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Their world is the stage! Students of St Xavier’s College Theatre Club could not have found a more expressive medium to display their creative talents. Commenced almost two decades ago to offset the enthusiasm of students who wanted a basis to run theatre, but lacked any technical know-how, the club is today taking its act to various inter-collegiate shows, both locally and nationally. Alice D’Cruz, Associate Professor, Department of English (DoE), who spearheaded the club as the then Head of Department, recalls its early beginnings. “We decided to start a club and have workshops. The idea was to acquire technical inputs. We had theatre personalities like Alfie Silveira and Isabel St Rita Vas conduct several workshops. The first though was Hartman De Souza who not only fuelled the students’ enthusiasm but pioneered the club concept,” explains Alice.
Started by the DoE, the theatre was initially exclusively for English plays although it was open to participation from the science and commerce streams. And although the focus continues to be on English theatre, Marathi and Hindi street plays under the languages section have made a remarkable impact as well. “For many years we participated in the one-act play inter-collegiate competitions organised by Kala Academy. However, in recent years, it is unfortunate that this competition is no longer being held. St Xavier’s organises a three-day theatre festival ‘Masque’ which is open to all colleges to showcase various genres of theatre. Over the years, the club has travelled to participate in various inter-collegiate theatre festivals/competitions like ‘KaleidoScope’ at Sophia’s in Mumbai, ‘Baptizer’ in Banglaore and even Mangalore,” says Alice who observes a marked difference in the early students and the present crop of youngsters.
“Earlier we did not write plays, but students were serious about drama and did a lot of reading. The present generation is very creative; they like to do a lot of script writing. I suppose that evolves from courses like mass media communications. They are very keen on originals for their productions. In fact, at the recent SFX exposition, we staged six performances of an original play ‘Faith on Fire’. We try to do adaptations of plays rather than originals. Today there are so many ready adaptations on the net; the short plays go down well with young audiences,” explains Alice who remains firm in her purpose to get students to appreciate drama/theatre to round-off their experience of literature.
For the students of the club, theatre not only offers them the freedom, but a channel to express their creativity. “Our vision is to enable students to understand various aspects of drama – voice modulation, stage presence, costume, props, make-up and so on. The students are actively involved in the club, from script writing to costumes to the extent that the coordinator is only the facilitator. In fact, this year we have been blessed with a very talented group,” avers Associate Professor, (DoE) Shirlene Fernandes, who has been coordinating the club for the past few years. “Recently they participated at the national theatre competition-cum-festival ‘Baptizer’ at Christ University in Bangalore. “We went for the exposure of it and performed a dance-drama adaptation of Shakespeare’s ‘Merchant of Venice’. Over the years, we have staged several performances – from originals to adaptations to monologue competitions and inter-collegiate mime-competitions,” she explains of the 20-member club which is invariably joined by a large group of other students on occasions.
All the world’s indeed a stage for the students of this popular theatre club!All the world’s a stage at college
Fuelled by a love for theatre, the English Department of St Xavier’s College commenced its Theatre Club in the mid-nineties. With unabated enthusiasm over the years, the club has taken its act to various inter-collegiate shows, both locally and nationally
Patricia Ann Alvares
Their world is the stage! Students of St Xavier’s College Theatre Club could not have found a more expressive medium to display their creative talents. Commenced almost two decades ago to offset the enthusiasm of students who wanted a basis to run theatre, but lacked any technical know-how, the club is today taking its act to various inter-collegiate shows, both locally and nationally. Alice D’Cruz, Associate Professor, Department of English (DoE), who spearheaded the club as the then Head of Department, recalls its early beginnings. “We decided to start a club and have workshops. The idea was to acquire technical inputs. We had theatre personalities like Alfie Silveira and Isabel St Rita Vas conduct several workshops. The first though was Hartman De Souza who not only fuelled the students’ enthusiasm but pioneered the club concept,” explains Alice.
Started by the DoE, the theatre was initially exclusively for English plays although it was open to participation from the science and commerce streams. And although the focus continues to be on English theatre, Marathi and Hindi street plays under the languages section have made a remarkable impact as well. “For many years we participated in the one-act play inter-collegiate competitions organised by Kala Academy. However, in recent years, it is unfortunate that this competition is no longer being held. St Xavier’s organises a three-day theatre festival ‘Masque’ which is open to all colleges to showcase various genres of theatre. Over the years, the club has travelled to participate in various inter-collegiate theatre festivals/competitions like ‘KaleidoScope’ at Sophia’s in Mumbai, ‘Baptizer’ in Banglaore and even Mangalore,” says Alice who observes a marked difference in the early students and the present crop of youngsters.
“Earlier we did not write plays, but students were serious about drama and did a lot of reading. The present generation is very creative; they like to do a lot of script writing. I suppose that evolves from courses like mass media communications. They are very keen on originals for their productions. In fact, at the recent SFX exposition, we staged six performances of an original play ‘Faith on Fire’. We try to do adaptations of plays rather than originals. Today there are so many ready adaptations on the net; the short plays go down well with young audiences,” explains Alice who remains firm in her purpose to get students to appreciate drama/theatre to round-off their experience of literature.
For the students of the club, theatre not only offers them the freedom, but a channel to express their creativity. “Our vision is to enable students to understand various aspects of drama – voice modulation, stage presence, costume, props, make-up and so on. The students are actively involved in the club, from script writing to costumes to the extent that the coordinator is only the facilitator. In fact, this year we have been blessed with a very talented group,” avers Associate Professor, (DoE) Shirlene Fernandes, who has been coordinating the club for the past few years. “Recently they participated at the national theatre competition-cum-festival ‘Baptizer’ at Christ University in Bangalore. “We went for the exposure of it and performed a dance-drama adaptation of Shakespeare’s ‘Merchant of Venice’. Over the years, we have staged several performances – from originals to adaptations to monologue competitions and inter-collegiate mime-competitions,” she explains of the 20-member club which is invariably joined by a large group of other students on occasions.
All the world’s indeed a stage for the students of this popular theatre club!
