The bell rings and students of PSG CAS pour out of the examination hall to grab a cup of chai from the college canteen. Amongst them is a bunch animatedly discussing theatre.
That is because they are members of the college’s five-year-old Drama Club who, not too long ago, returned victorious from Festember, a national level inter-college cultural fest held at NIT Trichy. The club’s street play, a critique on the education system, bagged the third prize. In Tamil, the students had used a couplet from Thirukkural and made it contemporary by using instances from their own lives. In addition their full-length English play made it to the final round from 180 other scripts.
There were very few dialogues and the costume too was minimal for the Tamil street play, says Saravana Kumar.K, who was the narrator. “We had to use our body for everything, including props. And, as we
were told at a street-play workshop that a good street play must have a social message, we decided to go with the education theme.”
The English play was an adaptation of David Belke’s That Darn Plot , in which a playwright and the characters he creates are constantly at logger heads. “The play starts to have a life of its own, ” says Tanvi P.S. “We made the playwright a female. And then, a world of possibilities opened up.”
The Drama Club means many things to many people. For Sushmita Ayyagari, a B.Com student, it is a break from a world otherwise filled with figures and calculations. “I have a flair for language, poetry and arts. And this is a great platform for me to explore that creative side. ” For Tanvi, “This space helps me to express myself. Stage is a great liberation for me.”
The students also took part in screen play workshop of Madhumita Sundararaman, a film director and script writer who taught them about writing an edgy, gripping script. “We were asked to look at popular movies with fresh eyes and find what makes them good entertainers,” says Tanvi.
The idea to form a drama club in the college was that of English professor, Kalpana Karthi in 2009. “I found those students extremely creative and brimming with ideas. So I thought they needed a platform to showcase that ,” she recalls. The club that started off with around 40 students now has a membership of over 200. Members organise screenplay workshops, street theatre festivals, and proscenium productions in their campus. Theatre is strongly linked to their daily time table. The alumni of the club still visit the present members and give them tips, says Kalpana. “There has been a big shift in how theatre is received in the campus. In the beginning, we did not get enough audience. Now there is an enthusiastic audience. And I think it has to do a lot of with the changing trends in the placement sector. The job providers not just look for a good academic performance but also confidence level, leadership qualities and public speaking. Just what theatre provides.”
