Tiatr
Academy Goa’s annual festival, the 6th Children’s Tiatr Festival, being
organised in association with Herald Publications with HCN as a media partner,
is being held at Gomant Vidya Niketan, Margao and comprises 12 socio-cultural
groups and institutions from North and South Goa. With themes focussing solely
on children, the participating troupes, comprising members of 18 years of age
or less, are vying for the first three prizes, besides several individual
prizes in different categories.
Over
the past five years, this festival has evoked a great response from various
schools and institutions; and the people involved directly or indirectly in the
festival have put in their best efforts to ensure that the event is a success.
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The
chairman of the organising committee, Premanand Lotlikar, asserted that this
festival is a good platform to groom future tiatrists. He said, “It is said
that ‘Today’s youth are tomorrow’s leaders’. Similarly, today’s child artistes
are future tiatrists. It is with the aim of promoting such talent and producing
future professional tiatrists like Prem Kumar, Jacint Vaz, Alfred Rose and
several others that the Tiatr Academy Goa organises such festivals.”
Lotlikar
added that TAG has taken all precautions to keep aside political songs from
such fests. “This should enable guardians to accompany their children to the
auditorium and enjoy creative tiatrs presented by child artistes,” he
said.
“The
older tiatrists will perform, excel and disappear from the tiatr world, but at
this juncture, the new generation needs to take up the responsibility and fill
up the vacuum created. Consequently, this art form will survive and flourish
for years to come,” Lotlikar stated.
Lotlikar
also mentioned that in the early days, such opportunities were very rare and
the talent of singing and acting on stage mostly remained hidden. “Today, the
budding artistes have umpteen opportunities to participate and showcase their
theatrical skills,” he added.
While
the event has been gaining popularity over the years, some of the directors
participating in the competition have raised concern with regard to certain
issues. Michael Gracias, one of the writers and directors, is participating
with his troupe for the third consecutive year in this festival. He said that
the venue of the event needs urgent change on account of the size of the stage.
He also stated that a festival with merely mementos and certificates and no
cash prizes causes financial stress to the directors.
As
this festival is a training ground for future tiatrists, Gracias opined that
cash prizes will serve as a motivation, both for the directors and artistes to
come forward in the near future with better performances. “At the end of the
day,” he said, “directors have to pay for the grooming of the children.”
This
Majorda-based director revealed that in all departments the directors have to
pay more than the commercial tiatrs. He suggested that the festival should be
ticketed at a nominal price and whatever profits are generated through sale of
tickets could be delivered to the concerned directors. “If shows are ticketed,
then it will be an initiative for the director to get a larger audience for the
show through sale of tickets.
The
President of TAG, Agostinho Temudo, said that tiatrs have survived over the
years only due to the mass attendance of the tiatr fans. “The day the audience
decides not to go for tiatrs, this art form will face a natural death.
Children’s Tiatr Fest is TAG’s initiative to prepare new tiatrists. But apart
from receiving participation from the amateur artistes on stage, it should also
have a large audience eagerly encouraging and cheering the tiatrists of
tomorrow,” he concluded.
