English Dramatics
Superstar
Masters-in-Charge Senior - Mr K V Arjun Rao Junior - Mr Shrey Nagalia
Boy-in-Charge Raghav Puri
Sitting 1st row (L to R): Aditya Gandhi, Arjun Sharma, Mrigank Khemka, Yuvan Kumar, Yash Dhandhania, Malini Malviya, Aditya Bhattacharya Sitting 2nd row (L to R): Rohan Shriram, Mrs Abia Qezilbash, Dhruv Sirohi, Mr K V Arjun Rao, Raghav Puri, Mr Ashad Qezilbash, Akshay Sharan, Mr Shrey Nagalia, Varun Gupta Standing (L to R): Shantanu Seth, Madhavan Saklani, Agni Raj Singh, Nipurn Datta, Jai Pratap Singh Kairon, Karan Singh, Arnav Matta, Rohil Mehrotra, Anmol Singh Jamwal, Suraj Bishnoi, Raniz Bordoloi, Dhruv Singhal, Vigya Singh Dhiman
Drama is an integral part of learning at the School. This year, the boys and teachers of the School took drama to a new level altogether. Jesus Christ Superstar, the iconic musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber, was chosen as The Doon School’s Founder’s Day production. It was the first live musical production in the history of the School. With Mr Arjun Rao as the Director and Mrs Priya Chaturvedi as the Musical Director, preparations for the play began well in advance. Staying true to the Dosco spirit, there was never any question of hiring professional musicians, dancers or set designers. Everything was done in-house. With that in mind, myriad teams were formed and set into motion - dancers, choir, orchestra, actors, set designers, AV squad. After innumerable hours of practice and rehearsals, the musical was performed four times in front of different audiences, the final being the main day of Founder’s. All efforts truly paid off; the show received a standing ovation each time it was performed and it will be etched in The Doon School memory for many years to come. The musicians were led magnificently by Yuv Vir Khosla, a fabulous pianist in his own right. Magnificent performances were delivered by Raghav Puri as Judas, Karan Singh as Jesus, Malini Malaviya as Mary Magdalene, Dhruv Sirohi as Pontius Pilate and Pranoy Bohara as King Herod. This year, the Vimal Bhagat Trophy for Excellence in English Theatre was awarded to Raghav Puri, while the Kendall Trophy for Best Actor was shared between Dhruv Sirohi and Karan Singh. Malini Malaviya and Pranoy Bohara bagged the awards for Best Supporting Actress and Actor respectively, and for a persistent dedication to the School English dramatics society, School English Dramatics Colours were awarded to Rohan Shriram, Akshay Sharan, Dhruv Sirohi and Raghav Puri. Godse@gandhi.com, a Hindi play written by Asghar Wajahat, was given a dramatized Hindi reading performance on the occasion of Founder’s Day this year. Senior boys took part in this performance. Stage lights were designed by Shantanu and Vedant Khanna. The performance was directed by Mr M H Farooqui and produced by Mr Samik Das. Ten students performed the reading of the play Jayez Hatyare, which is the Hindi adaptation of the play, The Just Assassin, by Albert Camus. This was conceived and initiated by Mr Samik Das and Mr Dhanesh Joshi and directed by Mr M H Farooqui, and was performed on the 50th anniversary of World Theatre Day. Also, performances representing various forms of storytelling were staged on the occasion of World Book Day. Shashvat Dhandhania, Saif Ali, Sanat Verma, Mihir Kiran, Sanat Kumar Thakur, Aditya Dhingra, Rishab Sharma, Vrindam Nagpal, Shivank Sharma, Shubham Khemka, Vidit Sidana, and Asim Bansal took part in this perfomance. Saif Ali, Vidit Sidana and Shubham Dhingra were awarded School Hindi Dramatics Colours for their consistent dedication to the School Hindi dramatics society. The Superama Scholarship for the year 2011, an award that recognizes the best contribution to Hindi Dramatics, was awarded to Saud Khan.