The coordinator of the Department of Theatre (DoT), Manish Manjunath, sat down with the Oasis English Press and explained what DoT is gearing up to do during Oasis‘22.
DoT is responsible for conducting the seven kernel events in the fest that brings in the majority of contestants. These range over four broad categories–music, dance, fashion, and drama.
The two musical events are ‘Tarang’ and ‘Pitch Perfect’. Tarang is a fusion event which involves combining Indian classical music and western music. ‘This is one of those events where creativity is at its max and it truly represents why Oasis is a 96-hour fest with events running all the time,’ says Manish, noting that it takes place between 1 AM and 7 AM. The second musical event is Pitch Perfect, which, as the name suggests for those familiar with the movie, is an acapella event. Teams either come up with their own compositions or perform their rendition of a mashup of different songs. A beatboxer might also lend to the performance with a groovy beat.
Choreo is a contemporary dance event with eight teams. The other dance event organised by DoT is Street Dance, a hip-hop-style dance competition which involves dance-offs between individuals or teams.
As for the fashion event, DoT organises Fash-P, which is a ramp walk heavily frequented by teams from the Delhi circuit.
There are two drama events as well, namely, Street Play and Stage Play. Street Play is a ‘nukkad-naatak’ format play which is held in the FD-II QT where the eight teams competing go around shouting “aao aao, nukkad dekho” to grab the audience’s attention and draw them to the event in an old school fashion. Stage Play, on the other hand, is held in a professional setting of the main auditorium with mics and props. The teams perform for a maximum of 45 minutes and get judged for their acting and directing skills.
DoT is also in charge of the rulebook governing the seven kernel events. The rulebook usually undergoes no changes and remains the same this year as well barring one small rule for Tarang. Similar to the rulebook, the events themselves also do not undergo any major changes since they have happened each year and have become an integral part of Oasis’ legacy. ‘The teams that come to BITS go to these similar events in other college fests as well, they know what they’re doing, and we know what we’re doing.’, Manish shared while explaining why these events are not particularly influenced by the yearly theme for Oasis.
One of the main problems that usually occur is the delays in these events. Nevertheless, Manish seems optimistic about the conduction of the events, saying that once the event has started, things go on their own smooth trajectory. Even conducting Oasis offline after two years does not faze him too much, stating that although it is unknown, DoT work is something that can be learnt on the job. It does not require too much technical expertise and rather focuses on communication and management.
On a lighter note, he says ‘I think this will be a different Oasis than what it was in the past. And I think this will set the tone for the next few years and how this fest is going to be run. And I feel it’ll be fun, you know, just have fun.’ To the BITSians who have never experienced Oasis, he says ‘You guys get to experience this for the first time with two other batches who have never seen this. It will be fun, it will be different, for sure, than the fest I saw in 2019 but it will be fun.’