MARGAO: Senior tiatr artiste and former speaker Tomazinho Cardozo on Tuesday said that Tiatr Day needs to be celebrated at the government level in a grand way since it is a very popular art form.
On Monday, April 17 tiatr fraternity celebrated the Tiatr Day at Panjim at a programme organised by Tiatr Academy (Goa).
Addressing the gathering, Cardozo also said that the government would have organised a grand function if it was a Konkani Nattok or Marathi Nattok day, but much importance is not given to the Tiatr Day at the government level.
“We need to force the government to celebrate Tiatr Day instead of organising it separately. For the first time in order to fulfill the demands of the tiatr fraternity, Kala Academy began celebrating the Tiatr Day in 1996,” he said.
He said that it was Dr Nandkumar Kamat, who was heading the committee for the State cultural policy, suggested setting up of a tiatr academy, in order to preserve and promote the activities related to tiatr and Goan culture.
“The process of forming the Tiatr Academy of Goa (TAG) for the betterment of tiatr and tiatriste started only after a suggestion came from Dr Kamat. It finally took shape when Margao MLA Digambar Kamat was the chief minister,” Cardozo said.
According to him, Tiatr Academy should not have organised Tiatr Day without the involvement of concerned government authorities.
Such type of activities should benefit the tiatr artistes as there is a huge shortage of auditoriums in Goa to stage the tiatr shows, which needs to be addressed by the government.
Anthony Barbosa, Vice-President of South Goa ST Morcha, BJP and promoter of Konkani Tiatr, appealed to the tiatr fraternity to work together for the betterment of this art form.
“Tiatr artistes have contributed in a big way towards the cause of Konkani language in Goa,” he said.
Senior tiatr artiste Joe Rose also addressed the gathering on the occasion. Earlier, Menino Fernandes, President of TAG welcomed the gathering.
