Tiatr: Saibinn
Cast: Meena, Mita, Ivon, Peter de Pedda, Sanita, Anif, Edward, Kenny, Remy
Director: John D’Silva
Band: Chris (trumpet), Jose Dias (saxophone), Jose (keyboard), Twigi (bass), Jaison (drums)
Lights: A P Rojols
Story: After Simon (Peter de Pedda) goes abroad, his wife, Jenny (Meena),starts ill-treating her ailing mother-in-law, Maria (Mita),before dumping her in a home for the aged. She then has an extramarital affair with Sidhu Singh (Ivon). On the other hand, Reema (Sanita) decides to abort her child to obtain an immediate visa.
Review:
After warning his wife to not spend lavishly and imploring her to take care of his ageing mother, Simon bids goodbye to his wife Jenny and proceeds abroad. Soon after he leaves, Jenny starts an affair with Sidhu Singh; her ailing mother-in-law opposes. Considering the old woman her only obstacle, Jenny starts treating her badly. In the face of all the ill-treatment, Maria eagerly awaits Blessed Mother’s visit to her house so that she can share all her grievances with Her. But before that day, Jenny dumps her mother-in-law in a home for the aged.
When Mother Mary does visit the house in the absence of Maria, there is a miracle and Her statue disappears, depicting Her disapproval of Jenny’s cruelty. On another visit, considering the statue an obstacle, Jenny’s boyfriend decides to throw it out. What are the consequence?
In another family, Reema (Sanita) aborts her child as she makes preparations to go abroad. Her husband, Leo (Anif), a decent man, does his best to change her mind, but to no avail. Blessed Mother’s visit to her house leads to a revelation, which serves as an eye-opener to Reema.
Later, the woman craves for the gift of the child, but isn’t able to bear one easily. Leo convinces his wife to not lose hope, but to pray frantically with faith in her heart. Will her prayers be answered?
John D’Silva’s tiatr ‘Saibinn’ is a dedication to commemorate the centenary celebrations of the Blessed Mother’s apparition at Fatima in Portugal. His aim has been to revive the message given by Our Lady of Fatima to the three teenagers, which aims at repentance and moving away from sin.
In the tiatr, the director tries to project the superficial devotion towards Mother Mary in some families, when many things are not set right among the members. Negligence towards the ailing and aged, extra-marital affairs and abortion are some of the highlights.
Meena has played her dominating character with ease, while Peter de Pedda as her spouse portrays his firm and strict role confidently. Though Ivon plays a negative role, he doesn’t look the part; he could have been more expressive. Sanita is in command and delivers promptly and Arif does justice to his character. This time around, Mita as the ageing mother wins with her appearance and dialogues.
In the comic acts, John D’Silva, Kenny and Remy entertain with their natural jokes, but a couple of them sounded old. All the same, the trio brings in enough laughter among the audience. Check the episode where John D’Silva gets a producer to produce a CD and what follows next.
In the category of songs, there are solos by Mini Mario, Edward, Sanita, John D’Silva and Ivon. But a duo by Peter and Ivon on lottery and ‘matka’ and a duet by Mini Mario and Mita on alcoholism stand out among the rest. The scenes introduced on stage, with special light effects by A P Rojols deserve appreciation.
