Ratan Thiyam

Ratan Thiyam (20 January 1948 – 23 July 2025) was an Indian playwright, theatre director and teacher from Manipur. He was a leading figure of the post-independence "Theatre of Roots" movement of decolonisation in Indian theatre, along with stalwarts like KN Panikkar, BV Karanth, Habib Tanvir, Bansi Kaul, and Jabbar Patel. In a career spanning over five decades, he is best known for amalgamating traditional Manipuri performance styles with contemporary theatrical forms to create a new language with plays like Uru Bhangam, Karnabharam, Chakravyuha, Ritusamhara, and Uttar Priyadarshi. This won him critical acclaim in India as well as internationally, through his theatre company, Chorus Repertory Theatre, which was formed in Imphal, Manipur in 1976. it soon became a "national hub for experimental, visually rich, and socially responsible theatre". Also known as Thiyam Nemai and Oja (teacher in Meiti), Ratan Thiyam was known for writing and staging plays that use ancient Indian theatre traditions and forms in a contemporary context. A former painter, and proficient in direction, design, script and music, Thiyam was often considered one of the leading contemporary theatre gurus.

Thiyam was the first graduate of the National School of Drama from Manipur state in 1974, and went on to serve as its chairperson from 2013 to 2017. He had also worked as vice-chairman of Sangeet Natak Akademi before joining NSD. He also worked as Director of the National School of Drama from 1987 to 1989. He was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in Direction in 1987, given by Sangeet Natak Akademi, India's National Academy for Music, Dance and Drama, and the Padma Shri given by Government of India in 1989. He was awarded the 2012 Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship, the highest honour in the performing arts conferred by the Sangeet Natak Akademi, India's National Academy for Music, Dance and Drama. In the year 2013, Ratan Thiyam received an honorary D.lit. from Assam University, Silchar.