The recently conducted Kala Academy’s 41st ‘A’ group tiatr competition had 13 social and cultural groups vying for the three prestigious cash prizes, besides the recently introduced rolling trophy for the first prize winner.
In general, many among the viewers opined that some of the tiatrs presented on stage were a replica of Marathi ‘nattoks’, while others had some of the professionals incorporated in their presentations, thus depriving the amateurs from showcasing their theatrical skills and winning prizes.
But with regards to presentation and judgement of tiatrs, there were differences in opinion from the tiatr lovers and regular spectators.
Fausto V da Costa, the editor of Konkani monthly magazine ‘Gulab’ and a tiatr critic, who was among the audience during the competition, said that he was not satisfied with the results of the competition. “Such results may end up pushing good tiatrs aside and dissuade others from taking part in this annual competition,” he added.
“The onus of such results does not fall on the judges alone,” Costa elaborated, adding, “As far as I am given to understand, it’s the faulty rules that are framed in connection with the tiatr to judge the competition. I am afraid these rules may end up destroying our original tiatr.”
Another tiatr buff and a tiatrist himself, Irineu Gonsalves admitted that he had not seen the first three tiatrs of the competition and also tiatr ‘To Konn Amcho’ by Crispino Marcello. But in his opinion, the first two prize winners were as per expectation. “The third prize winner must have surprised the keen observers. There were quite a few which deserved better attention from the judges,” he added.
“I do not know in what department ‘Viva London’ scored better than other tiatrs,” he continued. “No doubt, Tomazinho Cardozo is a renowned playwright and has been performing for many years. I am sure it must have taken him too by surprise. A few songs stood out in ‘Viva London’, particularly duets by Aakash and Queenie and the solo by Queenie. The theme chosen by Tomazinho was good but surely the presentation fell below expectations.”
According to da Costa, “A tiatr should be a tiatr and it should primarily have the essence of a tiatr.” He said that because while in a discussion with a tiatr reviewer, he was told that two good tiatrs were not tiatrs at all; they were ‘nattoks’.
“And in this case, I had seen both these tiatrs and they had in them the essence of tiatr in all respects. Some innovations here and there and some modern settings used do not make them less in tiatr art form,” da Costa said. “I feel that should be encouraged if we wish to take tiatr to greater heights. And such innovations are not new. The likes of M Boyer, and particularly Prem Kumar, have done a lot of innovations in tiatr. Prem Kumar had one tiatr, ‘Pisso’, which was a monologue. ‘Ordhi Bakri’ was on a revolving stage with 5 acts and 10 songs. So just because they are shown on one set, should they be disqualifed from being tiatrs?” he questioned.
“Then I should ask, ‘what is a tiatr?’ I expect at least one person reviewing a tiatr to know what a tiatr is. Why bring a tiatr under a format whereby a khell-tiatr even shown in that format becomes a tiatr? Where then is the essence of a tiatr? A tiatr without a single ‘canto’ in between the scenes does not come under the format of a tiatr. But why? Who decides that? Such rules and ‘formats’ will restrict improvement in tiatrs and such competitions; instead of improving the quality of tiatr, they may diminish its value,” da Costa continued.
Fr Eusebio Gomes, the editor of Konkani weekly, ‘Vauraddeancho Ixtt’, said he was privileged to witness two tiatrs of ‘A’ group competition. He said that the tiatrs selected for the competition were of various social themes pertinent to Goan society and to various problems. “In the professional/commercial tiatr, most of the time the story revolves around family plot and set-up. Sometimes the comedy is cheap, perhaps to draw laughter from the audience. Political songs often highlight private lives of the politicians, which is beyond the limits of ethics and morality. In these tiatrs, what I noticed was that the comedy was decent and the songs had educative orientation. Secondly, I appreciate the sense of punctuality; tiatrs should begin on time,” he added.
Another aspect of this competition is to judge the scripts in isolation. “Where is the need to do so? And what’s the purpose? Is it to check the Konkani vocabulary, grammar and othopgraphy of the tiatrist competing in the festival? Does that make sense? Shouldn’t the script be judged by the same judges along with the performance? Are these judges not fit to judge the richness of the language while it’s being performed on the stage?” da Costa inquired. According to him, the rules and the tiatr format should be reviewed as it seems that these are made by those who either do not have the adequate knowledge of tiatr or to fit their own whims and fancies.
Fr Gomes advised that at the end of every tiatr, all the artistes of the team should be brought to the stage and should be given a standing ovation for their performances to boost their morale, especially the amateurs and child artistes.
