There are no two opinions on this. The tiatrists are in agreement with each other that the ruckus created inside the Ravindra Bhawan auditorium in a bid to stop a tiatr performance is condemnable. But, there is a rider to this, they feel that their own community of tiatr writers, directors and lyricists, should not cross the line when criticizing the functioning of the government or taking barbs at politicians.
On Wednesday singer-songwriter Francis de Tuem was singing a political song, when a group of people walked onto the stage and attempted to stop him from singing it. The song was allegedly aimed at Nuvem MLA Francisco (Mickky) Pacheco and the police had to be called in. The tiatr performance continued with police protection.
Tiatr lovers, many of who were in the audience, said the incident set a very bad precedent and they were shocked to see the group advancing on stage. While there have been instances in the past where audience members, comprising of supporters of MLAs, tried to intimidate a singer, never before has an MLA been seen near the auditorium.
They give the example of the late William de Curtorim, where miscreants in the audience had thrown eggs at him, but there was no MLA around that day. They say that the presence of the MLA outside the auditorium aggravated the situation and the manner in which the tiatr was stopped was a direct attack on tiatr in general, irrespective of the contents of the song, as there are laws in place to address such grievances.
Tomazinho Cardozo, who has been in the tiatr field for several years and is a former president of the Tiatr Academy Goa (TAG) says that the incident has to be condemned. “We are living in a democracy and freedom of speech and expression is our birthright given by the Constitution. Every citizen has the right and freedom to express themselves freely. Therefore the incident by some anti-social elements cannot be tolerated. Police force has to take strict action against those involved,” Cardozo said.
With regards to personal attacks on politicians on stage, Cardozo questioned as to how are personal attacks classified. “Every citizen has the right to criticize, including artistes and tiatrists. But they should not take the names of the politicians on stage. By doing so, you make it personal as you are directly pointing to a particular person,” he said.
“But, that does not mean you have no right to name politicians. You can criticize as per the norms of society, but as an artiste, some decency should be maintained. Tiatr has been around for the past 120 years. Political songs came into existence only after the Liberation of Goa. Now if politicians take it too seriously, then an incident like what happened on Wednesday, is bound to happen.”
Another director, who has been in tiatr field for a long period, said on condition of anonymity, that no one has the right to disrupt a show which is in progress as the spectators pay for their ticket. “Their freedom needs to be protected as far as enjoyment is concerned,” he said.
Concerning personal attacks on stage, which is common today, he agreed that it should be avoided. “If an artiste wishes to criticize the malfunctioning of the government, then let it be so on stage, but washing of dirty linen of politicians should be refrained on stage. It leads to tarnishing their image and ego in the society. Tiatrists of yesteryears criticized the ministers, but using fake names,” he added.
Noted tiatr singer, Tommy Afonso, who felt what happened was deplorable, also stressed that personal attacks should be avoided as much as possible. He referred to famous tiatrists of the past who would mention names of wrong doers, be they MLAs, ministers, police officers, lawyers or any wrong doers, but the songs were exclusively and only about their administrative lapses, anti-Goan policies and anti-Goan decisions affecting the masses. He felt that this leads to social awakening that they bring through singing about the misdeeds of representatives who behave like masters but at the same time it is of paramount importance that they never have or had any personal grudges against any individuals.
