The time one spends in college is often the most free-spirited, unrestrained part of one's life. And for the creatively inclined, it can be a fertile breeding ground to give wings to a novel or a script without having to worry about commercial consequences. But more often than not, these radical creations never reach audiences beyond college festivals.
<img title="Chhalawa is a part of the series" src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/images/2017/oct/Chhalawa.jpg" alt="Chhalawa is a part of the series" /> Chhalawa is a part of the series
To give a platform to youth theatre, The Hive in collaboration with Culture Shoq (both organisations promote art and culture in the city) recently launched an initiative that reaches out to drama schools and colleges in Mumbai and Delhi. The idea is to provide a ready stage to students to showcase their existing work to the public across the city, says Sudeip Nair, founder of The Hive. "It ensures that college drama schools can focus on working on new productions and re-working their existing ones based on feedback from us and our audience," he adds.
<img title="Shiva Khanna" src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/images/2017/oct/Shiva-Khanna.jpg" alt="Shiva Khanna" /> Shiva Khanna
While in the first round, existing shortlisted plays are assigned a performance date at The Hive's Andheri venue, select productions are given a longer run of dates at Bandra's The Cuckoo Club in the next round. "Those not selected are given another date and feedback on their production before they return," explains Nair.
<img title="Rhea Shukla" src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/images/2017/oct/Rhea-Shukla.jpg" alt="Rhea Shukla" /> Rhea Shukla
The initiative began in July with the staging of an interesting musical, The Murder of Cinderella, by students of St Xavier's College. Another play, Chhalawa, was a student adaptation of Shakespeare's Hamlet, which dealt with the practice of sati.
<img title="Rohan Verma" src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/images/2017/oct/Rohan-Verma.jpg" alt="Rohan Verma" /> Rohan Verma
The upcoming production, Kashti, is a collaboration among students of Mumbai and Pune. Set amidst the torrential rains of Mumbai, the plot revolves around the lives of five strangers, who take shelter in a public library. "The play is a series of five monologues, delivered in five formats. While Priyanshi from Xavier's will use dramatic narration to share a tale of anorexia, NMIMS's Adheep Das will use absurdism to deliver his monologue. Adheep's collegemate Rhea Shukla will use movement-based performance to depict nostalgia, and Shiv Khanna from Xavier's will engage with the same theme through slam poetry. My monologue will be a storytelling session based on a piece by author Mohan Rakesh," informs Rohan Verma, a student of Pune's Symbiosis Centre for Media &amp; Communication.
<img title="Adheep Das" src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/images/2017/oct/Adheep-Das.jpg" alt="Adheep Das" /> Adheep Das
Verma feels that while Mumbai has a thriving theatre scene, experimental content doesn't get as much space. "These performance venues are ideal, thanks to their intimate set-up," he says, adding, "An initiative like this allows us to fail. And if we do well, we are encouraged to move on to a bigger platform."
On: October 5, 8 pm At: Brewbot, Morya Landmark 1, off New Link Road, Andheri West Log on to: bookmyshow.com Cost: Rs 249

A new initiative is plucking plays out of college fests to present them on a bigger scale

Plays from college fests to get a bigger stage to perform

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Home / Mumbai-guide / Things To Do / Article / Plays from college fests to get a bigger stage to perform

Plays from college fests to get a bigger stage to perform

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Ganeshotsav 2026