Uttaranchal University has set the benchmark for conducting activities in such a way that the students not only enjoy but also learn a great deal from it. With the same perspective in view, Zenith… The Literary Club, School of Liberal Arts organized a drama competition on the 23rd of April, 2022, on the occasion of International English Language Day, commemorating the death as well as birth anniversary of William Shakespeare- 'The Bard of Avon'. The whole event was organized by the students of SLA.
Keeping with the importance of the day, the theme was Shakespearean Plays. Four teams from the entire University presented four of the greatest plays of Shakespeare, 'As You Like It', 'Romeo and Juliet', 'Othello', and 'The Merchant of Venice' having been allotted 25 minutes each. Many dignitaries graced the occasion, including Hon’ble Chancellor of the university, Shri Jitender Joshi, Prof. (Dr.) Dharam Buddhi, Prof. (Dr.)Rajesh Bahuguna, Pro Vice Chancellor, Prof. (Dr.) Abhishek Joshi, Director, Students Affairs & IT Services, Dr. Anita Gehlot, Dr. Rajesh Singh- Dean, R & I, along with Prof. (Dr.) Shravan Kumar, Dean, SLA. The event began with a tribute to the great playwright. Each team displayed a phenomenal performance. The sensitivity with which each of the characters was portrayed was indeed commendable. Team 4 presenting 'Merchant of Venice', did an excellent job with all the characters especially 'Shylock', who won the award for the best actor. The play was an interesting mix of Shylock's despair and some classic comedic references. With a really tough competition, Team 4 carried off the title of Runners-up in best overall performance. Team 3 presenting ‘Othello’ definitely did justice to the actual play especially the menacing character of Iago which was notoriously hard to pull off. Their remarkable acting skills combined with some sound and lighting effects made the play stand out and they ended up winning the overall competition as well as the 'Best Narrator'.
Compering was flawlessly done by Vaibhav Goswami and Akshita, BA(H)Psy-2nd Year. Whereas a presentation was given Devanshi, a student of BA(H) English,2nd year. Other than the plays there was a poem, a beautiful song 'Stand by Me' as well as a dance performance towards the end of the event by Agastya a student of SALS. The uniqueness of the whole program lied in the involvement of students from all the colleges and all the streams. It turned out to be good platform to showcase the hidden talents of the students that amazed the audience to the extremes.
The programme ended with a vote of thanks by Samridhdi Kandpal, the president of Literary Club who also won the Best Volunteer Award .
Sh Jitender Joshi, Chancellor of the university appreciated the talent of the students as well as the organizing team, team SLA and offered cash rewards to motivate them for future endeavours. Dr. Shravan Kumar also congratulated the team Zenith and blessed the students with his motivational words.
The program was coordinated meticulously by Dr. Pinki Chugh, coordinator Literary Club.
