With the dawn of the Carnival festival, folk plays popularly known as ‘zomnivhele khell’ take a prominent place, especially in South Goa. Unlike the tiatr directors, the directors of folk plays are a handful in Salcete taluka, but they are out to provide full entertainment for three to four days.
These directors are booked well in advance
in various villages and its entertainment for almost an hour, with three
continuous folk plays from each director. These folk plays are interspersed
with opening songs, several cantos and comedy.
Lawrence Antonio D’Silva popularly known
as Silva de Benaulim is one of those directors of ‘zomnivhele khell’. Prior to
venturing into folk plays, he scripted and shared many of his folk plays with
others.
Born on March 27, 1962, Silva de Benaulim studied in Holy
Trinity High School, Benaulim. His grandfather, late Joaquim Minguel D’Silva
and father, late Aleixin D’Silva was actively involved in folk plays during
yester years.
“As a comedian, my father would acquire songs from the
directors,” informs Silva de Benaulim, “and while my father would learn them at
length, it was an experience for me on how to write songs with rhyming words,
rendition and other intricacies.”
In 1982 Silva de Benaulim paved his way to the Gulf for better
prospects. While serving as a cook in Kuwait, he did not wish to lose touch
with theatre and so he rendered songs in one of Salu Faleiro’s tiatrs, followed
by Mini Mario’s tiatr ‘Kiteak Hi Soirigot?’ when it was staged there.
Opportunities came knocking at Silva de Benaulim’s door and he
rendered songs, both decent and comedy, in at least 4-5 tiatrs. “With service
in an alien country,” he added, “the task was not so easy on stage, but driven
by passion, nothing was impossible.”
In between, when Silva de Benaulim would come down for vacation,
he would get an opportunity to be part of a troupe led by Rodrigues de Benaulim
and Sansil de Benaulim during the Carnival festivities. He was also part of
Jack Rodson’s tiatr ‘Mhojim Porbim Tuka’.
In 2017 Silva de Benaulim made an entry in Fr Milagres Dias
tiatr ‘Sot’, which was staged at Kala Academy’s annual tiatr competition. The
tiatr bagged the second prize and he was seen on stage in a decent role of a
father. In 2018 when Fr Milagres Dias staged a Lenten show ‘Voch Ani Tum-i
Toxench Kor’ at Trinity Church, Benaulim, he found a role of Jesus.
In 2017 Silva de Benaulim came full-fledged as a director of
‘zomnivhele khell’ and he continued in that role for four consecutive years,
with a break in 2021 due to Covid-19. He has staged his folk plays in villages
mostly in south Goa, namely Navelim, Chinchinim, Cansaulim, Majorda, Arossim,
Colva, Benaulim, Carmona, Sazora, Velim and others.
Throwing some light on those traditional folk plays staged only
during the Carnival festival, Silva de Benaulim said that each director steps
out with three folk plays annually, with the opening song, numerous cantos and
comedy. But he makes it a point to have three opening songs when staging his
folk plays, each before the commencement of his folk play.
“Apart from three songs in his presentation of folk plays,”
informs Silva de Benaulim, “there are seven cantos and two comedies in each
folk play.” Although he has enacted several roles in plays and tiatrs,
excluding the villain role, he keeps the role of a father reserved for him in
all of his folk plays.
In 2019 Silva de Benaulim was seen in Pascoal de Chicalim’s
tiatr ‘Rochnna’, followed by ‘Anj Boddvo’ in 2021. In 2022, during the Easter
release, he will be seen in the same director’s tiatr ‘Hanv Goencho Saib’.
Asked about his entry as a comedian in Pascoal de Chicalim’s
troupe, Silva de Benaulim revealed that he was introduced to the director by
singer, Nazareth de Panchwadi. As the director was satisfied by his comic
performances, he was asked to continue in the same role, besides rendition of
two solos, namely a decent solo and a comedy solo.
Talking about his inclination towards penning songs and
rendition, Silva de Benaulim said he would attentively listen to the brass band
being played for weddings in his neigbourhood during yesteryears. “During that
period,” he said, “wedding receptions would take place in the house courtyard
and the brass band would be in full attendance, unlike the acoustic band, which
performs for maximum two hours and depart.”
“Performance by those brass bands would be from 10pm till dawn
the following day,” Silva de Benaulim concealed. “And the crowd at the wedding
would enjoy tapping their feet throughout the night.”
Silva de Benaulim makes a note of late Agusto de Quepem who
would enjoy playing his saxophone and his brother, late Clement, who played the
clarinet. He would be found sitting close to the band whenever they performed
for weddings in his village, as if assimilating the musical notes, melody in
his veins and body.
“And then, the following morning, my mom would come to pick me
up from the venue of the wedding reception,” Silva de Benaulim quips. “But that
nostalgic music got deeply rooted in me and composing songs with varied tunes
followed naturally,” he added.
Today the audience has accepted Silva de Benaulim as a fine
composer of songs and a good singer. He penned and gave away countless
compositions to all those who knocked at his door. But he regrets that without
due recognition to his genuine efforts many singers have taken all the credit.
Appreciation
from the audience drives Silva de Benaulim to move forward in penning and
staging folk plays during the Carnival festival annually. He works on the
script in all earnest just one and half month before the Carnival festival,
besides working on the songs, cantos and comedy and marches ahead trying to
entertain audiences in every nook and corner of the villages.