Legendary playwright and director Ratan Thiyam of Manipur no more

By Our Correspondent

Agartala, July 24, 2025

India’s internationally acclaimed playwright and director Ratan Thiyam of Manipur is no more . After a long bout of illness he breathed his last yesterday in the hospital of the Regional Institute of Medical Science (RIMS), Imphal yesterday at the age of seventy seven. His death has plunged the entire theatre community of the country in grief and mourning as he was one of the pioneering figures of the famous ‘Theatre of the Roots’ drama movement.

A legendary figure in the Indian drama movement and production , Ratan Thiyam was born on July 20 1948 in Imphal and graduated from the National School of Drama in Delhi. As a believer and dedicated practitioner of the ‘Theatre of the Roots’, Ratan had launched his drama group ‘Chorus Repertoire Theatre’ in Imphal and had earned countrywide kudos and acclaim with a long series of innovative drama performances . What added to the charm of his plays based on historical facts and realities of life was the creative application of martial arts in performances that blended strands of classical Indian , Greek and Japanese theatres. His famous plays include ‘Chakravyuha’, ‘Uttar Priyadarshi’, ‘Macbeth’, ‘He Nunghshibi Prithivi’, ‘Chinglon Mapan’, ‘Tampak Ama’ and ‘When We Dead Awaken’ etc. Ratan had used his dramas as a protest against social and historical wrongs and as a means of unifying people with human values.

In his life Ratan Thiyam was showered with honours that included the ‘Padmasri’ award, ‘Kalidas Samman’, directorship of the NSD for long four years. ‘Tagore Ratna’ award and the Sangeet Natak Academy’ award. His threatre group was a part and parcel of India’s team of artist groups that took part in the international events and festivals. The governor of Manipur Ajay Bhalla has expressed his condolences over the death of Ratan Thiyam. All theatre groups of Tripura , specially the ‘Natya Bhumi’ and ‘Tripura Samskriti Samanyay Kendra’ have also expressed their grief over the death of Ratan Thiyam who visited Tripura on a number of occasions with his ‘Chorus Repertoire’ theatre group and fascinated audiences with great acting and theatre craft.

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