Tiatr ‘Nivolkantto’ (Cactus) written by Fr Roman Rodrigues, directed by Gautam Gawde and presented by the Rosary College of Commerce & Arts, Navelim was staged at Kala Academy on the fourth day of 4th All Goa Inter-Collegiate/HSS Tiatr Competition 2024-25.
The curtains unfold to a scene wherein grandfather (Ansh Bandekar) sings a lullaby for his grandson (Maxson Fernandes) and puts him to sleep.
In a flashback, there’s Kavya (Pratiksha Sangaonkar), who draws inspiration from nature and the surroundings and pens poems. On the other hand, there’s Neil (Senford Fernandes), who considers his ancestral property as ‘mine gold’ and desires to take care and make the best use of it.
Steps in Kavya’s mother (Jesvira Mascarenhas) and discourages her daughter’s inborn talent. Neil’s father (Ansh Bandekar) also comes along and advises his son not to waste his education on something which is not worthwhile. Guardians of Neil and Kavya are equally against their relationship and oppose it.
The story revolves around siblings Charles (Velron Carvalho), Kavya and their mother and on the other hand there’s Neil and his father with the ancestral property. Being educated and unemployed, Charles paves his way to the UK, while his girlfriend Chloe (Athena Fernandes) flies to the US to visit her parents. Neil decides to make the best use of his education and utilize his ancestral property for constructive purposes.
What is Charles and Chloe’s fate abroad? Will Kavya and Neil succeed in fulfilling their dreams as far as their talents are concerned? Will they unite to make a bright future? What is the end result?
Tiatr ‘Nivolkantto’ has a story to relate and it also serves as an eye-opener to those educated unemployed youth, who make a mad rush abroad for fast money. It carries a good dose of inspiration for those willing to make the most of natural resources available in bounty. But the transition in the second half of the drama looked confusing.
The artistes on stage gave a good performance. Velron, Pratiksha, Jesvira and Ansh in the lead roles have done justice to their respective characters. Other artistes in minor roles have extended good support.
For some laughter moments, there’s Marco (Alroy Rebello) and Rita (Amberly Fernandes), who come together from two different households and entertain. But the comedy tends to drag in some scenes.
In the section of songs, there were a couple of songs in the form of solo, duet, duo appealing to the ears. Musicians offstage Edrol Fernandes as the band leader had with him rest all students of the Rosary College of Commerce & Arts, Navelim and they provided good live music.
The stage sets worked upon by around 7 students of the college deserve appreciation and applause as a lot of hard work was put in and natural scenes created on stage were apt to the respective situations. Gautam Gaude also did a fair job with the light effects.