Manipuri Theatre brings its acclaimed play "Dhwajo Mestorir Moron" back to the stage this week, mounting five performances across three days at the temporary theatre in Ghoramara, Komolganj, Sylhet.
The production—first staged in 2005 and unseen for nearly twenty years—has been reworked with careful refinements and a cast that mixes veteran performers with newer faces.
Based on a story by Smritikumar Singh, the play traces the life of Dhwajo, a master craftsman celebrated for building traditional Manipuri houses. As generations pass and modern architecture replaces vernacular forms, every dwelling Dhwajo made vanishes—until even his own house is torn down by his sons. Stripped of the physical evidence of his craft, Dhwajo confronts the erasure of a lifetime's labour and identity; when villagers carry the rubble away, he imagines they carry his corpse.
Shubhashish Sinha directs and dramatises this revival, preserving its linguistic authenticity by performing in a blend of Bangla and Bishnupriya Manipuri. Jyoti Sinha serves as narrator; the roles of young and old Dhwajo are played by Samarjit Singh and Bidhan Singh respectively. The ensemble includes Swarnali Sinha, Shiuli Sinha, Subarna Sinha and several others. The creative team lists Sharmila Sinha (music), Roni Singh (instruments), and Dhiman Chandra Barman (lighting); the poster is by Sajolkanti Singh and production managed by Apon Singh and Debjit Singh.
The revived staging aims to do more than retell a local legend. Director Shubhashish Sinha told the press that the production is part of a wider effort to revive Manipuri cultural practices threatened by rapid change. By foregrounding craft, memory and language, the play asks how communities value and preserve intangible heritage in the face of modernisation.
After opening performances at the Komolganj natmandap, the company will present the play at Jahangirnagar University's Selim Al Deen Muktamancho as part of the Arfi Cultural Festival. Audiences should expect a production that is spare, direct and rooted in local theatrical idioms—an insistence on storytelling that keeps a disappearing tradition in view while examining what is lost when built memory is demolished.
