pune theatre beckons those interested in stage performances savitribai phule pune universitys sppus centre of performing arts also known as the lalit kala kendra in marathi offers a degree in theatre the centre received around 350 applications this year for 60 seatspravin bhole head of the department said the centre started as a department in 1987 we offer graduation and postgraduation programmes both with an intake of 30 students for theatre we only take 10 students there are more people opting for the course now a written entrance exam and an audition aptitude test screens students more than merit we conduct admissions based on the students aptitude we first scrutinise the candidates written exams once they clear this they have an audition there is a syllabus designed for the audition which candidates have some experts like actors directors writers and designers are invited to judge aspirants have to perform a dramatic monologue recite poetry sing or dance once the panel makes a list we offer admission to the top candidatesaniruddha deodhar 23 completed his ba programme in theatre three months ago he said the highlight of the programme are the many practical lectures people like ashwini giri anant kanho and sachin alekar are some of renowned people who teach us the focus is onvoice modulation and physical exercises for theatre you have loads of practical work and teamwork there are also stagecraft and design courses for all three years he saidbeing an artbased course there are no formal placements provided we dont have any campus interviews students get into marathi professional theatre or the film industry most alumni work in the entertainment industry across india some get into academics deodhar recommends learning at lalit kala kendra they have an open place where you really get to explore your talent they focus on your creativity rather than bombarding their perspective onto you the whole experience made me think its a good course to develop your vision he saidbhole said professional theatre in maharashtra is centred in mumbai surprisingly experimental theatre is doing extremely well in pune with many groups coming up they earn a good income this theatre is better in pune than in mumbai he saidswatantra theater group is one such independent theatre group into experimental theatre dhanshree heblikar along with abhijeet choudhary and yuvraj shah set it up in 2007 the group also offers parttime courses for working professionals and students our basic aim was to bring good literature to the audience particularly in hindi dhanshree saidthe group offer programmes of different durations and is open to all dhanshree added that the group primarily covers five different areas in theatre these are voice culture development body language acting writing skills and world literature as all the programmes are production based students get to perform with us in our plays as well she said the group is into experimentation with platform performances community theatre and sitespecific storytelling and staging