For the LOVE OF TIATR

Hailing from the picturesque and serene island of Divar in Tiswadi taluka, Tony Gonsalves would enjoy watching tiatrsduring his childhood years. During his stay with his parents in Mumbai, his mother, late Catherine Gonsalves, would take him to watch tiatrs staged at Balwandi by stalwarts like M Boyer, Jacint Vaz and others.

At the tender age of 20, Tony decided to go to the Gulf for better prospectsand settled down in Saudi Arabia. After securing a decent job as an A/C mechanic, he requested his parents to return to Goa from Mumbai and assisted his two brothers, Paul and Felix, in making their living in Saudi Arabia.

Then in 1982, Tony purchased an ancestral house from ‘Kitin bhatkar’ in Divar. In 1995, he competed the procedure of making his Portuguese passport and after 11 long years of dedicated service in Saudi Arabia, he moved to London. During his stay in UK, Tony worked as a bus driver till 2015. Thereafter, he sought voluntary retirement and engaged himself in private business of house letting and renting. 

With regard to promotion of tiatrs in the UK, Tony reveals that before Goans could migrate to London, there were reasonable African Goans residing there.“Between 1985 and 1990, the African Goans would stage tiatrs in London with some Goan professionals like M Boyer, Prince Jacob and others,” he adds.

In 2004, Tony organised the first musical show with Lorna in UK and he received an overwhelming response from the Goan community there. Besides the nightingale of the Konkani stage, other artistes included Ben Evangelisto, Jr Chico, Norman and Dominic. Later, the same show was presented in Portugal, Paris and Canada.

Under the banner ‘Wembley Goans UK’, in the same year, Tony organised Ben Evangelisto’s tiatr ‘Chondrim’ in London, followed by Filipe/Janet’s tiatr ‘Sogllim Khuxal’ in 2005. It was also staged in Paris, besides the Gulf tour—Dubai, Kuwait and Bahrain. 

Tony was also instrumental in staging Tony Dias’s noted tiatr ‘Mahanand Munis vo Soitan’ in Qatar, Dubai and UK. He also welcomed Albert/Roma to UK with their tiatr ‘Kollso’ in 2006.

After creating waves in Goa, with the help of Tony, comedian Agostinho got the opportunity to stage his tiatr ‘Public’ in the Gulf and UK in 2011, followed by Menino de Bandar’s tiatr ‘Amerikan Ghorkar’. Tony also made efforts to promote Sammy Tavares’s three tiatrs, namely ‘Tim Thikam Sanddlelim’, ‘Amchea Bhurgeam Sangata’ and ‘Police Officer’. He also assisted Mariano Fernandes with his tiatr ‘Goy, Goykar, Goykarponn’.

Annually, Tony makes efforts to promote at least one Goan tiatr in the UK. “Initially it was a tedious task,” he confesses, “but there was full support from friends in the UK and so the initiative gradually moved towards success.”

“At the first attempt, there were losses to be borne,” Tony mentions, “and my wife thought it was a futile task. But I felt good to see Goans coming together for such entertainment.” “Presently, there are tiatrs also being staged by the Goan tiatr fraternity in UK. But on most occasions it’s an impossible task for all the artistes to come together and rehearse for tiatrs as practically all are employed in various capacities.”

In order to keep Goan tradition and art alive in the UK, Tony makes all efforts to organise and stage at least 2-3 tiatrs from Goa there annually. “We don’t need a special occasion to stage tiatrs there. We also organise dances for the Goan community,” he states.

With regard to selection and sponsoring of tiatrs, Tony reveals that he makes it a point to come down to Goa annually and watch as many tiatrs as possible. And depending on the response from the audience as far as appreciation is concerned, he picks up the best and stages them in the UK. He only missed 2016 when he had to undergo a bypass operation and hence could make on ly one trip to Goa. Otherwise, has makes at least four trips annually for selection and promotion of tiatrs.   

In comparison to tiatrs staged locally in the UK, Tony feels that there’s more demand for tiatrs coming from Goa as many professional tiatrists are involved in them and it costs quite a bit to get those seasoned tiatrists from Goa to the UK.

Out of sheer enthusiasm and love for the Konkani language, Tony has been sponsoring and promoting tiatrs in the UK. He admits to receiving ample support from his son Alemao and daughter Agnes, who are settled in there. His other daughter, Queenie, settled in Spain,also extends all help required to her father.

Besides his close kin, Tony also receives help from his two sons-in-law Sammy Vaz and Jose Gonsalves, daughter-in-law Daniela and brothers-in-law Anthony and Faustin Mascarenhas. 

As long as health permits, Tony plans to continue organising and promote tiatrs from Goa in the UK. “It’s not to make any profit but to keep Goan culture and tradition alive among the Goan community,” he says. 

For his immense contribution towards promotion of tiatrs in Europe and other foreign countries, Tony was felicitated by the 125th tiatr celebration committee. “If you have the enthusiasm and zeal within you, it can lead you anywhere,” states Tony.