A scene from the play

New Delhi, Sept. 2: Her violent death galvanised an entire state into launching an agitation that shows no sign of ending. Now, Manipur’s Thangjam Manorama is the central character of a Delhi stage production.

Titled Essentially Yerma in Imphal, the play recreates the crisis in Manipur and launches a no-holds-barred attack on allegedly draconian laws that allow security forces to get away with violation of human rights.

The play has been directed by Parnab Mukherjee and staged by Third Act at the initiative of an organisation called Anhad.

“Manipur was chosen as the theme as it reflected the message we wanted to portray. Adopting post-modern and off-beat techniques are a potent way of attracting the attention of the audience,” says Mukherjee.

Apart from rights abuse, the play highlights how the region has been neglected over the years and the discrimination students from the Northeast allegedly have to put up with in Delhi.

Essentially Yerma in Imphal begins with a 12-minute cinematic representation of the circumstances leading to Manorama’s arrest by the Assam Rifles and her death the same night. Mukherjee plays Manorama in the film.

“The problem is that I am a dead person speaking. Why are you all silent? Come on, rape me,” he screams in the last scene, after which the actual play begins.

The actors, all college students, are dressed in black T-shirts and jeans.

The play used a post-modern technique called Third Theatre, which challenges conventional notions of stage performance and avoids light and sound for special effects.

“The strength of the play is, of course, the climax, when the audience is asked to go out of the room. They troop out, only to find corpses lying at the exit. This is what continues to happen in Manipur and the Northeast, ” says artiste Anuj Bawa.

Essentially Yerma in Imphal will be staged in Imphal and Calcutta. Mukherjee plans to take the play abroad, too. “The response here has been very encouraging and this is enough for us to keep the show going.”

The name Yerma has been borrowed from a Spanish play by Federico Garcia Lorca.