One Act Play competition at High School, Higher Secondary School and College level (Konkani, Marathi & English)

What is the One Act Play competition at school and college level?

One Act Play competition at High School, Higher Secondary School and College level is an annual inter-institution theatre contest conducted by Kala Academy Goa, the autonomous cultural body of the Directorate of Art and Culture, Government of Goa. The competition runs in three language sections; Konkani, Marathi and English, and in two levels: a high school level and a combined higher secondary school and college level. In Goa the format is commonly called the ekankika spardha, and it is one of the oldest routes by which student actors, directors and writers reach a professional stage in the state.

Kala Academy Goa states the objective of the scheme in a single sentence: "To encourage the personality development through theatrical skills among the students by providing them platform to perform on the stage." The scheme is therefore designed around participation. Every institution that takes part gets a free auditorium slot and paid transport, whether or not it wins anything.

The competition sits alongside Kala Academy's adult drama competitions. The Marathi Drama Competition 'A' and 'B' Group, the Konkani Drama Competition and the Tiatr Competition, but it is the only one restricted to educational institutions and to the one act form.

How much prize money does the One Act Play competition carry?

Kala Academy Goa publishes the full prize table in its schemes document, and the same amounts apply separately in each of the three language sections. That matters: a Konkani entry does not compete against a Marathi entry, so there are three first prizes at each level, not one.

High school level, per language section

• Best performance: first Rs 7,000, second Rs 5,000, third Rs 3,000
• Two consolation prizes of Rs 2,000 each, subject to more than ten entries being received in that section
• Best individual performer (male and female separately): first Rs 1,000 each, second Rs 500 each
• Best direction: first Rs 1,500, second Rs 1,000, third Rs 500
• Rs 1,000 each for best stage setting, best costumes, best background music, best lighting and best make-up
• Best playwright: first Rs 2,000, second Rs 1,000

Higher secondary school and college level, per language section

• Best performance: first Rs 10,000, second Rs 7,000, third Rs 5,000
• Two consolation prizes of Rs 3,000 each, subject to more than ten entries being received in that section
• Best individual performer (male and female separately): first Rs 2,000 each, second Rs 1,000 each
• Best direction: first Rs 3,000, second Rs 2,000, third Rs 1,000
• Rs 2,000 each for best stage setting, best costumes, best background music, best lighting and best make-up
• Best playwright: first Rs 3,000, second Rs 2,000, third Rs 1,000

Two forms of non-prize support are guaranteed. Kala Academy Goa gives the auditorium with permissible infrastructure free of charge, and pays to-and-fro transport charges at government rates for one vehicle carrying the artistes and the stage material, as per Academy norms. For a school in Sanguem or Canacona bringing a set to Panaji, that transport payment is often worth more than a consolation prize.

Who can and cannot take part in the One Act Play competition?

Your institution can take part if:

• It is a high school, higher secondary school or college located in the State of Goa. Kala Academy's eligibility clause covers all educational institutions in these three categories.
• It submits the prescribed entry form within the date printed in the press notice, along with the Rs 100 entry fee.
• It agrees to stage the one act play as per the programme finalised by Kala Academy, the schedule, venue and order of performance are decided by the Academy, not by the institution.

You are not eligible if:

• You are an individual student, actor, director or playwright acting on your own account. This is an institution-level scheme; a student's name enters the competition only through the school or college entry form, and individual prizes are awarded to people named in that form.
• Your institution is outside Goa. The scheme is limited to institutions from the State of Goa.
• Your institution is a private drama troupe, a village mandal or a registered cultural society rather than an educational institution. Those bodies compete in Kala Academy's separate adult competitions — the Marathi Drama Competition 'A' and 'B' Group, the Konkani Drama Competition, the Tiatr Competition, and cannot apply here.
• The entry misses the last date in the press notice, or the entry fee is not paid.

How to apply for the One Act Play competition

1. Watch the local dailies for the press notice. Kala Academy Goa invites entries by releasing a press note in the Goan newspapers. There is no rolling online window, and no fixed calendar date is published in advance.
2. Collect the entry form and the rules from Kala Academy. Entry forms and the rules and regulations of the scheme are made available free of charge at Kala Academy, Campal, Panaji, after the event is declared in the dailies.
3. Decide your language section and level. Enter under Marathi, Konkani or English, and under high school level or higher secondary/college level. An institution running both a high school and a higher secondary can enter both levels.
4. Fill the prescribed format completely. Name the playwright, the director and each performer. Individual prizes for acting, direction, playwriting, stage setting, costumes, background music, lighting and make-up are awarded from these entries, so a missing name costs a prize.
5. Pay the Rs 100 entry fee. The fee is charged once per institution irrespective of how many one act plays that institution enters.
6. Submit the entry to the Member Secretary, Kala Academy, Goa, within the stipulated date printed in the press notice.
7. Perform on the date and stage allotted. One act plays are staged as per the programme finalised by Kala Academy. Bring your cast, crew and set to the allotted venue on schedule; the free auditorium slot and the paid vehicle are arranged around that programme.

How are the results decided and paid?

Kala Academy Goa appoints a panel of judges, and the scheme document states that prizes are awarded on the recommendation of that panel. Both the group prizes for best performance and the individual prizes for acting, direction and the technical crafts come from the same panel's recommendation.

Prize money and the transport charge are released to the participating institution, not to individual students, so the school or college treasurer usually collects and then distributes individual awards. Keeping the institution bank account details ready with the entry avoids a wait after the result.

What are the common reasons an entry fails?

• Entering as an individual. Students frequently ask whether they can enter a self-written one act play on their own. They cannot, the entry must come through a high school, higher secondary school or college.
• Missing the press notice. Because the announcement is only in the local dailies, institutions that do not track the papers in that window lose the year entirely.
• Fewer than eleven entries in a section. Consolation prizes are conditional on more than ten entries being received in that language section, so in a thin year a fourth-placed play gets nothing.
• Incomplete cast and crew details. Individual awards are drawn from the names written on the form; an unnamed lighting designer cannot be given the lighting prize afterwards.
• Not staging as per the finalised programme. The scheme makes the Academy's programme binding. An institution that cannot perform in its allotted slot loses its place.

Where do I raise a grievance?

Kala Academy Goa names the Member Secretary or the Chairman of Kala Academy Goa as the authority for redressal of grievances for this scheme. Applications are to be addressed to the Member Secretary, Kala Academy, Panaji, Goa.

The Academy's office is at Campal, Panaji, Goa 403001, on 0832-2420450 to 2420454, email kalaacademygoa@yahoo.co.in. The parent department is the Directorate of Art and Culture, Sanskruti Bhavan, Patto, Panaji.

Key facts to remember

• One Act Play competition is run by Kala Academy Goa under the Directorate of Art and Culture, Government of Goa.
• Three language sections: Konkani, Marathi and English: each with its own full prize set.
• Two levels: high school, and higher secondary school plus college.
• First prize for best performance: Rs 7,000 at high school level, Rs 10,000 at higher secondary and college level.
• Entry fee is Rs 100 per institution, whatever the number of plays entered.
• Free auditorium and transport charges for one vehicle for every participating institution.
• Entry to the public is free.
• Applications open only when the press notice appears; forms are collected in person at Kala Academy, Campal, Panaji.

How to check your application status

There is no online tracking portal for this competition, the entry, the performance schedule and the result all move through Kala Academy Goa's own office at Campal, Panaji. What "checking status" means here changes at each stage.

Stage 1: Confirming your entry was received. Kala Academy does not send an automatic acknowledgement receipt or SMS. After submitting the prescribed form and the Rs 100 fee to the Member Secretary, call the Academy office on 0832-2420450 to 2420454, or email kalaacademygoa@yahoo.co.in, and ask the cultural section handling the school and college one act play competition to confirm the form and fee were logged against your institution's name.

Stage 2: Finding your performance date and slot. Once entries close, Kala Academy fixes a programme for each language section and level and allots each participating institution a date, venue and order of performance. This programme is not published as a downloadable schedule on the website in every edition, so institutions should follow up by phone with the Academy closer to the announced performance window, or watch the same local dailies that carried the original press notice, since the Academy commonly uses press notices for programme updates too.

Stage 3: Learning the result. Results follow the judging panel's recommendation after all institutions in a language section and level have performed. Kala Academy typically announces results at or soon after the final performance in that section, sometimes at a closing function. An institution that could not attend can call the Academy office to ask whether the panel's recommendation for its section has been finalised.

Stage 4: Tracking prize money and transport reimbursement. Both the prize money and the transport charge are released to the participating institution's account, not to individual students, and this is the step most likely to take time since it depends on Kala Academy's own disbursement cycle after the competition closes. If payment has not reached the institution's account within a reasonable period after the result is announced, the school or college should write to or call the Member Secretary quoting its entry details (institution name, language section, level and the date of performance) rather than waiting indefinitely, since there is no self-service status page to check this against.

Because every one of these checks depends on a phone call, email or letter to the same office, keeping a written record of the entry date, the fee receipt and the name of the official you spoke to at each stage is the only practical way to follow up if a payment or result seems delayed.