The first All Goa Inter-School Children’s Tiatr Competition organized by the Tiatr Academy of Goa (TAG) had the participation of five schools/institutions from north and south Goa. The competition commenced on August 28 and concluded on September 1.
The subjects picked up by the schools for their presentation were on varied subjects and included education, love for nature, tapping talents of children, educating the differently-abled children and others. Except for two or three institutions which focused on relevant topics related to children, there were others who tackled subjects not connected to growing kids, but the college-going students.
One of the tiatrs presented at the competition had a good subject to dwell upon and reflect on, but had no connection to the title of the tiatr. The entire presentation on stage looked totally disconnected to the theme.
As per the norms laid down by TAG for the Inter-School Children’s Tiatr Competition, the participation of students had to be 75 percent, while the teachers’ participation of their respective schools could be 25 percent. But some schools had only their students participating full-fledged on the stage, without their teachers’ involvement and they deserve applause and appreciation.
Being girls’ schools, two institutions, namely Fatima Convent High School, Margao and Our Lady of Rosary High School, Dona Paula, had their girl students enacting the male roles or characters with ease, gusto and perfection. The efforts put in by the respective directors in training such students need a pat on their backs.
As it is a children’s tiatr competition, only children from different schools and institutions should have been restricted entry on stage, sans teachers’ participation. By involving the teachers in the acts and renditions, other students were deprived of showcasing their raw talents on stage.
As far as enactment on stage is concerned, some students received good direction from their respective directors, while other presentations appeared dull due to poor direction. Although the script was good, poor direction left some students to only deliver dialogues, without much action on stage.
Looking at the category of renditions, in all the presentations, there were songs in all the categories, namely solos, duos, duets, trios, quartet and chorals. A good number of songs carried relevant subjects related to the children and students in school. A handful of songs were not at all related to children and could have been avoided.
A good number of students from different schools and those coming on stage for the first time presented their songs in different categories confidently. But there were others who out of nervousness forgot the song halfway, but their efforts need to be appreciated.
There were some students who shared the stage along with their teachers and they presented their songs with much gusto and style. Hats off to them! Other students also made their presence felt on stage, but lost track of music or went offbeat. As the singers on stage are children and not professionals, efforts should be made by the management of schools to have more rehearsals with the band so that they easily gain confidence when facing the audience in the auditorium for the first time. Musical score provided by noted musicians, who usually play for commercial tiatrs, gave their best as far as live music offstage was concerned.
With regards to comedy, it is stressed that comedy has to be related to the play and it cannot be brought outside the play. But there were some schools violating this rule, while the other institutions made concrete efforts to get the comedy interwoven in the play.
The dosage of comedy in some presentations was very less and the balance between the main play and comedy was lost. More stress should be laid on comedy as well, as it forms a major part of any tiatr.
The stage sets, besides light effects, background music was equally good. Those entrusted with responsibilities did their respective jobs fairly well. But in some presentations some items on stage were not fully utilized, while the multi-colored lights were put to use even for renditions in some tiatrs, thus causing unnecessary distraction.
The judges for the tiatr competition included Michael Gracias, comedian Domnic and Vithal Furtado. They were asked to judge the tiatrs based on the tiatr script, presentation, comedy, songs, costumes, make-up, stage sets, background music and lights.
