Dramatics Section
A plethora of emotions, both on stage and off it; a never-ending quest for scaling new frontiers, fueled by hard work, determination and commitment, and above all a belief in 'we' rather than ' I '. That is Dramatics Section, IIT-Roorkee (formerly University of Roorkee) for you.
Dramsec is the oldest part of the Cultural Society, IITR/UOR. From "Dhai Akhar Prem Ke" & "Ballabhpur Ke Roopkatha" in 1982 to "Ballabhpur Ke Roopkatha*" in 2006, it has been more than two decades of devotion, dedication and perspiration. A student body, that has paved the untrodden path for others to follow. The standard of plays that are staged are at par with that of professional ones. Each and every performance gives us cause to feel proud at our achievements and provides an impetus to us to constantly reach out for greater heights.
An excellent account of our earliest activities in the 80's as recounted by one of our super-seniors can be found here.
We have a total of four productions a year. In the first semester we have a 'long length' play. Then during the annual cultural festival of the institute - Thomso, in the second semester, we have a stage and a street play. The year is rounded off by a 'passing-out' play performed solely by the passing out batch of that year. In 1999 we made a ground-breaking achievement by staging a English long length play ("The Mousetrap") after a gap of more than a decade ("Us And Them" was the first such post-82 play in 1987) . It was followed by other English plays "The Night of January 16th" (2001), and "The Perfect Murder (2003)".
Among the playwrights whose plays we had the honor of staging are - Badal Sarkar, Safdar Hashmi, Vijay Tendulkar, Girish Karnad, Vasant Kanetkar, Shankar Shesh, Swadesh Deepak, Agatha Christie, Ayn Rand, and G.B. Shaw.
The recognition and respect that our section has earned is a result of hard work, discipline and the ever pervasive team spirit that is imbibed in all of us. The work ethics are such, that they mould our character and bring out the best in each individual - on the stage as a performer, and off it as a person.
The biggest assets of Drams are
our seniors. The relationship that exists in our section makes us a close-knit family
woven together by strong threads of love, care and attachment towards each other. Infact,
that is the song of our section -
"Ek doosre se karte hai pyar hum...".
While our 'war-cry' is "Vadi Chanchala Tad Tai Tak Dhoom"- whose call beckons us... in here or out there...
October 2006
Note: * implies a restaged play