16 Apr 2017 | 01:22am IST
Celebrating 125 years of tiatr
Tiatr is a unique form of Goan entertainment which has been a binding factor for Goans around the world. As this performing art celebrates its 125th anniversary on April 17, 2017, Café takes a walk down memory lane, looking back at its journey
Dolcy D’Cruz
Konkani tiatr is a
very popular form of theatre in Goa. Interestingly, the origins of tiatr can be
traced to Bombay where the first tiatr was staged by Goans working there.
Stalwarts of tiatr in Bombay include
Lucasinho Ribeiro and Joao Agostinho Fernandes
as well as
Sebastiao Gabriel D'Souza
,
who
was
popularly known as Karachiwala and Joao Lazarus D'Souza
, who
translated
Shakespearean plays and staged
them
in the
t
iatr
format. However,
it was
Joao Agostinho Fernandes
who f
irst
penned down
original scripts
for t
iatrs
,
usually
on themes highlighting injustices in the Goan
society. Once the popularity of tiatrs reached Goa, there was no turning back
,
and the
performing art has survived
, in fact, thrived,
with the love of
the audience.
Over the
year
s
, tiatrs have made a lot more progress. The first
Kala Academy
t
iatr competition
took place
in 1974 and the first Children’s Tiatr Festival was held in 2010.
Tiatrs have reached every Gulf country and
are now being staged in the
United Kingdom and United States of America.
In order to celebrate the momentous occasion
of 125 years of tiatr, a special committee, the
125th Anniversary of Tiatr Celebrations
Committee
, has been formed, with
Tomazinho Cardozo
as its P
resident
. A number of activities including the
felicitation of
over 400 tiatrs artistes from all over Goa and Bombay
have already taken place and a
nother 150 tiatr artistes will be felicitated in
due course of time.
The a
nniversary celebrations will be held on April 17,
2017 at the DMK auditorium, Kala Academy at 4pm, organi
s
ed jointly
by Kala Academy Goa, 125th Anniversary of Tiatr Celebration Committee and Tiatr
Academy of Goa. ‘History of Goan Tiatr’ will be presented on the stage
with performances by
present popular tiatr artistes
as well as
veterans of
t
iatr stage. The
script
for this has been
written by Cardozo.
The presentation is
being
coordinated by William Fernandes
with l
ive music
by Selvin, light effects by Dnyaneshwar Morajkar and background music by Johny
B Gud and Joy Fernandes.
Veteran
tiatr artistes Anthonette Mendes, Rita Rose, Betty Naz, Titta Pretto, Joe Rose,
Ben Evangelisto, Roseferns, Prince Jacob, Comedian Agostinho, Salvy, Comedian
Domnick, Luis Bachchan, Mario Menezes, Alfy de Divar, and others will
participate in the presentation. The show will be compered by Agnel de Borim
and Michael Gracias.
