A talent that commands attention

Born on December 15, 1963, Jean Gloria D’Souza, popularly known as Gloria on the Konkani stage, hails from St Inez in the taluka of Tiswadi. Her father, late Paul Fernandes, served as programme officer at All India Radio (AIR) in the 1960s-70s.

In 1983, after tying the knot with Jerry D’Souza, Gloria proceeded to Abu Dhabi with her husband and lived there for almost 15 years. On returning to Goa, she first took up residence in Verem, where she had the opportunity of participating in a one-act play scripted by Agnel Fernandes and directed by Flora D’Souza for the village feast. It’s there that her husband, Jerry, who is a writer, director and singer, realised that his wife had a natural talent for acting. He immediately penned two tiatrs, ‘Government Hokol’ and ‘Novro Naka’, and introduced his wife as a heroine. These tiatrs were staged in several villages across Goa.

Gloria was later invited by Peter/Roshan in one of their khell tiatrs, followed by Rodricks de Benaulim.She also made her appearance in Dominic Carvalho’s tiatr ‘Ti Odik Bhagi’, followed by ‘Ti Tukach Ravta’. She continued with the same director for quite some time and acted in 7-8 tiatrs.

Gloria also had the opportunity to act in two tiatrs by late William de Curtorim – ‘Bailechi Dadagiri Ghov Ratnagiri’ and ‘Forsan Kazar Kelem Mirim Vanttun Gelem’. She also featured in Peter/Roshan’s VCD ‘Dream Girl’ and in one of Succor de Santa Cruz’s VCDs.

Noting her acting skills, Menino de Bandar introduced her in seven of his tiatrs, which included ‘Devan Ghoddlem Monxean Moddlem’, ‘Kristanv’, ‘Visvas’ and ‘Desak Luttinaka’. With those tiatrs, she toured Mumbai, Pune and Mangalore.

Gloria also showcased her natural talent in tiatrs staged by Reginaldo de Panchwadi, Braz de Parra and Micky de Ambora’s tiatr ‘Patkachem Farikponn’. She also acted in tiatrs presented by A M Pacheco, Philip de Pilerne, Antonio Rebello (St Inez) and Seby D’Souza (Britona).

Besides proving her acting and singing skills in professional tiatrs, Gloria also participated in Kala Academy’s annual tiatr competition and won prizes. She acted in Peter Vaz’s tiatrs ‘Mali’ and ‘Sonkoxttant Uzvadd’ and won the award for Best Actress. When Vandana Productions, Borim organised a tiatr festival, she picked up a merit certificate for the tiatr ‘Mali’. 

In KA’s tiatr competition, Gloria also appeared in Carmin Vaz’s tiatrs ‘Rinn’ and ‘Kazar Sorgar Ghoddta’, besides Amar Sawant’s tiatr ‘Khorench Mog To Kudd’ddo?’.

In Kala Academy’s tiatr competition, Gloria won the second prize in the duet category, when she rendered a song with Reginaldo de Panchwadi.

Of late, when the Classic Tiatr Festival was organised by the 125th Tiatr Celebration Committee, Gloria was seen in Prem Kumar’s tiatr ‘Jivit ek Sopon’ redirected by Agnel de Borim. Later this year, in October, she will feature in Nicky de Ambora’s tiatr ‘Panvlar Panvl Marun’ in Dubai.

While blessed with both, acting and singing skills, Gloria feels that her acting prowess is her forte on the tiatr stage. “Initially,I used to play the role of the heroine, but I was equally comfortable to take up roles of mothers or daughters-in-law as time passed,” she says.

Having proved her calibre in tiatrs staged by several directors for almost 20 years, Gloria considers her character role of a Hindu woman in Menino de Bandar’s tiatr ‘Kristanv’ as the classic. “It was a unique character and I had to speak in fluent Marathi. The audience in Mumbai, where eight shows were staged, was very appreciative,” she states.

With regard to singing, Gloria confesses that she never rendered a solo on stage during her career in the field of tiatr as none of the directors offered her one. “It was mostly opening chorus in pairs, duets and rendition of cantos,” she adds.

Commenting on how new talent is making its presence felt on today’s stage, Gloria says it’s a good trend. “But there’s a big difference between the artistes of yesteryears and the ones today. There was natural acting among the seniors and total commitment to their respective directors earlier,” she says.

“The earlier audience was more acquainted with the stage artistes in comparison to the new, raw talent in today’s tiatrs,” she explains. “No doubt, with the new talent on stage, tiatr will grow and Konkani language will flourish and survive. But the juniors should learn to respect their seniors for their vast experience,” she advises.

Gloria’s three brothers are equally talented as each of them is a musician in their own way. Luis Fernandes is a guitarist while Raymond is a drummer and Anthony is a drummer and crooner. But her only son, Oleski, declined to walk in his mother’s footsteps. Instead, he has settled down in France with wife, Idalina.

For her immense contribution towards tiatr, Gloria was felicitated by the 125th Tiatr Celebration Committee in 2017 and on Tiatr Day in April 2018, among the senior tiatrists, she was again felicitated by Kala Academy and Tiatr Academy of Goa at the hands of Minister for Art and Culture, Govind Gaude.