ANKUR'S SESSION 2009-2010
The new office bearers of Ankur, headed by final year
student Trishant Srivastava, decided to focus the
society’s activities on systems of training related to the
diverse aspects of theatre. As many as five productions
were staged throughout the year, and all of them grew
out of rigorous workshops which addressed the many
dimensions of performance. The need to develop a
systematic process whereby actors, technicians,
directors and dramaturges get to learn the foundations
of their craft was commonly felt by many who wished
that Ankur should finally evolve into a sustained
platform for theatre in the campus. Towards this end,
Ankur organized its first ever alumni meet in July where
matters related to organization, scope of work and
funding were discussed with concerned friends who
have been a part of the society at some or the other time
since 1994. The gravity of this exercise set the tone for
the intensity with which Ankurians have persevered
towards their goals this year.
2009 was a year of many ‘firsts’ for Ankur. ECA
admissions happened for the first time with more than
50 applications from all over India. After eight grueling
rounds of audition, two of them were selected. The
candidates Priya Tandon and Pallavi Biyani have already
given powerful performances, proving the success of the
process. Thereafter, a month-long workshop on the
basics of acting culminated in the first ever English
language play by Ankur on 19-20 September: Jean
Anouilh’s Antigone, directed by Kuljeet Singh. The play
articulated an enduring voice of protest against the
instrumental rationality employed by totalitarian forces
that coerce and politically subjugate people into
submission. The accomplished production featured
energetic performances by the two lead actors, Jasmeet
Khanuja (Antigone) and Ullas Samrat (Creon), who
were ably supported by a cast of twelve actors, many of
whom were freshers. Kuljeet Singh’s exceptional design
and subtle orchestration of the complex action in the
play won him many admirers in the audience.
Interestingly, sifting through old records, we discovered
that the only other English language dramatic
production in the College had taken place 29 years back
in 1978 when, under the direction of Mr. Suvir Kaul, the
Tegh Players (the previous theatre society) had
performed Vijay Tendulkar’s Silence! The Court is in
Session.
Ankur’s next stage play, Romeo, Juliet aur Andhera
(based on Jan Otcenasek’s Czech novel Romeo Julia A
Tma) was written and directed by Trishant Srivastava
and designed by Saikat Ghosh. This is the first time that
Ankur decided to stage a play originally written by one of
its student-members. This inspired freshers Pallavi
Biyani and Sumit Jalan to write and direct a street-play
on consumer awareness for inter-college competition
organized annually by the Consumer Affairs Ministry.
Ankur was placed second in this competition.
Meanwhile, Romeo, Juliet aur Andhera had its maiden
performance at IIT Kanpur in late October where it was
extremely well received by the audience. Thereafter, it
has been repeatedly performed in competitions as well as
festivals where it has made a name for itself. The play
won the second prize in the prestigious inter-college
competition at Miranda House and Priya Tandon (lead
actress) won the Best Actor award when it was
performed at the Durga Deulkar Theatre Competition
in Lady Irwin College. Apart from being invited to
perform in various reputed theatre festivals in Delhi, the
play is also slated to be staged in Mumbai in late February
where it is being featured as a part of the prestigious
Eureka and Atelier’s Youth Theatre Festival.
Ankur has also managed to garner tremendous fame
through both its competitive street plays, Aaj Bhi Kal Ke
Jaisa Kyun Hai (a successful production continued from
last year) and TRP (a biting critique of contemporary
media practices) which have won a handful of prizes at
various inter-college competitions, including the
Championship at ISBF Delhi and the Runners-Up at
Kamla Nehru College and SRCC. Kuljeet Singh has
guided the process involving the conception and making
of both these plays which were directed by final year
students, Udit Mukim and Manveer Singh.
Finally, like every year, Ankur organized an excellent
and unique inter-college theatre competition,
Pratyaksh ’09, as a part of the College festival, Lishkara
in the month of December. The event drew enormous
popular response with 15 colleges participating in both
the stage and street formats. Eminent theatre
personalities like Ms. Vandana Vashishtha from the
National School of Drama, Mr. M Sayeed Alam from
Pierrot’s Theatre group and Mr. Gauhar Raza from Jana
Natya Manch participated as Resource Persons for the
discussions following the performances and also judged
the competitions.
