Manipur based Banian Repertory Theatre’s magnum opus- Jallianwala Bagh: Manglen Onkhraba Lamjao was staged at Jawaharlal Nehru Manipur Dance Academy Auditorium in Imphal on Monday.
The staging was in commemoration of the centenary year of Jallianwala Bagh Massacre.
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The presentation was done under the aegis of North East Zone Cultural Centre, Dimapur, Ministry of Culture, Government of India.
The play which was premiered in the Kangjam Padmakumar Literary Festival 2019 at the Shrine of Chorus Repertory Theatre in April early this year, was directed by Ksh Phajaton Chanu.
It is the stage adaptation of renowned literateur K Padmakumar’s Jallianwala Bagh, a piece of prose, dramatized by national film awardee Dr Makhonmani Mongsaba.
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It is a tragic story of Ratnabali, a housewife from one of the houses of neighbourhood of Jallianwala Bagh.
This is the story of blood, sweat and tears of Ratnabali, the wife and Ratnabali the mother on a fateful night that watches her grow to womanhood.
This is homage to hundreds of unarmed people who were not only killed but murdered mercilessly.
Director A Shivadas Sharma of Art and Culture, Manipur attending a brief formal function prior to the play, narrated the episode of Jallianwala Bagh which was an important chapter in India’s freedom struggle.
He appealed to the theatre directors of Manipur to enact the story of great kings of Manipur so that the children of the generation could know the history and the civilisation of Manipur.
In his speech, noted theatre director Kshetri Jugindro of Manipur Ensemble highlighted the importance of staging the play which could remind the history on India’s freedom struggle.
He recalled that Rabindranath Tagore renounced his Knigthoodship conferred by the British after the merciless killing.
Vice president Puran Singh of Manipur Sikh Samaj stated that the event of Jallianwala Bagh massacre strenghthened India’s unity to the non cooperation movement steered by Mahatma Gandhi.
Chairman Meghachandra Kongbam of Banian Repertory Theatre presided over the brief formal function wherein director of the repertory Ksh Phajaton Chanu gave welcome and key note address.
The next performance of the play is scheduled to be held on August 11 next in the 14th Abhinaya National Theatre Festival 2019 (August 9 to 12) at Ravindra Bharathi, Hyderabad, Telangana.
The festival will be jointly organized by the Department of Language and Culture, Government of Telangana, Telangana Nataka Academy and Abhinaya Theatre Trust, Hyderabad, according to a press release.