As they gazed at the stage in delight, Goenkars
in the United States of America momentarily forgot where they were seated;
watching a tiatr in the US was unheard of until that day. ‘Tim Thikam Sandlelim’, written and directed by Deputy
Superintendent of Police, Sammy Tavares
and was organised by iMovie and Invictus Film Incorporated. The shows were
performed in New Jersey on October 4, 2014 and Houston, Texas on October 5,
2014.
Just back from the US trip, DySP Sammy
is still smiling about his achievement of taking tiatr to the US. “We received
a tremendous response as the shows were houseful and the audience was excited
to see Konkani tiatr actors and singers. The cast and crew comprised 16 members
from Goa and we are happy to have performed in the US after touring Dubai and
Kuwait in September and London in August, 2014. In New Jersey we had a crowd of
about 300 people while Houston housed 400 people in the auditoriums,” says DySP Sammy
Tavares.
The story of an orphan,
‘Tim Thikam Sandlelim’ was first staged on May 24, 2014 in Goa and the US shows
were the 44th and 45th show of the season. “Even though the tiatr was released
in May, the planning of the US trip had started six months in advance. The
tiatr was organised by Effie Tavares and Gladston Tavares in the US and the paperwork
had to be sent in for the visas well in advance. We had a lot of difficulty in
getting the required documents for all 16 members,” informs Tavares.
After a warm welcome by
the Goan community, the artistes were surprised to know that Goans settled in
the US would be traveling for hours just to attend their show. Tavares
adds, “The Goan diaspora in the US is spread
across different states and they were willing to travel nearly 8-9 hours by car
to watch the tiatr. Some even came down from Canada. I came across Goans who
have been living in the US for more than ten years and have not returned to Goa
so they were watching a live tiatr performance for the first time. I was
overwhelmed. They could finally show their families what a tiatr was.”
Besides the two days of performance, the
troupe was treated to special sightseeing tours by the organisers. “We saw the Niagara
Falls, World Trade Centre, White House and the Statue of Liberty. Since this
was the first time we were travelling to the US, we all shared the same
excitement,” concludes DySP Sammy Tavares who resumed duty immediately on his
return to Goa.
