Peter Camilo was born on April 29, 1954 in Mumbai, to Lawrence Camilo and Maria Roquete Amelia e Nazare. When he was 6, his family shifted back to Goa. Since childhood, he would closely follow and watch his parents performing on stage. He also drew a lot of inspiration from his uncle, Cruz Camilo, besides late H Briton and T Briton.
Recalling the enthusiasm during his childhood days, Peter reminisces, “One day, a few of us kids from the neighbourhood decided to stage a tiatr in the courtyard (angonn). Several bedsheets were used as curtains. Fascinated by the spirit of the children, my dad went to the neighbouring village of Ribandar and arranged a band ‘Azavedo’ in order to make our plan a success. We were all pleasantly surprised that our little play had become so much more.
“Around 50 people from our ward witnessed our tiatr and the young talent was well appreciated. That encouragement pushed me to stage a few more tiatrs with the village children in the courtyard.”
But Peter’s first step onto the tiatr stage came about at the age of 11, when he got the opportunity of acting in village tiatr ‘Bhavartachem Sot’, written and directed by his uncle, Cruz Camilo, in 1964. He also rendered ‘cantos’ especially composed for him by his father.
Usually, for the village annual feast of Our Lady of Penha de Franca, Peter’s uncle, Cruz Camilo, would stage a tiatr in the village. After staging around six tiatrs, he stepped down and Peter took over. He wrote his first tiatr, ‘Mhoji Sasu’, on the occasion of the village chapel feastat the age of 21. Other tiatrs that followed include ‘Kumpar ani Kumar’, ‘Kalliz Avoichem’, ‘Kallzachem Sukh’, ‘Nimanni Nodor’, ‘Ekach Rukhache Fantte’, ‘Maim, Dhuv ani Sun’ and ‘Ghulam’.
Besides scripting his own tiatrs, Peter would compose a minimum of 14 cantos and 12 kantaram in various categories for each of his tiatrs, which were part of the tiatr. He has also rendered songs in tiatrs of stalwarts like C Alvares (‘Kizil Nastana Ghor Na’), H Briton (‘Jivit Kuwaitchem’), John Claro (‘Nirmileli Sun’) and Bab Peter, to name a few.
His passion for scripting tiatrs led him to compose his own songs as well. Till date, he has composed more than 300 songs, which include ‘clauns’ (solos), duos, duets, trios, quartets and chorals.
Peter bagged awards for best song for his lyrics thrice at the Kala Academy’s tiatr competitions held annually. What stands out in his songs is the creation of his own tunes to the lyrics penned by him and providing variations in them, thus believing in originality.
Peter is not in favour of composing political songs. He believes that there are various social and religious subjects to focus on and he lays more stress on current issues pertaining to society.
A graduate in Commerce, in 1982, Peter proceeded to Kuwait and served in the administrative department till 1990. During the invasion period, he moved to Doha, Qatar in 1991 and continues with dedicated services there till date, though he does make time to compose songs.
“Even when asleep, if some good tune comes to mind or some striking lyrics flow, I will wake up and record the tune on my mobile or jot down those lyrics,” reveals Peter. “If you miss on those precious moments, then you could lose the treasure forever,” he adds.
While composing new songs, Peter admits that he goes online sometimes and checks local newspapers in order to pick up some latest issues haunting Goans. Apart from penning songs for tiatrs, he has also assisted by composing songs for various festive occasions, which include weddings, First Holy Communion, birthdays and others.
During his annual vacation to Goa in December, Peter provides new songs for the tiatrs staged at the annual village feast and Kala Academy’s tiatr competition.
Peter was felicitated by the 125th Tiatr Celebration Committee in May 2017 for his contribution towards tiatr. In the same year, on Goa Liberation Day, he was felicitated by village panchayat of Penha de Franca.
Instead of slashing the political leaders openly on stage, Peter believes that there are various other social issues that can be highlighted in songs. “Don’t get carried away by encores,” he says, “instead come up with some family and social issues and provide good morals.”
In comparison to the tiatrs staged during yesteryears, Peter believes that the present day tiatrs have become commercialised. “In the past,tiatrists worked to get name and fame on stage. But today, that devotion is lost.”
Peter’s only regret in life is that he was unable to learn any instrument during his childhood days. While he was a part of the church choir and his ‘mestri’ used to force him to learn the violin, he did not understand the value and importance of this knowledge at that young age. “Knowledge of musical notes and my lyrics would have served in a big way today,” he states.
Peter’s wife, Antonette, is also a talented singer and actor. His two daughters, Lenzie and Shirlie, are presently following in their father’s footsteps, helping in keeping the family tradition of tiatr alive. They team up with their cousins, Michelle and Tresila, and participate in various competitions, thus singing songs and winning laurels.
