“Manipuri Theatre is Facing a lot of Problems”

Ratan Thiyam, who died on July 23, made invaluable contributions to the world of theatre.

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We share excerpts from an interview he gave to the Seagull Theatre Quarterly team in April 1996

If you could start with your assessment of the situation of Manipuri theatre at the current time.

The pace of the development of Manipuri theatre has really been hampered over the last 10 years or so because of the political situation here and the economic crisis that come with it. This has happened because, I think, theatre cannot only be a kind of 'art for art's sake' programme, but is always linked with the sociopolitical situation, which is reflected in the performance, and also in the growth of theatre as a whole. That's why I've been very disheartened. In the 70s we saw that we could really give a lot to theatre, many experiments were carried out here—all of this has been affected. The economic crisis is really important, as Manipur does have a lot of young talent, both in terms of actors and directors, who are good and keen, but are unable to carry on simply due to lack of funds. As a theatre actor or director, of course one can't expect a lot of money and fame, but surely one must earn one's bread and butter!

The other aspect where we have failed is that there's a lack of exposure to different kinds of theatre and theatre people. Manipur has not seen the theatre happening in other parts of India or in foreign countries—this theatre has never been to Manipur, and we do not have the money to travel to see them. That's why, even with a lot of talent and potential, the communication problem has become a very important drawback in contemporary Manipuri theatre.

The same problem can also be seen with the designs created, as no theatre group can spend much on set design, lighting or any other such aspect of theatre. Now, things are computerized everywhere, they're very high-tech, and we cannot do that in Manipuri theatre.