A mood swing may seem simple, but it could
be the tip of something bigger, deeper, darker; it
could be a symptom of depression. A common but
serious mood disorder, depression causes severe
symptoms that affect how you feel, think and handle
daily activities. The Mustard Seed Art Company will
be addressing this disorder, which is the theme of
this year’s World Health Day, and creating greater awareness
of mental health through their original production ‘On the
Edge’, with original music and dances. The play, that has been
written and directed by Isabel de Santa Rita Vas, will be staged
in Margao and Panjim.
‘On the Edge’ is a short play, comprising six scenes. Set in
a Goan neighbourhood, the story unfolds over two days, and
touches upon the lives of a bunch of people. The seemingly
simple people are ways complex characters in a network
of close relationships. The cast of the play comprises Kiran
Bhandari, Joshua Jaques, Karishma Alvares, Ann Barreto de
Sousa, Nigel Khamkar and Suvarna Bandekar. The song ‘Me
and Us’ is written by Nigel Khamkar and ‘Little Blessings’ is by
Karishma Alvares, Lara Condillac and Nestor Fernandes. The
choreography is by Ann Barreto de Sousa and Karishma Alvares
while the sound is by Shelton Fernandes of Friends’ Audio, with
lights by Bhaskar Naik.
The Mustard Seed Art Company is an amateur theatre
group founded by Isabel; now in its 30th year of dramatic life,
it has 65 productions under its belt. It takes pride in telling
regional stories with universal significance and in drawing
from local artistic talent. “Many years back, we did an American
play, ‘Of Mice and Men’ by John Steinbeck, for Sangath. About
a month and a half back, Sangath approached us to work
on a play for World Health Day. We started working on the
original play three weeks ago, with writing and putting the cast
together. This year, the theme of World Health Day is ‘Let’s Talk’.
As one of my theatre members said, ‘Be Kind to your mind’. It
is also important to take care of the health of the mind,” says
Isabel as her cast members gear up for their rehearsals at her
residence in Dona Paula.
Sangath, a non-governmental, not-for-profit organisation,
is committed to improving health across the lifespan by
empowering existing community resources to provide
appropriate physical, psychological and social therapies. Its
primary focus areas include child development, adolescent
and youth health, adult health and chronic disease.
“The main idea behind the one hour play with song
and dance is to highlight depression. It is a common health
problem that anybody can go through. It is important to
create awareness about it among the families and friends and
offer support and, if necessary, medical advice. The common
problem with depression is that it is treated as a stigma when it
is just a medical problem,” concludes Isabel.
The first show of ‘On the Edge’ will be staged on World
Health Day, April 7, 2017 at 7pm at Gomant Vidya Niketan,
Margao and on April 8 at Sunaparanta, Panjim, at 7pm. The
shows have no entry fee
