Kala Academy (KA)’s 47th Tiatr ‘A’ Group Competition 2021-22 commenced on March 17 and concluded on March 28 at Ravindra Bhavan, Margao, with the participation of 12 socio-cultural clubs/institutions from across Goa. There were 8 cultural associations hailing from north Goa, while the remaining 4 troupes were from the south.
Socio-political, religious, medical and family issues touched upon by various groups included filth that prevails among corrupt politicians in the political arena, destruction of environment with selfish motive, child adoption and consequences, preservation of ecology, safeguarding family ties, ill effects of modern gadgets, atheism and belief in God, ill effects of drugs and contraceptives, suspense murder thriller, educated employed and creation of self-employment and greed for wealth and property.
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After 12 days of non-stop presentations on stage, the results were finally promptly declared by the organizers, leaving raised eyebrows of the participants and many viewers. ‘What went wrong? Who went wrong? Was it a fair judgment? Were the results justifiable? Are the viewers morons?’—were queries making the rounds among many critics.
Soon after the results were thrown open for the general public, the tiatr fans enjoying high standard shows at the tiatr competition organized annually by KA came in for utter shock and surprise. After watching all the tiatrs put up by various troupes at the competition, undoubtedly, the results were not to the least expectation of the participating troupes and the general audience.
One of the participants and first prize winner at the last tiatr ‘B’ group competition, Matias Mascarenhas of Matias Creative Group, Calangute said that Alexandro Fernandes won 3 first prizes, one second prize and 10 merit prizes in individual categories but did not figure in the first four winners. “Likewise, tiatrs ‘Dev Zanna’, ‘Hanvuch To’, ‘Dangerous’ and ‘Chint’ won several first prizes in various categories, but did not figure in the first four of the winning list. Whereas tiatr ‘Ek Ghoddi’ wins prize only in direction and script and is placed in first four and given second prize. What logic is this? The results stink of manipulation and partiality,” he grieved.
“Judging is subjective,” stated Irineu Gonsalves from Verna, “and everyone has their own opinion about it. But people recognize unfair bias when they see it.” “If KA wants competition level to reach new heights,” he said, “then let them get themselves to the drawing board. Appoint judges exclusively from the tiatr field. Why should judges, who have never written a single tiatr nor watched any tiatrs, be on the jury duty? Renowned tiatrists have all the attributes necessary to judge a tiatr better than anyone else. They can fairly and objectively judge.”
“Audience expected one thing, but they got something else entirely,” Gonsalves grieved, “something that they didn’t feel right. It didn’t fit in the competition savvy audience scheme of things. Imagine the front runners are not even in the first four. “Last year,” he continued, “Aleixin de Morjim won 11 prizes and stood first. This year his tiatr ‘Kochro’ bagged 14 prizes, yet his tiatr stands not even in fourth place.”
“New genres and new storytelling techniques are created because audiences have become too smart for old plots and hackneyed clichés,” Gonsalves commented, “while a few writers explored offbeat ideas, which were different from usual.” “The jury should always bear in mind that the number with college education is higher today, than it was, say, a couple of decades back. So, what used to be obscure becomes mainstream with the passage of time. While competition shows always rose to higher standards when they were held at the Kala Academy, Margao audience is new to the competition culture and wouldn’t know the format on how the tiatrs are judged,” he added.
“Tiatr lovers are not fools,” stated Fr Jose Silveira, who watched a few tiatrs at the competition, “if public opinion is taken, then it will be clearly known that the declared result is faulty.” “The assessment of the competition by the judges should be looked into,” he opined, “The judging criteria are very clearly indicated to the judges. There is a big ‘golmaal’ in the selection process and the results are not at all fair.”
“The results are pathetic, discouraging, heartbreaking and full of unwanted suspense,” Pascoal de Chicalim stated bluntly. “It’s a pity that this type of blunder is staring at us when expectations went down and dissatisfaction propped up. The declared results will have a very long and telling effect on all the competitors. All in all, the audience is supreme and they are the best judges.”
Going by the published rules of the tiatr competition, William Fernandes from Sanvordem and Arnaldo Costa from Curtorim were of the similar opinion that if any protest is to be lodged by the participating groups, it should be within three days, after the performance. “However in this case,” they said, “the prizes were declared without completion of 72 hours or three days.”
