Jose Maria Fernandes, popularly known as Joe Boy on the Konkani stage, hails from the serene village of Socorro-Vaddem in Porvorim. As a child, Joe Boy was very fond of reading the Konkani weekly ‘Cine Times’, which was published in Mumbai then.
His father, late Joao Fernandes, and uncle, late Philip Fernandes, were tiatrists and were quite popular in tiatrs staged in the villages. Unfortunately, his uncle expired when Joe Boy was only 3 years old and his father passed away when he was 14.
At the time when tiatrs presented by the Mumbai tiatrists were quite popular in Goa, Joe Boy made sure to catch every single one of them. “Those tiatrs would be staged in the field opposite the police station in Mapusa and it was very difficult then to see noted tiatrists of yesteryears on stage,” he recalls.
Continuous reading of ‘Cine Times’ and watching tiatrs as and when he could, inspired Joe Boy to script his own tiatrs. He penned his first tiatr, ‘Hanv Noklom’, in 1971 and staged it in Socorro and Ucassaim.
And whenever Joe Boy would decide to stage his tiatrs in cities and villages, he would rope in noted tiatrists of the Konkani stage like Jacint Vaz, Anthony, Conception and Souza Boy, Mike Mehta, Luciano Dias, Marcelin de Betim, William de Curtorim, H Briton, Jr Rod, Fatima Anil Kumar, Felcy, Josephine, Yound Chico, Bond Braganza, Wilma, Sarita, Salvador Afonso, Pascoal, Antush, Marina, Sucorina, Wilmix, Sharon and other artistes in his productions.
Joe Boy scripted, directed and staged 26 tiatrs, which include ‘Hanv Noklom’, ‘Mog-Utor’, ‘Fottkiro’, ‘Soglleank Sang’, ‘Hanv Etoloch’, ‘Visvas Nam’, ‘Konn Zababdari’, ‘Nanv Rakh’, ‘Konn Nhoi Konnacho’, ‘Ixttagot’, ‘To Kitem Kortolo’, ‘Diunk Zainam’, ‘Tunch Hachem Karann’, ‘Kazar Zaina’, ‘Sukh ani Dukh’, ‘Fottoilo’, ‘Toch Mhozo Govai’, ‘Kunead’, ‘Nanv ani Ganv’, ‘Visvasghat’, ‘Tum Konn’, ‘Bodmas’, ‘Mhaka Maf Kor’, ‘Soiro’, ‘Tukach Lagon’ and ‘Upkar’. He started scripting and staging his tiatrs in 1971 and put down his pen in 1993.
Besides writing and directing tiatrs, Joe Boy also acted in 6-7 of his tiatrs in comedy or character roles. He would also pen cantos for all his tiatrs, but would be assisted by others for music composition. Noted musicians like Dominic de Arambol, late Fidelis, late Agnelo Dias and late John de Nuvem have contributed immensely to make his tiatrs successful.
Though he has been passionate about staging his tiatrs, Joe Boy has never looked for benefits or profits in return. Instead, he has tried to give his heart and soul for the cause of the Konkani language and promotion of art and culture.
“There have been instances where, out of sheer jealousy, many of my co-artistes have worked against me and several attempts were made to stop my shows,” reveals Joe Boy. “But timely intervention and the introduction of other talented and seasoned artistes helped get things back on track,” he adds.
Joe Boy vividly remembers an incident wherein late Conception was supposed to enact the lead role in one of his tiatrs. “But one of my co-artistes approached Conception and discouraged him to act in that tiatr, claiming that it was not a good tiatr,” he states.
Relating another incident, he continues, “Earlier, when tiatr boards were painted by Maxie Arts in Margao, some of my artistes even tried to stop the completion of my boards. But all hurdles crossing my path only made me stronger.”
In 2009, Joe Boy took seriously ill and was diagnosed with rectal cancer. His ill health did not permit him to come out with new productions on stage. He claims that he has another tiatr script in hand and if he gets enough support, he plans to stage it in the month of June.
Besides tiatrs, Joe Boy also has five audio CDs, namely ‘Toch Mhozo Govai’, ‘Ghaie’, ‘Gol-Mal’, ‘Divorce’ and ‘Ghar-Wapsi’, and one DVD ‘Dukham’, to his credit.
Despite his immense contribution to the Konkani stage, Joe Boy’s dedicated efforts to preserve art and culture in the form of tiatrs and CDs have never received any recognition from the Tiatr Academy of Goa or the tiatr fraternity, except for felicitation by the village panchayat of Socorro at the hands of MLA Rohan Khaunte.
Joe Boy strongly believes that preservation of Konkani language is possible only through promotion of tiatrs and CDs. “If tiatrs and CDs find no place among the Goan audience, then it will be a slow death of our mother tongue,” he states.
He rues that “As it prevailed in the past, jealousy continues among the tiatrists even today. This unhealthy practice must stop as it will only lead to the destruction of tiatrs. Instead, if understanding and support continues among the tiatrists, tiatrs will continue to flourish and survive on stage.”
Although Joe Boy never received the required moral support from his family members, relatives and friends, he strongly believes that Jesus Christ has been his constant support and he wishes to continue with the same zeal and enthusiasm on stage.