Masque - The English Dramatics Society

Masque, the English Theatre Society of Hindu College, is one of the premier stage play societies of the entire DU theatre circuit. Established in 2006, Masque aims to offer a stage for budding Thespians to blossom. It aims to create a world within the college where students from all walks of life come together as theatre enthusiasts, and work in collaboration with each other on all things theatre.

Academic Advisor:
Dr Richa Bajaj

Office Bearers 2022-2023

President: Merin Thomas Vice President: Pranav Anand Director: Rohil Ghosh

  Head of Spectacle: Batool Fayaz, Anshika Srivastava

Head of Company: Anigrah Peer

PR Head: Pranoy Baruah, Pooja Ghuge

Head of Masquerade and Finance: Shreya Mahajan

Activities at a Glance:

1. Mitranama
2. Aarambh
3. Masquette
4. Masquecon
5. Freshers
6. Farewell
7. Orientation
8. Wings for Life Charity drive
9. Founder’s Day
10. Participated in Danny Mathew Memorial Production Competition
11. Masquerade (Annual Flagship Event)

Mitranama- Annual Production of Masque:

Every year Masque produces a full length play in English. Our plays strive to hold up a mirror to society and shed light on social and political issues. This year’s annual production, Mitranama, was an adaptation of ‘A Friend’s Story’ by Vijay Tendulkar. It follows the complexities of identity amalgamated with friendships, arguments, desire, and sexual politics. Mitra, a young college girl’s trajectory as she meanders her way through her friendship with Bapu who falls in love with her, and her surreptitious desire and attraction towards another girl, Nama are at the forefront of the play which deals with the concomitants of understanding how under the lens of patriarchal conceptualisations about love and desire, elements of same-sex attraction get warped and convoluted. Bapu, timid and shy in nature falls for Mitra, a girl who is everything he wants to be - carefree, adventurous and free spirited. But what he sees in her and feels for her is not reciprocated when Mitra confides in him her secret liking for Nama. The play explores not only sexual politics but gender dynamics amongst the youth of the 70s, exploring the fine points of a fast-paced time when everyone is trying to figure out life for themselves and their respective places in it.

The play received glowing compliments in several competitions organised throughout the Delhi Collegiate Theatre Circuit (DCTC) and won the first prize at Rangmanch organised under the aegis of Kritva’23, the Annual Cultural Festival of International Management Institute, New Delhi and runners up at the Inter Rajpal 2023 organised by the Shakespeare Society of St. Stephens College, University of Delhi. We also performed at a public rehearsal organised by Charche, An Empty Space.

Masquette 2022:

Masque, The English Theatre Society of Hindu College in collaboration with Takhleeq Theatre Group organised it’s first-ever theatre workshop Masquette'22 on the 23^rd and 24^th of August 2022 at the Relaxo Research Centre, Hindu College. Students from other theatre societies across the varsity also participated in this workshop. Both days witnessed an array of theatre games, insight, knowledge sessions and a boatload of fun in the signature thespian way. In the two days, some major aspects like voice, production, expression and movement were covered. We aimed to help budding thespians build confidence in various aspects of acting and refine their skills in the domain. The involvement of notable enthusiasts in the field as instructors for the workshop was supposed to be a guidance mechanism for those students who are passionate about pursuing theatre. The event saw a total turnout of over 50 participants, who took part in the activities with exuberance and fervour. An essential level of instructions on elements of acting, voice, and production was delivered to the participants.

Aarambh 2022:

Aarambh, the annual theatre meet up of Delhi Collegiate Theatre Circuit (DCTC), was held on 5th and 6th November, 2022 at Nehru Park. This year, Masque was invited to take part in the festival for the first time and our members left no stone unturned in leaving our mark at the event in front of students from other colleges. Our members participated in a whole range of theatre activities ranging from physicals, voice exercises, improvisation activities, monologue, creative writing, ad making etc. The main aim of Aarambh is to make new bonds with students from theatre societies across Delhi and our members were able to do that. The second day

ended with the famous DCTC Jamming Session where, too, our members participated enthusiastically.
 

Orientation 2023:

Masque organised a thrilling and engaging offline orientation for the freshers batch of 2025/26. The orientation gave the freshers a glimpse at the verticals, past performances, practice sessions and the work culture of Masque. This was followed by an on the spot group improvisation activity and a quick round of the famous DU theatre circuit exercise ‘zip-zap’ to give the freshers a taste of Masque. An interactive Q&A session was also held in the end to clear all the doubts of the freshers regarding the society.

 

Masquecon 2023:

Masquecon 2023 was a holistic two day workshop organised to induct new members from the batch of 2025/26.The event saw the participation of over 60 students who engaged in exciting theatre activities. On the first day, Masquecon began with physical warm ups followed by voice modulation and breathing exercises. Participants were introduced to the various facets of theatre and judged based on their participation level and skill set. Students were divided into sub-groups and they engaged in theatre related activities such as improvisation, character building, body movements, facial expressions, fast reading, etc. On the second day, participants dressed up as their favourite character and delivered powerful monologues. They were judged on the basis of their oratorical skills, voice modulation, body language, and facial expressions. The workshop was followed by a one-on-one interview with selected candidates to further evaluate them, following which the selected candidates were inducted into the society.

Freshers 2023:

Masque, The English Theatre Society of Hindu College organised the Freshers welcome for its new members on 9th March 2023. The Freshers started with an online event where all of us talked about the society, its different verticals and our plans for the upcoming sessions. The juniors were very enthusiastic and even shared their expectations and plans for the society. This was followed by a few improvised theatre activities and a theme based event called “Coachella” for the batch of 2025/26. This ice breaker event involved a host of engaging and fun activities along with tempting delicious food to give the new members a flavour of Masque’s work culture.

Farewell 2023: Masque bid farewell to the batch of 2023 at a heartwarming picnic organised in Lodi Garden. The senior members of Masque engaged in fun activities for one last time and passed on their wisdom and experiences to their beloved juniors. The core for session 2023-24 was announced in the end and the mantle of the society was passed on to the new presidents.

Wings for Life Charity Drive 2023:

Masque, The English Theatre Society of Hindu College organised a fundraiser for the research on Spinal cord injury being done by Wings for Life Foundation. ‘Wings for Life’ is a charity foundation which supports cutting-edge research worldwide. Their big goal is to find a cure for spinal cord injury for which, as per current reports, there is no cure. While scientists are making further advances in the treatment of Spinal Cord Injuries, they require funds in order to carry out their operations smoothly. Masque organised a charity drive in Hindu College to raise awareness about Spinal Cord Injuries amongst the students of University of Delhi. Further, it collected donations from the students of Hindu College as a part of the Fundraiser. We successfully raised a whopping ₹ 10,000 which went a long way in helping improve the lives of spinal cord injury patients.

Founder’s Day 2023:

Masque, The English Theatre Society of Hindu College put up a play on the occasion of Hindu College’s 124th Founder’s Day on 15th February, 2023. The play revolved around a young girl studying in Hindu College who gets locked in a storeroom while searching for a prop. In a storeroom, she founds an old man, who is later on revealed to be the founder of Hindu College. She talks about the rich legacy and history of Hindu College with the old man and also about the different cultural societies of the college which represents the vibrancy of the college in all spheres of life.

Danny Mathew Memorial Competition:

The team of five members from Masque- Pranoy, Rohil, Mayank, Manya and Nikhil- participated in the Danny Mathew Memorial Production Competition- Playhouse organised by Sabha, the Multilingual Theatre Society of St. Stephens College on 27th March, 2023. The first of its kind in the college theatre circuit, Playhouse helps you put your directorial vision, sense of aesthetics, interpretive creativity and managerial skills to test, in the context of collegiate stage theatre. As the production wing, we were required to choose a play from the provided script base, envision the scene with a proper production set and present it. After a thorough deliberation with the team members, we went ahead with the script of Nil Darpan by Dinabandhu Mitra. We received good appreciation from the judges for putting up a great show.

MASQUERADE 2023 (THE ANNUAL FESTIVAL OF MASQUE):

Masquerade – The Annual Fest of Masque, The English Theatre Society of Hindu College – was held on 10^th April, 2023 at the Sanganeria Auditorium, Hindu College from 10 am to 6 pm. The fest was adorned with the trend and mania of 90s pop culture This fest was a culmination of fun-filled activities and competitions ranging from script writing, mono acting to stage play. The fest’s main event was the Stage Play Competition, where teams from six colleges competed to perform their productions. Not to limit the horizon of our fest we had games like zip zap, splash etc. to boost up the spirits of our participants in Bharat Ram centre after each performance. The event was sponsored by The James Academy of Spoken English, Orion Hostels, TheatreLeela, Next IAS, Red Bull, and Synergy, with DU Online Campus, DU Beat and Competitions Generator as the Media Partners. The event was open to the public with prior and on-spot registration desks available at gate number 4 and at the entrance of Sanganeria Auditorium, which was made astounding and dazzling for the public with props, decorations and rangoli.

The six teams who competed in the event were Hansraj Dramatics Society (Hansraj College), Natuve (SBSC – Morning), Lakshya (Kamla Nehru College), Sangharsh (SBSC – Evening), Players (Kirori Mal College), and Aadhar (Motilal Nehru College). The themes and genres of the plays were diverse, ranging from mythology to psychological thrillers to slice-of-life drama, and each performance was highly commendable.

The event was opened by Anigrah Peer, the head of the Production vertical of Masque, as the compere. The president of Masque, Merin Thomas, then welcomed the esteemed sponsor representatives, judges, and the audience to the event. The competition commenced shortly after that. Each performance was an average of 55 minutes, and every one of them had the audience thrilled and engrossed in the event.

Shortly after all the six performances, the judges announced the prize winners of the competition – Hansraj Dramatics Society winning Best Backstage for Kaumudi, Mohammad Azad from Sangharsh winning Best Actor for his performance in Piharwa, Sangharsh winning Best Play for Piharwa and Lakshya being the runner-ups for Best Play with Arishadvarga. They were awarded with certificates of recognition, prizes and gift vouchers.

The end of this successful event was marked with a vote of thanks by Merin Thomas and Rohil Ghosh, the Director of Masque.