Artistes enact a scene from Mirel Masingkha. File picture

Guwahati, Dec. 10: An Imphal-based mime group is all set to take Manipur’s angst against the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act to Delhi through its critically-acclaimed play, Mirel Masingkha (The Will of Soul).

The mime play by Kanglei Mime Theatre Repertory, which is the only professional mime theatre group in Manipur, has been selected for the 13th Bharat Rang Mahotsav, the prestigious theatre festival of the National School of Drama (NSD) to be held in New Delhi next month.

Mirel Masingkha that revolves around the life and struggle of Irom Sharmila — who recently completed a decade of her fast demanding repeal of the allegedly draconian act — will be performed by a 25-member troupe of the repertory, which also includes two deaf and mute artistes.

“We feel honoured that our play is the first and the only mime play to be staged at the NSD theatre festival ever. It will also provide us with an opportunity to showcase the talent of our two deaf and mute artistes at the national level,” the director of Kanglei Mime Theatre Repertory, Yumnam Sadananda Singh, said.

Over the years, the NSD festival has grown into an international event hosting theatre companies from around the world apart from showcasing the most creative work in the country. It is today acknowledged as one of the largest theatre festivals of Asia.

Mirel Masingkha has found a place among 70 plays that has been selected out of around 400 entries.

“Besides facial gestures, powerful body movements are used for a more poignant enactment of violence inherent in the play. Moreover, evocative costume, music, light, set and props are used to project the present situation of Manipur,” he said.

Singh hoped that they would be able to highlight one of the burning issues confronting his state before a wider audience.

Dedicated to Sharmila, the play aims at taking the non-violent nature of her campaign to the masses.

“With mime as a medium we want to tell the story of a strong yet silent symbol of Manipur’s firmament of struggle,” he said.

In the play, the director depicts her cause through documentary-like scenes.

One of the scenes depicts the Malom massacre in 2000 when security forces mowed down civilians near Imphal airport.

Following the massacre, Sharmila launched her fast-unto-death that year demanding the repeal of the army act.

She accused the government of giving excessive power to soldiers who misuse it. The play, which won accolades in Manipur, will be staged at the NSD festival at 4.30pm on January 21 at Delhi’s Sri Ram Centre.

One of the leading mime theatre groups in the country, the Kanglei Mime Theatre Repertory has performed in different parts of the country as well as abroad.

In May 2006, the repertory participated in the Chuncheon International Mime Festival in South Korea representing India.

In 2007, it participated in the International Puppet and Mime Festival of Kilkis in Greece while in March 2009, they performed at the International Festival of Mime and Physical Theatre at Macedonia.