There was no Cyclone Jal to threaten Dramatics this time around but it’s absence did not seem to have impacted the audience size in a tangible way. [Ed’s Note: Something needs to be done about this falling-attendance-at-LitSoc epidemic]Patches of supporters for different hostels stayed, mostly waiting for their own hostels’ performances. Undeterred by this, most of the hostels did manage to put up spirited shows.
Ganga presented Wouk’s ‘The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial’. The presentation was well-received though the slightly complicated plot was best understood by the portion of the sizeable audience closest to the stage, for want of audibility. The judge felt that the stenographer, without any dialogues, was one of the most well played characters!
Godav presented, again, a modified version of ‘A Simple Task’. The show was witty and humorous, like the previous time. The judge commended the effort, not failing to point out that Bob (played by Bob) was animated throughout the play and probably rightly so. They bagged the fourth place.
Sharav did an all-female cast, English language adaptation of the dark Spanish play ‘The House of Bernarda Alba’. After the death of her second husband dominating Bernarda Alba, imposes a period of mourning on her household to last eight years, as has been traditional in her family, isolating her senile mother and five daughters from the outside world. Lack of chemistry between the characters showed up. Fresher Smita Majumdar’s performance stood out and warrants a special mention.
Alak put up a play called ‘That Darn Plot!’, about a playwright who is forced to write a play overnight, eventually deciding to write a play about putting up a play. As the complicated plot develops, the play being written starts taking a life of its own, with characters including the playwright’s son interacting with the playwright and the audience. The judge too concurred that it was indeed a difficult play to pull off for amateurs.
Tambi presented a motley of four plays. With the plays dealing with Socrates and his philosophies’ defence, an encounter with death, comical incidents surrounding a baker and misconceptions revolving around cheating spouses, all were entertaining and captivating. Their brochure for the play was specially appreciated by the judge. The fresher attempt was well commended with Mukesh, Nitya and Kavya getting special mentions.
Saras presented Mamet’s ‘American Buffalo’. Don (played by Pojo) who owns a junk shop, and Bob, his young gopher(played by Lolli), plan to steal a coin collection from a wealthy man. Teach (played by SOS), an experienced friend of Don intervenes and leads to much misunderstanding and commotion. All three did a commendable job and Lolli got a special mention from the judge. Their effort yielded them the second place.
Jam presented, again, ‘The Patricide’. Except some changes in the cast, the setting and the plot remained dull and listless as ever. Both the lights guys provided the much needed comic relief: lights coming on when the (supposedly) dead old man was up with his derrière facing the audience, the lights remaining on long (really long) after the scene ended, and so on. Popat (playing Joel) was good, like the previous time, and got a special mention.
Narmad put up a stage adaptation of the Christopher Nolan’s movie ‘Following’. People who had watched the movie could follow the plot without much effort. The judge pointed out that Sunder Aditya’s (playing Bill) body language was good in patches.
Mandakini (Mandak) put up a stage adaptation of ’12 Angry Men’. It was patchy and loud, as the judge rightly pointed out (he suggested calling it ’12 Shouting Men’), and failed to hold the audience captive. Dheeraj, playing position 8 on the table, impressed with a balanced performance.
Jerin (Tapti) and Saudamini (Sharav) were named Best Actor and Best Director, respectively. The hostel positions, to reiterate, are as follows (1st to 4th): Tapti, Saras, Sharav, Godav.
