Heisnam Kanhailal (17 January 1941 – 6 October 2016) was an Indian art theatre personality. For his work, he was awarded the Padma Shri civilian award in 2004 and the Padma Bhushan civilian award in 2016 by the Government of India. He was the founder-director of Kalakshetra Manipur, a theatre laboratory established in 1969 that explores a new vocabulary in the existing language of theatre. Kanhailal was born in Keisamthong Thangjam Lairak, Imphal.