SABHA - The Multilingual Theatre Society

Introduction

Sabha, the Multilingual Theatre Society of St. Stephen's College, was established in 1930 with a mission to embrace the rich linguistic and cultural diversity of India in its theatrical productions. The society is dedicated to promoting theatre through a variety of mediums, including street plays, conventional stage performances, and innovative open-air productions. Throughout its history, Sabha has nurtured and showcased numerous notable theatre talents, including Konkona Sen Sharma, Benjamin Gilani, Suneet Tandon, Kabir Bedi, Roshan Seth, and many more.

The Blog - Rang Munch

The blog aimed to act as a platform for people from all walks of life to share their experiences, opinions and thoughts on theatre and art. The year 2021 brings back the blog with its essence. Rangmunch is a place for people to hear and be heard. It offers snack sized theatre bits and food for thought.

Blog : https://rangmunchsabha.wixsite.com/home

Aadibhav - The Street Play Vertical

Aadibhav is the street play vertical of Sabha whose main focus is to raise out contemporary issues through its plays in a fun and engaging manner with Audience. Daily practice sessions are scheduled for Aadibhav where vocal, facial and physical exercises are done. Any Play is incomplete without actors, scriptwriters and instrumentalists. Being a part of Aadibhav gives you exposure to all of this through regular training sessions, workshops and a friendly environment.

A number of productions have been done by Aadibhav in the past years. Recent past productions include -

Wajood : Doing something as a profession and doing something voluntarily are completely two different things. Wajood, the street of play of aadibhav, that challanged the patriarchal society showed the struggle of a raped prostitute and the victim of a Marital rape to get justice. Misconception of judging a prostitute by her profession is deeply rooted in our society. There are thousands of victims of Marital Rape whose voice gets shattered behind the bars of Patriarchy. Wajood raised all these issues and touched the hearts of the audience.

Mukhauta : Mukhauta, the Street Play of Aadibhav in its Annual fest - Dastaan, revolved around the theme of self exploration that unfolded various undiscussed but important aspects such as Self acceptance, Anxiety, Depression etc. Societal Restrictions, The pressure to act in a certain way, to go by the norms are some factors that always hinder the process of seeking our true self. All these emotions were portrayed relevantly by our play Mukhauta in a dramatic way.

Stage Productions

Khwabeeda : After the pandemic, Sabha came back on stage for the first time with the launch production of Khwabeeda. The narrative revolves around an elderly gentleman who specializes in crafting and offering dreams to the populace. This man undertakes the task of gathering the scattered threads of affection that linger unnoticed in the corners of the town. He diligently cleans and skillfully weaves them together, creating an artistry so captivating that it captures the attention of the town's inhabitants. Intrigued by these dreams, individuals express a desire to acquire them, yet they find themselves grappling with reservations. Doubts arise concerning the authenticity of these intricately woven dreams, prompting a dilemma among potential buyers as to whether they should invest in them or exercise caution to avoid potential disappointment. The theatrical production draws inspiration from Noon Meem Rashid's renowned poem, "Andha Kabadi," albeit with a degree of creative interpretation.

Edapally : A collaborative theatrical presentation by Sabha - The Multilingual Theatre Society of St. Stephen's College and The Malayalam Literary Society of the same institution showcased the Malayalam stage production titled "Edappally!" on the 29th of March. This theatrical performance, set against the picturesque backdrop of Kerala, skillfully navigates through the life of the esteemed poet, Raghavan Pillai, as perceived through the perspective of Changampuzha Krishnan Pillai. The narrative of the play is poised to offer a profound emotional journey, exploring themes such as love, heartache, and camaraderie within the context of the 1930s.

Harmony, the annual fest of St. Stephens College, gave the platform for Sabha to put up another play. It was the reversal of the famous fairytale ‘Cinderella’ and the entire setting was altered. It was a well written play and the message which was aimed to promote through the performance was cherished and acknowledged by the audience.

Sabha successfully attempted to relive the stories of Saadat Hasan Manto. An aim to fuse his life, characters and his politics into one chorus of Mantoiyat, by creatively adapting his fiction and nonfiction works.

Activities / Workshops

Sabha brought up an interactive session with Actor Lakhvir Singh Saran along with the screening of Khamosh, Adaalat Jaari Hai by renowned Playwright , Vijay Tendulkar. The interactive session was enriching for all the thespians as Mr. Saran discussed the various aspects of theatre, the play we screened and answered all our questions.

Aayna―  An open mic event which was open to everything under the broad umbrella of performing arts like beat boxing, dancing, poetry etc.

A workshop was conducted for the students by Ms. Samadreeta Chanda, a well-known dancer.

Dastaan

One of the primary features of theatre is that it relates people to stories and vice-versa. Theatre embraces story-telling. It interprets and presents it. Sabha eagerly looks forward to celebrating this facet of theatre by organising Dastaan, Sabha’s annual theatre festival. As part of Dastaan, Sabha organised various events.

Playhouse - Production Competition

Playhouse, A Danny Mathew Memorial Competition, is an event that focuses on the production wing of a stage play, in the memory of Danny Mathew. As the production wing of a stage play, each team has to conceive a thorough production plan of a scene for a collegiate performance.  Along with the stage design, each team will be given an opportunity to set the scene according to their directorial vision through sounds and voice overs! The aim of this exercise will be to provide the teams to set up not only the physical but the mental state of the play. One can use dialogues from the script, original dialogues by the teams, songs, poems, monologues, etc. This is a painstaking and arduous task— teams must commit to realistic budget constraints and practical concerns, while optimising for creative depiction! Needless to say, one needs to be as holistic and descriptive as possible in conveying your stage plan. This event puts directorial vision, sense of aesthetics, interpretive creativity and managerial skills to test, in the context of collegiate stage theatre.

Office Bearers

President - Mr. Abhay Singh (abhayoct22@gmail.com)

Vice - President - Neha Pramod (pramodneha29@gmail.com)

General Secretary and Dastaan Convenor - Joel Jacob (joeljacob763@gmail)

Aadibhav Co - Heads - Ankit Kumar(ankit26kumar28@gmail.com), Samridhi Jhingan(samridhijhingan12356@gmail.com)

Fest In-charge - Divyansh Tiwari(divyansht022@gmail.com)

Head of Logistical Operations - Saksham Naudiyal(naudiyalsaksham09@gmail.com)

Publicity Heads - Anita Saju (anitaantony22@gmail.com), Arpita Garg(arpitagarg016@gmail.com)

PR Head - Devika Sapra (devikasaprassc@gmail.com)

Stage Heads - Ann Susan Abraham (annabraham2004@gmail.com), Annu J Koshy (annujkoshy@gmail.com)

Treasurer - Harjeev Singh (harjeev2711@gmail.com)

Email ID: shakesabha@gmail.com

Instagram: sabha_waale

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/sabhassc/