Scenes from the play After Twenty Years by National Institute of Technology and (below) Yuga Dharma by students of Padmanava College of Engineering being staged at Civic Centre in Rourkela on Saturday. Pictures by Uttam Kumar Pal

Rourkela, Feb. 3: An inter-college drama festival was organised in the city to bolster acting skills of college students and also to boost theatre movement in the city.

The five-day festival organised by Koel Club at the Civic Centre auditorium of the city started on January 29.

Eight colleges took part in the event. The organisers said that for the first time this year two technical institutions Padmanav College of Engineering and National Institute of Technology (NIT) took part in the festival.

Sanjay Hati of Koel Club said that there had been several plays and other cultural activities organised by various clubs in the city.

Even there are festivals for school students where they showcase their talents in the field of drama. But there was no such event for college students.

“We noticed that there is a gap between the events organised in school and clubs. We even found shortage of artistes at club levels in recent years. Those who were taking part in drama and theatre events in schools were opting for other activities later on as they were not getting chance to hone their skills during college days. That’s how this festival came to happen so that students would continue to showcase their talents and keep performing,’ said Hati.

The club started organising the festival since 2011 and this year it was the fourth edition of this annual event. Various colleges take part in the competition every year.

Out of the eight colleges, the organisers said that NIT had a different approach in their presentation this time. They had presented their script like a professional theatre group, which allowed other participants to learn many new things.

After Twenty Years, a play by NIT students got many accolades. Yuga Dharma by students of Padmanav College of Engineering and Suryaster Sati by students of Municipal College were also praised by the audiences a lot.

Dillip Mohanty, an office bearer of the club, said that though they never provide any concept to the participants, the themes are usually related to students’ problems and students’ politics or anything related to youth and society.

“We encourage them to write their own scripts as it would help them built a career in this field. Besides, we also tell the college authorities to let one of their teachers direct the play and let students assist them. So that students learn this art,” said Mohanty.

The organising club performed the inaugural play and other participants presented their plays on subsequent days. On the last day, the participants are awarded in different categories.