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Astitva – The Dramatics Society of Dyal Singh College (M) organized Expressions’17: The Annual Stage Play Festival on 24th and 25th March, 2017. The preliminary round of Expressions’17 was held on 10th March, 2017 in which about 35 teams of various colleges auditioned. The two-day stage play festival saw the best 10 stage play productions out of the 35. The Judges for the festival were Sweety Ruhail – Theatre practitioner, director designer and a graduate from National School of Drama (NSD) who had worked with Kingdom of Dreams in past and Rajesh Nirmal – Ex Member of Kirori Mal college’s Dramatics Society, Masters from Hyderabad University in Design in Direction, Professional writer of Takseem which was performed at Constitution Club.

Maitreyi College’s 'Daag-e-Daaman' — Maitreyi College’s ‘Daag-e-Daaman’

The first day of the festival kick-started with Shaheed Sukhdev College of Business Studies (SSCBS) stage play – A Shaggy Dog Story which tugged at the heartstrings of the audience with its simple yet, inspiring story of 15 year old boy suffering from Asperger’s syndrome. The visual treat continued as College of Vocational studies (CVS) presented Play That Goes Wrong, an epitome of ‘comedy of errors’ where Abhas Sharma from CVS managed to earn Best Actor accolade. Next in line was Maitreyi College’s Daag-e-Daaman, a play which rightly earned a Special Mention by the judges for unfettering the women issues and busting out the misogynistic undertones in our so called technologically advanced and modern times. Kirori Mal College’s – The Curious Incident of a Dog in the Nighttime, an adaptation of the novel by Mark Haddon and based on the script by Simon Stephens was staged next. Day 1 of the festival wrapped up with Hindu College’s – There Stands Another, a play which beautifully portrayed the relationship of two people.

Tsering lhamo of SGTB Khalsa in The Bear — Tsering lhamo of SGTB Khalsa in ‘The Bear’

Day 2 of Expressions began with SGBT Khalsa’s – The Bear in which Tsering Lhamo won the Best Actress Award for her performance. Following this was Delhi College of Arts and Commerce’s (DCAC) – Gasha, a play which represented the childhood innocence amidst kashmiriyat, CRPF,RAW, AFSPA and the consequent bloodshed. Shaheed Bhagat Singh’s (M) stage play – In Love With Shauhardh, an adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’ was staged next and Shubham Chaudhary received a Special Mention from the judges for his performance. Kirori Mal College’s – Pillowman, a dark comedy which asks some hard-hitting questions about the usurpation of rights and freedom while asking “if the pen is really mightier than the sword?” Pillowman won the Best Direction for its spectacular direction which glued the audiences to its seats till the very end. Expression’17 ended on a high note with Ramjas College’s Stage Play – Evam Indrajit which focussed on the existentialist question. Overall, Expression’17 brought myriad range of emotions and great performances on one stage, concocting an unforgettable experience for the audiences which left them asking for more.

Image Credits: Xposure – The Photography Society of Dyal Singh College, Morning.

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Priyadarshani 2016, The Annual Cultural Festival of Dyal Singh College (Morning), University of Delhi was held on 4th, 5th and 6th February, 2016. Ranjana Gauhar- Padmashree Awardee, Odissi, Kathak and Manipuri dancer and Associate in National Academy of Natak, Author of book, Odissi — The Dance Divine was the Chief Guest and Uma Shankar – Student Union Leader and Social Activist was the Guest of Honour for Priyadarshani 2016. Roots – The Music Society of Dyal Singh College (M) inaugurated the event on a musical note followed by Kathakali, Odissi and western duet dance performances that awed the audiences.

After the inauguration, the Day 1 events of Priyadarshani 2016 started off with Natsamrat 2016 – Street Play competition by Astitva – The Department of Theatre. The team of Institute of Home Economics (IHE) won this competition with their play ‘The Middle Class Family – Na Iddhar ke Na Uddhar ke’, portraying the daily struggles and life of typical middle class families. On the other hand, Sursadhana 2016 by ROOTS saw some great musical performances in their Western Solo, Indian classical solo, Light solo, Indian Duet and Tarana – Indian Classical Group song competitions. Alankar – The Indian classical group of Hindu College bagged the first position in Tarana with their breath-taking performance.

Patkatha – The script-writing competition by Xposure – The Photography Society saw participants weaving stories around a single picture and on the other side, they had a photography exhibition with pictures telling a thousand stories. The Day 1 ended with Footloose – The dance competition by Zest – The Dance Society which had western solo, duet and street dance competitions. Sri Venkateshwar College dance group and Zorks battled to bag the first prize in the Street Dance competition, Zorks won this competition.

Day 2 of Priyadarshani 2016 was filled with vibrant colours as Jamini – The Fine Arts Society organised ‘Artism’ under which poster making, painting, mehandi designing and sketching competitions were held. Where Jamini added an artistic flair to the festival, Spilled Ink – The Creative Writing Society brought poetic angle by Lafz-e-mehfill – Hindi/Urdu poetry competition. While one side of the college was echoing with beautiful poetry, the other side was dancing on the beats of Western Group Dance Competition where Jesus and Mary College won the first prize. Also, a workshop by Nikon mentor, Aman Wilson was organised by Xposure which included the tips and tricks to polish one’s photography skills. It was not only DSLR centric, but included tips for mobile phone camera users as well. The success of the workshop could be seen by the crowd it had attracted, which included the students from different colleges. This day ended with Deshbandhu College bagging the first prize in the Dyal Singh Majithia Memorial Debate organised by Cognito – The debating society.

Day 3 of Priyadarshini kick-started with Bandish – Battle of Bands where Stable Flux from College of Vocational Studies won the first prize. This event was followed by Tres Chic – Fashion Show by Glamoratti – The Fashion Society. Institute of Home Economics bagged the first position with their theme of mirror, with Lady Irwin College as the runner-up. Simultaneously, the Film-making competition by Xposure; Rangoli making, Best out of waste and cartooning competitions by Jamini; General Quiz by Cognito were held. Delhi Technological University (DTU) won the General Quiz competition.

The most awaited event of Priyadarshani 2016 was the performance by Astitiva – The Band. This performance was cancelled when the band claimed to have not been provided with suitable sound system. This left the students heart-broken. This cancelled gig was followed by an online sparring between the students and band. According to the Priyadarshani 2016 Organising Committee, due to the miscommunication between the band and the event management company the college and the students suffered.

[quote]“We were in touch with the event management company as well as the manager of Astitva a night before the performance and the event management company told us what all we’d need for the performance, the basics and we DID arrange all that exactly according to what the company said. If there has been a miscommunication between the band and the company, it is not our fault. We are merely victims of their shenanigans.” – Team Priyadarshani 2016[/quote]

(For full official statement of Team Priyadarshani 2016 visit – https://www.facebook.com/dscpriyadarshani/?fref=ts )

Image Credits: Xposure – The Photography Society of Dyal Singh College (M).

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