I was sitting in the dark and towards the back of the Kamani auditorium, waiting for Ratan to arrive so that I could discuss some arrangements with him regarding the Bharat Rang Mahotsav’s opening performance that evening of his latest play The King of the Dark Chamber/Raja (2012). There was pin drop silence. Suddenly the auditorium door swung open and Ratan strode in. His entire troupe sprung to their feet and then en masse, all of them genuflected themselves in front of him, in total obeisance. He gave some instructions in Manipuri and soundlessly they tiptoed out to take their positions on the stage for a runthrough.
Never before had I experienced such total and unconditional discipline on the part of actors anywhere in the world! Not even in Alkazi’s heyday when he was looked upon as an unrelenting and uncompromising taskmaster! This kind of complete physical and mental subservience to one’s Guru, especially in today’s world where questioning was encouraged, not stifled…. Was this a medieval mindset playing out, unchanged and ingrained in the Manipuri psyche for centuries, a part and parcel of their martial background? On reflection, I began to believe that such compliance could only be possible today if the leader was steely and single minded in his mission, unforgiving and unrelenting till the final goal was achieved. And Ratan was that…totally committed…a perfectionist.
Ratan Thiyam, 77, a luminary of Indian theatre, passed away in Imphal early Wednesday after prolonged illness. He was more than a theatre director. He was a young man with a mission from the day he stepped into the National School of Drama with his eyes eagerly trained on his Guru, Ebrahim Alkazi, listening intently, with every fiber of his being, alert to what his Guru was trying to impart—the larger significance of making theatre , its intention….the seminal role theatre had to play in society through the refinement of the audience’s aesthetic sensibilities..which could only be possible by creating deeply relevant and meaningful art. With Alkazi’s ideas ringing in his ears, Ratan returned to Manipur because that was his base, that was the culture he knew and wished to build on and explore. Setting up the Chorus Repertory Company, Ratan gradually began to weave his understanding of the Natya Shastras, Manipur’s Meitei performing traditions and Thang-Ta, along with his understanding of modernity as it was evolving in the Indian context into a series of outstanding productions.
Creating new texts based on myths, using trained Manipuri actors and martial artists Ratan as theatre director orchestrated music, movement, lighting and stagecraft into powerful choreographed images of compelling beauty and majestic power in productions like the Sanskrit classic Urubhangam and Chakravyuh (1984) and Ritusamharam, while his modern texts included AndhaYug and Antigone (1986). When Nissar Allana invited Ratan to direct an Ibsen play for the Delhi Ibsen Festival, Ratan took up the unusual challenge of doing Ibsen’s When We Dead Awaken (2008) and recreating it into a lyrical and haunting production, practically surrealist in its imagery, several moments of which remain imprinted in the mind’s eye.
Ratan Thiyam came at a time when we were searching for our cultural roots after a period of colonisation. He not only unearthed latent folk performing traditions of Manipur but was able to resurrect and recreate them, crafting a new modernity in a performance language that spoke to audiences not only across India, but also enriching audiences across the world.
An incident bears repetition. After one of Ratan’s performances at the Bharat Rang Mahotsav in Delhi, Mr E. Alkazi was invited to present a bouquet of flowers to the director of the play. Alkazi walked onto the stage, and before he could offer the flowers to Ratan, Ratan genuflected in front of his Guru. The audience all stood up, applauding. Alkazi motioned them to be silent and said, “One of the most rewarding moments in a teacher’s life is to be outstripped by his students.”
Amal Allana is a theatre director and former Chairperson of the NSD. She has authored a biography on her father, Ebrahim Alkazi: Holding Time Captive.