Tiatr Akademi - A Big Responsibility
- By WILMIX
The Konkani Tiatro has a big following in Goa, in the Gulf Countries and in the U.K. Not to mention, a sizeable following in Maharashtra, Karnataka and Gujrat. Elsewhere in India too and the World , however small may be the Goan population, the Konkani Tiatro, is very very dear to their hearts.
Anything and everything that has to do with the Konkani Tiatro, catches attention of all Goans, in whichever part of the world they may be.
However, Goa being the center of Konkani Tiatro, controls the Tiatro-Activities all over the world.
The recent happening, that has a direct bearing on Tiatro and Tiatrists, is the setting-up of the Tiatr-Akademi, by the government of Goa.
An Akademi for Tiatr, was a long over-due need of the Konkani Tiatro.
To ensure that this unique theatre-form of Goa develops, grows and is passed on to future generations, it was but necessary, to have a Tiatr Akademi that could cater to all these needs.
Now that it has come into existence, through the Government of Goa, it is very much a happy sign.
However, we also know from our past experiences, that Institutions and Associations, formed by Tiatrists, with best of intentions, have finally ended up, doing just the opposite.
Hence, it is now, all the more necessary, that we Tiatrists, learn from our past experiences and make a success-story, of the Tiatr-Akademi.
Apart from the representatives from allied Govt. Departments , the following are the members of the General Council of the Tiatr Akademi :- Tomazinho Cardozo, Daniel D'Souza, Premanand Sangodkar, Roseferns, Anil Kumar, Sharon Mazarello, Mario Menezes, Mario de Vasco, Prince Jacob, Jessie Dias, Michael Gracias, Marcelin de Betim, Auggie D'Mello, Mike Mehta, Premand Lotlekar, Osvie Viegas, Josinho D'Souza, Shaikh Aamir, Menin de Bandar & Joe Rose.
The Executive-Committee, consists of Tomazinho Cardozo (President), Roseferns (Vice President) & Prince Jacob, Mario Menezes, Sharon Mazarello, Anil Kumar, Mario de Vasco, & Premanand Sangodkar, as members.
By and large, within it limitations, there is no doubt that, this is the most well-balanced Executive Committee.
The General Council and the Executive Committee have a huge responsibility, on their shoulders.
It will, undoubtedly, be a tough job ahead, as the Konkani Tiatro , in general, is urgently, in need of an organized set-up.
In the past , we Tiatrists have always been working, on ad hoc -ism.
Each one on his own.
There is a dire need to work cohesively, for the common good of the Konkani Tiatro.
Sharing of responsibilities, could go a long way, for getting maximum participation.
To begin with, I think the General Council, must sit down and identify:-
a) Short-Term Needs & b) Long Term Needs, of Tiatro & Tiatrists.
Among the Short-Term Needs, that immediately come to my mind are :-
1) Demand for a much bigger allotment of Funds, from the Government.(Rupees 15 Lakhs, is too little for a Tiatr Akademi).
2) Plan, how best to spend the already allotted amount, for further improving the quality of the Konkani Tiatro, in all its aspects.
3) Start publishing of Tiatro-Scripts.
4) Iron-out the wrinkles, in the Tiatr-Competition, organized by the Kala Academy, Goa.
5) If need be, the Tiatr-Akademi, must organize its own Tiatr-Competitions.
6) Demand special-rates for Govt. Halls and facilities for Hall-Bookings, for Konkani Tiatros.
7) Organize Workshops, Seminars, Lectures etc. on Theatre for Tiatrists.
8) Kantaram & Music, being an integral part of Konkani Tiatro, the Tiatr-Akademi must organize Training-Classes in Singing & Music for those wanting to learn.
9) Konkani Tiatro should get representation in all Govt. Bodies of Art & Culture and allied Institutions.
10) Tiatrists must be given National & International exposure, through Government of Goa's Art & Culture exchange programmes.
11) Every year the Govt, of Goa must depute a Tiatrist overseas, to study Theatre-Activity in other Countries.
12) Ensure transparency in Directorate of Art & Culture's State Cultural Awards & Financial Support Scheme, so that Tiatrists get a reasonable representation, in both these schemes.
Among the Long-Term Needs , that immediately come to my mind are :-
1) Setting-Up of a Library of Tiatro-Scripts and Tiatro-related Literature along with an Archaic-Center.
2) Plan of Action to take the Konkani Tiatro to deep interiors of Goa, where it has not been able to reach till now.
3) Plan of Action to ensure Goans of all communities, embrace the Konkani Tiatro.
4) Plan of Action to take Konkani Tiatro, to all other States of India and Abroad as a Goan Art & Cultural Form.
These are a few of the works for the Tiatr-Akademi†that immediately come to my mind.
However, many more such works, that need to be undertaken, will come to light, once the General Council of the Tiatr-Akademi sits down for a serious discussion.
The Tiatr-Akademi is also a platform for Tiatrists, to voice their opinion on Tiatro-related as well as other theatre-related matters.
My sincere advice, to my colleagues in the General Council and the Executive Committee of the Tiatr-Akademi is, to make use of this platform to further the cause of the Konkani Tiatro.
Inspite of your heavy tiatro-schedules, please do attend all the meetings and actively participate in them, with your valuable suggestions.
You are now, representing the entire Tiatrist Community and you are answerable, to them.
You have accepted a huge responsibility. My best wishes to you all.
Wilmix (Tiatrist)
- Forwarded by www.goa-world.com
http://www.goa-world.com/goa/tiatr&tiatrists/
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From the archives:
TIATR - AN UNLIMITED ENGAGEMENT
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By Cynthia Gomes James
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[April 17, 2004 is being marked in Goa as *tiatr day*]
Take a hot social issue. Blend it into a plot with fair measures of
romance, harsh injustice, sensational plot twists, sudden illnesses,
shocking deaths, bawdy comedy routines, crime and retribution, and about
15 songs. Remember to include a rousing patriotic song about Goa. Be sure
to throw in a wicked mother-in-law and two daughters-in-law: one devious,
and the other docile, plus a poor virtuous widow, a villainous rich man, a
hilariously dimwitted domestic servant or country cousin, and a pious
parish priest.
Pick a cast of dramatic actors who can carry a tune, and comedians with a
flair for slapstick and credible cross-dressing. Stir in a Konkani script
peppered with flowery metaphors, broad innuendoes and show stopping jokes.
Mix in melodramatic acting, vibrant sets, costumes in the latest fashions,
and a live orchestra. Top with a title that is bold and direct. Voila!
You have a recipe for a tiatr: the medium of folk theatre that is one of
the most savoury and enjoyable tidbits of popular Goan culture.
Konkani tiatr made its debut on April 17, 1892 with the staging of
"Italian Bhurgo" at the New Alfred Theatre (presently the Police
Commissioner's Office) in south Bombay. It was directed by Constancio
Lucasinho Caridade Rebeiro from Assagao, and had an all male cast of five
actors who played nine different roles.
Due to then prevalent social taboos, women did not venture onto the stage,
and male actors did the honours. The first actress to perform in a tiatr
was Regina Fernandes who made her maiden appearance in the year 1904.
Incidentally, Regina Fernandes was the wife of Joao Agostinho Fernandes,
who wrote the first original tiatr script for "Sundori Cavelchi" in 1895,
and is remembered as the father of Goan tiatr. In the 112 years since
"Italian Bhurgo", Konkani tiatr has established itself via amateur
endeavours in the villages of Goa, as well as through professional
presentations by tiatr troupes in packed auditoriums in Goa, Bombay,
Mangalore, the UAE, Kuwait, and the UK.
The word tiatr is one of many Portuguese words imported into Konkani
usage, and literally means theatre or loosely, a play. The art form of
tiatr that was born in Bombay, evolved from the folk art forms of zagor
and khell, which were less developed but popular forms of drama in Goa. A
traditional tiatr consists of six to seven acts known as pordhe
(curtains), each about fifteen to twenty minutes long. These acts contain
songs called cantos, which are related to the story and flow in and out of
the spoken dialogue.
In between the pordhe are inserted two or three songs called cantaras,
performed in front of the main curtain. The cantaras do not always
pertain to the story, but are a means of preventing boredom, providing
comic relief and time for the changing of sets, costumes and makeup. Often
these cantaras are used to deliver social messages or satirical asides on
current events that may not fit into the storyline of the play.
My enjoyment of Konkani tiatr began when I was a little girl growing up
in a nook of south Bombay that had a large Goan population. I remember
many a Sunday evening that my parents, neighbours and I spent in the
auditorium of St. Mary's High School in Mazagaon, being regaled by the
sizzling hit tiatr of the season.
The excitement would begin a few Sundays earlier outside local churches,
when the promoters would distribute colourful playbills to the faithful,
after Mass. In Goa, the pamphlets were, and still are distributed in a
more theatrical fashion.
Pickup trucks armed with loudspeakers clatter through little towns,
blaring popular Konkani music and chotrai (announcements) about the
forthcoming tiatr, while scattering a wake of multi-coloured flyers that
tease the eager hands of the children chasing behind.
After one grabbed a playbill, the ritual of assessing the entertainment
quotient of the promised fare would begin. The first clue would come from
the name of the tiatr: names like "Pangddo" and "Divorce" left one in
little doubt as to the theme of the drama.
Then fans would look for the names of their favourite tiatrists, some as
common place as Remy Colaco and Saby Fernandes, and others as quirky as
Bab (little boy) Peter, who you should know was a grown man then, and
Prince Jacob, whose claims to royalty are entirely self assumed. Other
stage name peculiarities of the Konkani stage included the practice of
abbreviating one's middle name or last name as in Betty Naz, Betty Ferns,
Minguel Rod, Alfred Rose, and Chris Perry, and also the habit of using
one's first initial and a last name, as in C. Alvares and H. Britton,
perhaps in the interests of privacy or marketing.
There were a few artistes who went by just their first names, like
Antonette, Ophelia, and the divine Lorna. Of interest to discerning tiatr
aficionados was the identity of the director, who most often is also the
playwright.
A tiatr directed by Prem Kumar was sure to have high drama, while one
directed by M. Boyer would definitely have zany comedy routines. Finally,
for many of us who love tiatr just for the hilarious antics, the comedians
in the cast often became the deciding factor. Comic actors like the
unforgettable Souza Ferrao, whose ever changing on-stage persona won him
the title "Man of a Thousand Faces", Jacinto Vaz and Anthony Mendes
brought droves of people to concert halls in their heyday, and are legends
today.
I must confess that my favourites were always the comedians.
Once the decision was made to go to the tiatr, one had to make a trip to
Jack of All Stalls in Byculla to purchase the tickets, and procuring them
gave the next few weeks a warm glow of anticipation. We would find out
which of our friends and neighbours were going, and plan for the big night
out.
Once that Sunday evening came, it would be quite a sight at the bus stops
and taxi stands in Mazagaon and the surrounding areas, where you would
see gaggles of sharply dressed tiatr fans waiting to be transported to St.
Mary's High School. Depending on the size of the motley group, the bus
ride would become an opportunity for Goenkars to catch up with the latest
news of engagements, weddings, births, deaths, parish priests, medical
ailments, servant problems, the house in Goa, and children leaving their
nests for far off shores.
Occasionally one would catch a snippet of the latest scandal in the
neighbourhood, or even a brazen attempt at matchmaking for a nice Goan
girl or boy. This incidental socializing would continue well after the
bus ride ended, into the line for admission to the auditorium, and paused
only when we heard the first bell.
Ah, who could then resist the call to take our seats? The crowd of people
ascending the four flights of wide sweeping stairs of St. Mary's High
School would be roused to make it to the top floor and enter the theatre
hall.
One last attempt to buy a snack at the concession counter, and then we
would make our way to our seats, in no rush, as we knew from experience
that tiatrs rarely started at the scheduled time. While waiting in our
plush, red upholstered seats for the curtains to open, the excitement
would build up with the band playing catchy tunes, as other patrons found
their seats and the hall slowly filled up. The melodies of those fabulous
live orchestras still swirl fondly in my memory.
Finally, after the ringing of the third warning bell, the moment would
arrive when those heavy burgundy velvet curtains would part and the
opening singers would appear on stage. From then on, the tiatr would weave
its spell on the audience as we were alternately cajoled and heaved into
the trials, tribulations, antics, and adventures of the characters on
stage.
As the story unfolded, the audience left the actors in little doubt of
their reactions. These expressions ranged from appreciative whistles,
applause, laughter and demands for encores, to openly derisive catcalls,
directorial comments and shouts of "woosh" which could quickly fill the
auditorium. Many a hapless artiste has had to cut short a song or a speech
that did not go down well with a difficult audience, and many a favourite
has had to sing himself or herself hoarse from responding to repeated
demands for encores.
The intermission would usually be timed just as the plot reached a
cliffhanger or a stunning twist, leaving the audience eager to see more.
When the story finally came to a climax, the final scene would ensure
that the good guys earned their long overdue happy endings and that the
bad guys got the justice they deserved. As the tiatr ended with a closing
song by the cast, the audience would bid a wistful farewell and then make
a noisy exit as everyone voiced their opinions of the show.
As I look back now, I am grateful that I had the opportunity and the
inclination to learn my mother tongue, even if it was just
conversational. I learnt enough from my parents, grandparents and
neighbours in Bombay and Goa to enjoy practically every nuance of a tiatr.
Sadly, very few of my Goan friends at school or college expressed an
interest in attending tiatrs, mainly because they could not speak or
understand Konkani. While I was a student at St. Xavier's College in
Bombay, I was struck by my friends from various ethnic groups, who spoke
English as well as their mother tongues fluently.
It is sad that there are so many misguided Goans who have had the
exposure to Konkani, but due to a twisted inferiority complex, resist
learning it, and proclaim quite proudly that they don't speak Konkani.
Over the last fourteen years that I have lived in America, I have met
highly educated people from other countries, but I have never met any who
were ashamed to speak their mother tongue, whether it was Swedish or
Swahili.
For some reason, many educated Goans have the wrong assumption that if you
speak Konkani fluently, it means that you or your parents are uneducated,
or don't speak English, and so they willfully reject their own mother
tongue. But I digress.
Tiatr has never pretended to entice pseudo intellectuals, and you are
warned that a tiatr will never try to explore the meaning of life and
human existence. Instead, like folk theatre all over the world, it holds a
mirror up to society and shows us reflections of real people and the real
issues they encounter in their daily lives. And yes, tiatr will often
provide simplistic solutions to complex social problems, but it is after
all, like other forms of entertainment, a vehicle of escapism, and we are
all invited to enjoy the ride.
I have not lived in India for a while now, but I try to stay updated on
the current happenings in Goa's political and cultural milieu. On my
visits to India, I try to catch a tiatr, whenever possible. It appears
that there are many new faces on the Konkani stage and it is encouraging
to know that the medium still attracts fresh talent.
It is equally heartening to hear about legendary tiatr greats like Joao
Agostinho Fernandes and others receiving due recognition and accolades
from the tiatr community, as well as from the state's lawmakers. The
performing arts community is testing the waters further with experimental
tiatrs including Hindu and Catholic actors.
The themes of the concerts have progressed over the years, mostly
imitating life. Titles like "Bhangar Tuka Dilem" and "Vadoll" reflect the
issues that are prevalent among the Goan community today. Audiences who
were once stereotyped as backcountry housewives, domestic servants and
peasants, now include educated professionals.
Tiatr troupes now travel to countries like the UAE, Kuwait and the UK to
bring a touch of home to expatriate Goans there. Tiatr has also received
well-earned recognition as a popular art form from Goa's distinguished
Kala Academy, and has spawned various competitive events that keep the art
form alive. Today, there is a trend towards "non-stop khell" tiatrs which
omit the cantaras between acts, and that is hopefully a sign of audiences
wanting a choice between different variations of the tiatr art form.
As times change, and tiatrs keep pace with the shifting sands of Goa's
sociological landscape, there is hope that the medium will continue to be
the pulse of the people. In addition to our rich history, architecture,
folklore, music, dance, costumes, languages, cuisine, religious rituals,
and festivals, the art form of tiatr is yet another bright patch on Goa's
resplendent cultural quilt. May it never fade.
--
The writer is based in Texas, USA. She can be contacted via email. She
can be contacted via e-mail Cynthia.James
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Tiatr Day Celebrations
The annual Tiatr Dis was celebrated by the Kala Academy last month. Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar, who was the chief guest, said, "The tiatr is an important theatre form through which Goa's culture finds true expression. Theatre could be a good way to improve the Konkani language itself since the performing arts reflect the language and its culture. Hence the government will help to improve the tiatr so that it achieves the standards required for the film/television level."
The Konkani tiatr completed 110 years of its existence in April 2002 and to commemorate the occasion five artistes--Joe Rose (acting), Josephine Dias (acting), Agnelo D'Silva (stagecraft), Dr Rosario Rodrigues (khelltiatr), Mariano Rodrigues (music)-were felicitated by the Kala Academy.
Joe Rose, who was among those feliciated, lauded the Konkani Academy "for not only celebrating the Tiatr Day every year and encouraging the tiatr performances among the amateurs but also for imparting theatre education to Goan students".
The winners of recently concluded Tiatr competition were awarded prizes during the occasion, which was compered by Irene Cardozo.
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Mega Konkani tiatr
It is heartening to see that Herald has been encouraging the tiatr fraternity in Goa in a big way. Tiatr happens to attract a large number of people and is the ideal platform to convey messages to the general public on various aspects of life.
It would be in the fitness of things for all the tiatrists in Goa to come together and put up a mega Konkani tiatr. This will be the first of its kind in the State.
The tiatrists, the singers, the comedians, the directors and their troupes will get an opportunity to showcase their talent on one platform, and in the process present to the general public a show which they will remember for a long, long time. The best musicians could compose the music for the mega tiatr and the script could be written and directed by one of the topmost directors in the tiatr world. The topmost comedians could also be part of the show.
This could be done on the same lines as the mega Marathi drama ‘Sambhavami Yuge Yuge’ which is scheduled to be staged from 8 November 8 at the Goa Engineering College grounds in Ponda. Maybe Herald could take the lead to bring all the drama troupes together to prepare for the mega show?
Adelmo Fernandes, Vasco
www.oheraldo.in
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