College play "Clowns" impresses one and all

The College play “Clowns” was held on the library lawn yesterday evening. The play which started at 7:30 P.M. was planned, organized and executed by the students of the college on a shoe string budget. The play was well attended and appreciated by one and all. The natural location with the effective use of light and sound gave a totally different experience to the UTC community, and guests who had come. The cast and crew included thirty people. 

The initiative to start such a group came from an informal gathering of students who formed an unofficial drama group after an acting workshop in the college. They then started practising small scenes and then took the initiative to conceptualise an entire play by themselves. The director and scriptwriter Deepak Gnana Prakash, who is doing his third year Bachelor of Divinity course, then expanded this group to include more people. The script was ready by early December itself and the character familiarisation process was on by then.

 The team then thought that they should perform for the entire community on a single day and the College day faculty convenor and student co-ordinator were happy to include this in the college day programme.

Female clown Eunice

Male clown Aby

The play “Clowns” revolves around two clowns, one female and one male. The audience sees different incidents through their eyes. Indirectly the clowns draw the audience to reality and push them to take a decision to fight back against the wrongs in society. The first scene involves a baby and her conversation with God, before she is aborted by her parents. The second scene is about a young girl who is going to be given away by her father to the church so that he gets rid of her and benefits in the process. The third scene involves a couple who are in love. The man divorces the woman after two months of marriage because she is barren! The third incident is about a Sri Lankan Tamil girl who is raped by soldiers during the war and only has her brother left. The final scene involves a man who is beaten up because of daring to love a girl belonging to an upper caste. In the final scene an angel appears to the clowns and dares them to fight back.

Director Deepak

 The theological significance of the play is one thing which makes it interesting for a theological college like the UTC. The students worked hard to construct a set and record songs. They practised hard to get into the respective roles and learn the dialogues. The success of the play is also the involvement of campus children and adults as well. All of this was pulled off making use of a low budget.