TODAY -
String theory : Mangangsana's pena performance at Mumbai
Times of India | Shanta Gokhale, Mumbai Mirror | Apr 12, 2012, 01.00PM IST
Pena Eshei "Ukai Kappa" at Laihui Festival 2010
A father said to his son, I am giving you two choices in life. Join the airforce or play the pena. The son tried to join the airforce but failed. So he became a pena player and is today one of the foremost in Imphal, Manipur. That is how the story of Mangangsana Meitei and the pena begins. Mangangsana is a quiet man, who speaks English haltingly, but plays the pena with subtle expression. The instrument is a bit of a surprise. When he says, I will show you the pena, and draws it carefully out of its red cloth wrapping, it turns out to be just about a foot long, if that-- a self-effacing kind of instrument with a coconut shell resonator, bamboo stem and a single string with a tuning peg at the top.
When Mangangsana plays the pena, he sings. If he weren't sitting in the confines of Prithvi House, but leading a ritual in Manipur, his main work, he might even dance. Music, movement and story-telling are integral parts of many of Manipur's traditional performance arts. But here, Mangangsana only sings -- songs of love, valour, sorrow and joy. And then he screens scenes from his ballad opera Phou-Oibi, which IFA has supported as a 'new performance'.
Mangangsana's Phou-Oibi, for which he has written the script and composed the music, is presented with contemporary sophistication. One could only guess at its impact in live performance from the excerpts screened at Prithvi House. But, what one did notice was its beautiful costumes and supple dancing. So, will we see it performed in Mumbai? No. Not unless some deep pocket surrenders to a moment of glorious generosity.
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* This Post is uploaded on April 12, 2012
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