06 Mar 2021  |   05:11am IST

Theatre resurrected. Kala Academy students to stage first play, post COVID

When will commercial tiatrs return now that a play is being enacted at the Kala Academy in Goa? Café spoke to tiatrists and others to get an idea

Ajit John

He is a coffin maker who likes to sing

while making coffins. It is a source of much comment amongst the people who live around him. His wife and children are used to it but have much to say too. No, this is not an article on some interesting character that lives in a village in the vicinity. It is rather the subject of a play that will be enacted today at the Kala Academy. The second year students of theater at the Kala Academy Goa’s College of Theatre Arts will present it. This will be the first play in well over a year to be presented to the public. Does this mean others could perhaps start presenting their shows in public too?

Ramrao Wagh Principal at the college said it felt great when it was decided that this show would go ahead. He said “Remember nothing could happen last year because of the virus but this year the second year students felt very relieved when we decided to go ahead. It is tough for a creative person to not do what he or she loves to do. At the end of this month, the third year students will present their play.”

Vijay Kumar Naik the director of the play said the students were literally starving because they could not perform but were now feeling jovial. They seem full of energy. The students are involved in all aspects of the play.” This jovial feeling was in short supply elsewhere.

This augurs well for tiatr too.

Tiatr is an important part of Goan culture. It has however been severely affected due to the virus. Of late tiatr competitions have resumed but what about commercial tiatr shows. These shows that are a constant every weekend and have a dedicated audience that number in their thousands.

Angel Fernandes well known tiatrist said the competitions had already begun and audiences had turned up at Curchorem. He said khel tiatrs had been organised and the first tiatr would commence in Margao on the March 10. He would performing on the 25th. It would be held at the Ravindra Bhavan.

There’s hope in the air. A great like Rose Ferns has announced that he was coming up with a new production.

Fernandes however felt that audiences were still worried about coming over and watching it in a hall because of the virus.

Many tiatrists, Angel said were scared of putting up new productions because of the cost involved. He said it was not unusual for budgets to reach Rs one lakh per show. With no one really sure if they could generate a return on investment; it made a lot of sense to return with old tiatrs.

Veteran tiatrist Tomazinho Cardozo said according to his source, Margao would open in April with commercial shows commencing then. However with renovation plans afoot at Kala Academy, Panjim would suffer and so would Bardez. Panjim would have to make other plans to ensure shows could take place.

Fr Doel Dias who is involved in tiatr said there was general unawareness as to how the people who usually came over to watch tiatrs would react. He said “The competitions are on and I know there is genuine fear. Only fifty percent of the hall will be filled even then there is apprehension. Remember the cost of the ticket is kept at Rs 50 for these competitions but in a commercial show the tickets are priced at anywhere between Rs 150-200. We will have to see how it all turns out given that the competitions are happening but there is fear. Many of the tiatrists want a reduction of the hall charges by fifty percent because they can only sell fifty percent of their tickets. No one will reduce it by that margin, so you can see the extent of the problem.”

Matthias Mascarenhas said it would be very difficult because in the current situation it would be very difficult to break even. He said the Tiatr Academy of Goa was working on providing an amount for productions that could perhaps be around Rs 40,000 approximately. He said he was not sure how the people would react when the shows hit the stage.

William Fernandes said his show was starting on Sunday at Ravindra Bhavan and he had already done a show at Curchorem and people had turned up for the show. He felt shows would pick up on Easter and after that. He said Rose Ferns was hitting the stage soon and Dominic Coelho was putting up and old show. The problem was he said the rents for the halls were still very high and people are still afraid to come to a hall.

The problems are a plenty but solutions can be found if everyone sits around and discusses and finds a way. One can only hope tiatr and other art forms do not suffer.