A Stage for All

Serial Killers,a play made by students of Maharashtra Institute of Technology College of Engineering,was the winner at the Pune-level competition. At the mega final too it came up trumps and was adjudged the best play. The second position was bagged by the play Dumla,presented by students of Sinhgad Academy of Engineering,Kondhwa. “The general perception is that Purushottam Karandak showcases only serious plays. We wanted to change that,” says 23-year-old Swapnil Khot about Dumla,also the winner of the Jayram Hardikar award at the city-level competition.

The play employs an idea influenced by a Japanese folk-tale to illicit many laughs,but also to comment on a basic trait of human beings. Dumla presented the story of a family that lives in a jungle-like setting,completely cut-off from the world. The father discovers a mirror one day,which leads to all family members believing that their reflections are actually other people. “We wanted to show that people usually see in the world what they want to see,” says Khot. The play took two months to realise,with six characters taking up the challenge of delivering the irony-heavy dialogues. “The four people who played the lead roles hail from Kolhapur,Solapur,the Konkan and Gujarat,so we had to work with their different accents. Irony is in itself a different language,” laughs Khot.

Apart from the showcasing of some of the best theatrical thoughts,the mega final was an opportunity for troupes from smaller cities to learn the tricks of the trade better. Three main prizes were awarded by the end of the event,and one special prize was given out to an experimental play. In the first half of the first day,a workshop explaining how to better stage placement,light arrangements,writing and other technicalities was conducted. “Not much can be learnt in a few hours,but the event helped build exposure for these actors. They come from places where they don’t get too many opportunities to get on to the stage,” says Hemant Vaidya,one of the organisers.