FRIDAY, APRIL 26, 2024
The curtains came down on Kala Academy (KA) 48th Tiatr ‘A’ group competition 2022-2023 after tiatr ‘Tum Naslo Tor’ penned by Fr Milton Rodrigues, directed by Shantaram Pawar and presented by Goan.Com Socio and Cultural Association was staged at Ravindra Bhavan, Margao on March 21. This year, there were 15 tiatrs presented by various institutions and socio-cultural associations and clubs from across the state, beginning from February 18 and concluding on March 21.
The tiatrs touched upon varied subjects from social, environmental themes, nationalism, vocations to family issues. Although some themes were common, yet they were presented well on stage by executing good stage sets, lights, and sound and background music. Thanks to the organisers, a special mention needs to be made about the commencement of tiatrs on scheduled date and time. All presentations began on time at dot 7 pm and the break that followed after first half was restricted to 10 minutes and abided by all the directors.
After some tiatrs were presented on stage, strong allegations followed from the viewers and the participants as well that the plot and acts brought before the spectators was a ditto copy from the Marathi serials. And the same was justified via viral mode. There is always the tendency of running short of creative ideas when it comes to participation in a competition. But the temptation should be avoided of copying from someone and that too without giving due credit to the original creator. Picking up some ideas from Marathi plays and dramas and modifying them in the context of tiatr could be acceptable. But a total replica from dialogues to acts would be condemnable as many other directors have taken pains and worked hard upon their scripts and their respective presentations.
In rules framed and terms and conditions laid down for the KA’s tiatr competition, it is clearly mentioned in rule 8 that although only the new written scripts will be accepted for the Tiatr ‘A’ and ‘B’ Group competition, while submitting the entries, the participant groups will have to state in the entry form whether the central idea or theme of the newly written tiatr script is based on a story, novel or based on any other type of literature including dramas in any language. ‘Translation or remake of other drama/any type of literature from other language/mediums like videos/audios or from original writings/creations of other languages will not be considered and allowed as new written scripts.
tiatr is concerned, only new written scripts will be accepted for both the ‘A’ and ‘B’ Group competition. Prize for the script will be awarded only if the script is written by Goan playwright/writer of Goan origin provided the same is recommended by the judge/judges appointed for the purpose. But there have been gross violations on the part of some tiatr directors in the competition and the decision of the judges, as per the rules and regulations, would now stand final and binding.
Verna-based tiatr writer and director, Irineu Gonsalves, a regular viewer of all tiatrs presented at the KA’s tiatr competition this year, says that he enjoyed watching all of them as many carried creative ideas and innovative executions on stage. “But some of the tiatrs had abrupt and illogical endings and it was difficult to digest from the viewer’s point of view,” he says. Irineu appreciated the stage sets worked upon painstakingly by some of the directors. Some of the curtains were made new with a lot of improvisations.
In the overall presentation, along with the amateurs on stage, a good number of commercial artistes were also roped in by some of the directors, thus destroying the sole aim of organising the tiatr competition. Kala Academy’s main intention is to provide a platform for budding artistes to showcase their talents and help them soar in the theatrical field, both in acting and singing.
competition, it appeared that some of the tiatr writers and directors were running short of innovative ideas and creativity. A good number of family and social problems could have been handled and tackled, thus throwing light and a foresight on some of the current, sensitive issues. With regards to comedy, which forms an integral part of the tiatr, as per the norms of the competition, it was not linked to the main plot. A good number of comical acts were seen presented on the street with the help of the road scene.
Concerning the presentation of songs, although all the directors tried to bring in a variety in the form of solos, duets, duos, trios, quartet and chorals, some of the songs lacked interaction among the singers, thus losing the chance of winning a prize. In some tiatrs, most of the songs had different verses but one common chorus instead of different choruses. Some of the songs tackled environmental issues including the latest and hottest issue of Mhadei, while others focused on nationalism, poor civic works, ties in the family, vocation and different traditional professions. Many child artistes were seen on stage, both in acts and singing, thus finding a good platform to showcase their skills and talents. Their confidence and graceful presence on stage revealed their capability to soar high in tiatrs.
In some of the tiatrs the stage sets were good, thanks to the directors for taking pains in giving a beautiful view to the audience. The execution of lights and sound were also satisfactory, but some tiatrs carried poor light effects and the background music, thus taking away the basic elements of a tiatr. The live music provided by some of the bands offstage need to be applauded. With the introduction of three or four different blowing instruments, apart from the keyboard, bass and the drums, it can be concluded that the band leaders did their homework well as far as notations were concerned and gave their best in their overall performance.
Watching the poor number of audience for some of the tiatrs in Margao was very discouraging. If the same presentations were held at Kala Academy in Panjim as before, it would have drawn full crowd. And their mere presence would be encouraging to all the participating groups.
