| DIANA FERNANDES
It’s not surprising to see the Goan Konkani loving community enjoying the tiatr as a form of entertainment, a mixture of serious drama and silly comedy. But in another Konkani speaking area of Mangalore, a serious form of theatre is taking shape, and the masses are taking note.
Mangalore based Konkani cultural group Mandd Sobhann has since 1986 engaged in all things Konkani, from music to cultural events and more recently a global Konkani survey. One of their endeavors was in the field of theatre.
Though Konkani activist and Mandd Sobhann founder Eric Ozario set up the Mandd Theatre Group in 1999, they were struggling to keep people interested in this art form. Though they managed to produce 19 plays and 55 street plays with 153 performances, it was only when Kalakul was set up that things really took off.
Set up in 2006, the Kalakul theatre group is the only Konkani theatre repertory in the world and has for the past four years been offering a one year course in Konkani theatre.
The group that aims to take to the cause of creating good quality theatre much like Kannada and Marathi theatre has presented 25 performances of five full length plays and three short plays in places including Mysore, Goa and Mangalore in a matter of four years.
Christopher D’Souza, trainer at the theatre group says this is a way to get people to listen and watch plays like that of Rabindranath Tagore and Shakespeare. “When I was in college, I did more Kannada theatre. I realized that people should be shown more serious like the works of Girish Karnad and Chandrashekhara Kambara. Eric Ozario from Mandd Sobhann wanted some serious for Konkani theatre too,” he says.
D’Souza who has trained at the Ninasam Theatre Institute in Karnataka easily adapted what he learnt at the institute to students at Kalakul. Language was no barrier as Konkani is written in Kannada in Mangalore.
“Every year, we take up to ten students, most of who are either working or in college and train them in everything from costume design, lighting and sound with the main focus being on acting. There is no theory as such, but more practical work,” says D’Souza adding the group produce and perform four plays a year in addition to street plays and short plays.
With the help of Arun Raj Rodrigues, who translates each play into the Kannada Konkani script, the group has performed plays based on Ravindra Kelekar’s Tulsi, various Bengali Rabindranath Tagore poems, some on the life of eminent Indian personalities as well as well known Kannada plays.
Their more recent play, Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet was a dream come true for the group. “It was always my dream to do a Shakespeare play, especially a Romeo and Juliet one. We were looking for the right talented actors for the past four year. We finally got them this year, so we decided to go ahead with the play,” says D’Souza who took two months to put the whole play together with practices every day.
Though they performed the play once last month at Mhianyalli Manchi, their monthly theatre event, held on the first Sunday of every month, they look to perform across the country with one at Udupi in April, that is yet to be confirmed.
Initially however, the Konkani speaking community in Mangalore did not like the seriousness associated with the art form. “Initially, people didn’t take this seriously. They wanted more of the cheap comedy that they were used to. But of late, they’ve started to take us seriously and is evident from the packed crowds that come to each performance.”
As part of Mandd Sobhann’s cultural mission, the organization aims to organize various Konkani events nationally, conduct experiments in Konkani music, culture and research, organize cultural camps, training programs, workshops and seminars and ensure the continuity of all things Konkani at their Kalaangann- the Konkani Heritage Center.
Review Bureau
