The art form of tiatr has a passionate audience that is spread across the State as well across the diaspora. For the winners of the seventh tiatr competition b group it was a time to celebrate and plan for the future.
Carmo Pacheco who came second with Dolle Ugdat meaning Open your eyes said it was a play that showcased developments that were taking place all over the State. In this case he said the tiatr was based on developments that had taken place in his village. He said the play was about life in the village and about the builder constructing a hotel that would change life in the village. Carmo said “People objected and it did not happen eventually. The entire episode inspired me to write the play. It took me six months to write the play. I went into great detail, I showed what would have happened if the hotel would have become a reality. People would no longer be able to fish in the river. The entire rhythm of the village would have been thrown upside down.” Now planning ahead for the professional shows he said he was looking forward to getting actors from the village and the surrounding areas. He said his passion was driven by the fact he wanted to act in professional tiatrs. With regards to shows he said it would commence after Easter.
Another winner was Michael Gracias who expressed some disappointment at his final standing. He said he had conducted a tiatr workshop and during the concluding function Prince Jacob the chief guest had remarked that this was a wonderful group and the enthusiasm they had displayed had to be taken to the next level. Michael said, “I just did that by taking the group for the Mando festival and the tiatr competition. We bagged the first prize in the Mando festival and we came third here.”
One of the winners who did not want to come on record said he had questions with regards to the quality of the judges for the tiatr competition. He said, it was important for the judges to be a tiatrist in order to judge the script. But when the person in question had not written even one tiatr then questions had to be raised. None of the judges, he alleged, had experience in the field since they were not from the world of tiatr. He alleged it was a case of someone in the organizing committee wanting his or her chosen ones to be amongst the winners. One of the judges allegedly composed and wrote poetry in the Devnagri script but made judgment calls on scripts written in the Roman script. This he said was appalling and made people ask questions about the quality of the decisions made.
Yes some questions were certainly raised by people but for Antonet de Souza it was a great experience. She was awarded the consolation prize and won the best actress award for her role in Mau or Scar. It was a story about a girl who was living abroad with her parents but then decided to return to Goa to take care of her grandfather. She took admission in the local college and that led to her getting calls from different guys expressing their love for her. It also involved a photograph of her face being placed on a nude photograph and being threatened. Certainly a very interesting story without a doubt. For Antonet who is a school teacher in Miramar this was yet another episode in a career where she had used school children and staff in her plays.
Like her there were others who expressed their satisfaction at having won prizes and hoped this would be a spur to greater heights.
