Nagaland’s first ever theatre festival announced

August 30, 2023 18 Views No Comment

Morung Express News
Dimapur | August 30

Nagaland will witness the first ever theatre festival in the state in September. The Task Force for Music & Arts (TaFMA) in collaboration with Hill Theatre is going to organise the Nagaland Theatre Festival on September 15 and 16 at the RCEMPA, Jotsoma, Kohima. Hill Theatre is a home grown theatre group/company jointly formed by Bendang Walling, Kilangtemsu Imsong and Limanungdang.

Walling, a product of the National School of Drama (NSD), New Delhi, leads Hill Theatre as the Artistic Director. He termed theatre as a new concept in Nagaland and that the event would be “a humble beginning” for the performing arts in the state, at a press conference in in Café Leon, Dimapur on August 29.

The festival will feature the staging of ‘The Case of Longti Village,’ a play based on a novel of the same name by Sentilong Ozukum. It was adapted for the stage by Walling and designed by Thoudam Victor Singh and V Uto Chishi with Imsong as the assistant director. It will be staged on the opening day at 4:00 pm, September 15. The ticket for the play is nominally priced at Rs 50.

Day 2 will be dedicated to a workshop on theatre— acting, stage craft and property making (props). The workshop’s curators include Walling, Imsong, Chishi and Limanungdang— an NEZCC Young Talented Artist awardee for theatre. The workshop will be free of charge and open to people 15 years and above. For information on registration, contact: 9774709190. The late date of registration will be September 11.

It was informed that Walling alongwith Chishi are the first Nagas to pass out from the NSD, New Delhi. Imsong is also an alumus of NSD TIE (Theatre-in-Education), Agartala. The prospects of working outside the state looked better but he said, “We decided to come back to the state.”

While theatre has been a fairly unknown concept in the Naga community, he said that the church has been one that has provided a platform to the youths for the performing arts.

“Church also plays a very important role. It is where the arts, including drama, get the first platform,” he said, while stating that his first collaboration was with the Dimapur Ao Baptist Arogo (DABA) in the form of a theatre workshop.

Hill Theatre was formed in 2012 with the motto— Spreading love through creativity.. Many may not be aware but he said that they have been representing the state in the performing arts since.