Rajarshi Bhagyachandra, written by the same playwright, is still a topic of discourse in theatre circles.
Kumudini was staged during the Manipur Theatre Today festival, jointly organised by the Eastern Zonal Cultural Centre, art and culture department and the Manipur State Kala Akademi.
Posted On: The Telegraph