Among today’s most influential and important international theater makers, Ratan Thiyam is renowned for his spectacular aural and visual aesthetic, potent thematic explorations, and disciplined performance practice. Drawing on universal themes of good and evil, his rich, hypnotic works plumb the human condition. A reflection on the systems that lead a place and its people to many difficulties, Nine Hills One Valley is a color and light-saturated tapestry of theater, live music, poetry and song awash in the culture and politically charged realities of his company’s home in Manipur.

Performed in Meitei with English supertitles

Ratan Thiyam

Writer, director, designer, musician, painter and actor, Ratan Thiyam is one of the most important and influential theater makers at work in the international performance scene. Renowned for its disciplined performance practice, spectacular aural and visual esthetic, and potent thematic explorations, Thiyam's work has placed him in the company of such figures as Suzuki, Brook, and Grotowski.

A son of Manipuri dance masters, for a time, Thiyam studied painting before turning to writing. He published his first of six novels in 1961 at the age of 22, wrote poetry and reviews. Writing led him to theater.

"I started reading plays, besides writing reviews. I felt the need for professional training." In 1971, he enrolled at the National School of Drama in Delhi, gaining a reputation as a powerful actor and director. In 1976, he returned to Manipur and founded CRT. Except for a two-year stint as Director of NSD in the early 80's, Manipur became and has remained both the physical and esthetic foundation for his work.