5 Manipuri plays to be staged in Bharat Rang Mahotsav

New Delhi, Jan 2: The Northeastern State of Manipur is participating in a big way in the 18-day-long 10th Bharat Rang Mahotsav (BRM) starting here from tomorrow with the entry of five Manipuri plays.

According to the Manipur Information Center, the festival is coinciding with the grand event to mark the 50 years of National School of Drama (NSD).

A Manipuri play Wahoudok (Prologue), directed by world-renowned theatre personality from Manipur, Ratan Thiyam will be staged as the inaugural show of the engrossing Indian International Theatre Festival to be held in the city and a satellite festival in Mumbai from January 6 to 17.

Apart from Mr Thiyam's play, four other Manipuri plays-- Kshetri Jugindro's Ghashiram Kotwal, L Kishworjit's Thouna Phabi Ima, S Thaninleima's The Final Countdown and Toijam Shilla's Amamba Yug will also be showcased in the festival.

Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit will inaugurate the festival in the presence of many distinguished theatre personalities including former Director of NSD and architect of contemporary Indian theatre Ebrahim Alkazi .

The 18-day festival will feature 76 productions of which 57 are from India and 19 from abroad.

In the recently concluded 38th International Film festival of India held in Goa, the Manipuri cinema showed its vibrancy with the entry of three films in the Indian Panorama Section, a release said.

UNI