pebet

pebet

• 2.
  Heisnam Kanhailal Born on17 January 1941 in Imphal one of the original voices in contemporary Indian theatre. He is the founder-Director of Kalakshetra Manipur, established in 1969, a theatre laboratory that explores a new vocabulary in the existing language of theatre. Working at the grassroots since the 1960s, he has crafted an individual idiom of theatre.
• 3.
   In masterpieceslike Pebet (1975), Laigee Machasinga (1978), Memoirs of Africa (1985), Karna (1997), and Draupadi (2000), Shri Kanhailal perfected a lyrical style distinguished by minimal physical expression, supple movement, and a certain playfulness that set off the often grim content. These plays have attracted wide attention and critical appreciation in theatre circles in India and abroad.
• 4.
  Kanhailal has sincebeen working with a cross- section of people, actors and non-actors, to create a new theatre focused on Manipur’s plight in the modern world. This experimentation has led to the performance of Nupi Lan, based on Manipur’s Women’s War of 1939, in which market women from Imphal took part. He has presented his plays at many places and conducted workshops in theatre in Kolkata, Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Mysore, Guwahati, Agartala, and Patna. He has travelled abroad to Japan, Egypt, and Singapore.
• 5.
  For his contributionin the field of theatre, Shri Kanhailal has been honoured with the Manipur State Kala Akademi Award (1982), the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (1982), and the Padma Shri (2003). He was also awarded an Emeritus Fellowship (1998) by the Ministry of Culture, Government of India. Shri Heisnam Kanhailal is elected Fellow of Sangeet Natak Akademi for his contribution to Indian theatre.
• 6.
  KALAKSHETRA MANIPUR • Establishedon 19 July 1969 with Heisnam Kanhailal as founder-director. • To study, revive and project the culture of Manipur through the art of theatre and to set highest standards of performance to match not only the best in India but the world theatre scene. • As Kalakshetra believed in the notion of a workshop that is a laboratory or research theatre rather than a production company it began its experiment in a continuous process of 'renewal of ancestral tradition' for a contemporary cultural expression as they are all the progeny of an etho - social tradition of Manipur.
• 7.
  The Theatre ofKanhailal • Kanhailal’s theatre evolved from the daily struggles of his life which include the economic, political and the ethnic problems of the state. Kanhailal has choosen ‘the poor theatre ‘idiom for his theatre because poverty was terrible in his land. They also suffered from unemployment and a break down in productivity.
• 8.
  • Kanhailal belongedto the state of Manipur and this particular state was neglected from the beginning. Central government played no attention. Their economy was controlled by outside traders. No industries exist there even today. Agricultural production is bare minimum. Altogether led to corruption. • In Kanhailal’s theatre there is an oppression that is resisted through a form of ethnic pride. • Manipuri culture was actually an indigenous culture. But that aspect was ignored because of the colonization of Hindu culture over traditional Meithei culture.
• 9.
  • These typesof encroachment led to revolutionary activities, violence became a part of the life of Manipuri people. • Kanhailal’s works are in the forefront of the Manipuri theatre ,with his group Kalakshetra Manipur ,he covered new grounds in the use of vigorously ,physical, non-verbal, gestural theatre using themes and motifs rooted on Manipuri folklore and culture.
• 10.
  PEBET • Pebet isa part of Manipuri folklore. • Pebet is a small bird, protagonist of the story. • Pebet is represented as the mother of several children. • They were threatened by a cat. She flattered the cat with sweet words until the children are ready to protect themselves. • Then she resist the cat .It captured her younger child.
• 12.
  Through a cleverstrategy the mother manages to trick the cat into freeing her child. The Pebets are united and cat leaves defeated. This is the original folklore . Kanhailal makes some additions to the story when he made it into a play. That is after the youngest child has been captured, he develops a fantasy sequence in which all the pebet children are captured indoctrinated, tortured and then set against one another. It is the part in which politics of the play is revealed.
• 13.
  He questions thecultural formation through force. Mother pebet’s great fear is that her children will be converted into a ‘cat culture’. When one of the pebet children bites the cat’s area it is a sign of resistance which leads to torture and eventually to freedom.
• 14.
  THANK YOU