By Gasper Crasto
Down the years, tiatrists have kept Goans amused with some classic dramas especially in Goa, Bombay and the Middle-East Gulf.
In spite of the general indifference of government and the onslaught of satellite TV and other forms of entertainment, tiatr has managed to hold its ground as the premier form of staged entertainment for Goans.
From the time ‘Khells’ have moved from ground-level to the stage to the evolution of the non-stop drama; tiatr has grown with new life and dynamism. And with the emergence of new directors, formation of new troupes, tiatr activities have seen a resurgence of sorts.
In recent times, Tiatrist have ‘discovered’ new lands and frontiers staging their shows in USA, Canada and even Cayman Islands where Goans are based. Perhaps Australia, New Zealand and South Africa could be the next destinations.
LONDONKARS DOMINATE DRAMAS ABROAD
There was a phase when Kuwait boasted of the best Goan ‘tiatrists’ residing abroad. Still, there are a number of talented artistes and musicians and hardworking organizers grinding their knees to upstage a show or bring in the best stars and superstars available to entertain public.
At the moment, we note that Tiatrs have grown increasingly popular in London.
If we are to believe the news and social media, there are dramas almost every other week in London, and at an average atleast 3 shows of each drama.
While Goan troupes visiting London have become like a Goa-to-Bombay trip for some superstars like Comedian Agostinho, Prince Jacob and John D’Silva; London-based Goan audiences are lucky to enjoy tiatrs with the same taste as they did in Goa.
PROGRESS & COLLAPSE
Development in Internet has permitted the Goan diaspora to be more aware of modern-day artistes and performances.
However, although there is progress on one front, there seems to be a collapse at the other end.
Just before the turn of century, we saw a gradual decline of ‘quality’ tiatrs and tiatrists or ‘no-shows’ from Bombay -- the long-time home of a large section of noble Bomboikar artistes.
Perhaps it was due to the death of some superstars like Prem Kumar, C. Alvares, Alred Rose, Bab Peter, etc and other renowned directors?
No matter what, year after year, especially in Gulf countries, it has become extremely difficult to rope in capacity crowds to come and watch. Remarkably though, this does not happen at Mangalorean, Tamil, Hindi or Malayalam shows; their shows are always full.
LONDONKARS RULE THE ROOST
February 2019 saw Joicelan Furtado’s London troupe performing in Kuwait. The drama ‘Lifetime Award’ had some of the best known London-based actors, and superstars from Goa.
The show was very entertaining and flowing – comparable with any commercial show in Goa – beautiful songs, power-packed acting, great dialogues, and hilarious comedy.
London-based Simon Gonsalves, Salu de Loutolim and director Joicelan Furtado excelled in their roles.
Simon Gonsalves is an actor capable of jumping even into the shoes of Shahrukh Khan and enact any role given to him. While Salu de Loutolim will bring shivers to the dead with his daredevil acting, Joicelan is a prince charming on stage.
An ex-Kuwaitkar, Simon is still being missed in Kuwait while a colossal void is left on Goan stage by super actors such as Salu de Loutolim and Joicelan who are at their prime.
MESMERIZING PERFORMANCE
Antonette de Maina ‘notoriously’ captured the audience by her costumes alone; her presence was both atrocious and mesmerizing to the eye. I wonder if the audience looked anywhere else but her when she was on stage for more reasons than one.
Evergreen Felcy does justice to her role as well as her image and self-respect.
The comedy handled by Humbert and everyone’s darling Ben Evangelisto was superb.
The sideshows were made all the more hilarious by Comedian Costy with his slipped slang dialects. Experienced Humbert handled the supposedly X-rated words without sounding expressive or vulgar -- leaving it to the audience to google all the double meanings.
Young Dorothy Camara was equally good with the comedy and brought color to the team.
SINGERS THAT LEFT A MARK
Rosario de Benaulim stands right at the top among Goan singers. Not just a melodious singer, his songs are meaningful and best part of his songs is – his tunes are nice and unique. He could be called as a genuine composer – composing tunes as well as lyrics.
While Victor de Ribandar was good in the opening song which had a rhythmic and unique tune; once famous Tony de Ribandar’s reason for fading away on Konkani stage could be attributed to singing on old, rusty tunes.
Ben Evangelists’ famous song on his miraculous healing which has been doing rounds on the net was a treat to watch ‘live’, the legend of an artiste brought the house down receiving a huge round of applause from his adorable fans.
The Singing Siblings Peviolla ani Wilma were amazing in their songs; their blend of voices and the songs they performed being of the highest quality. Konkani stage needs such beautiful and talented singers to energize the audience.
LONDONKARS STILL CONDEMNING RANE?
There was just one political song, that too on a dilapidated subject of Pratapsingh Rane. We can understand the sentiment of Londonkars, but condemning Rane for words that could be prophesizing the reality of ‘academic failure’ of Goan youth going west should be volte-faced.
MUSICIANS AND ‘GENERAL OPINION’
The musicians were very good – just Matias (Jamdoo) Sequeira on drums and Framton de Sa on Keyboards with Kuwait’s Dennis Gonsalves on bass guitar. The intros of every song, background music for the play, etc, were superbly executed.
All in all, the drama had everything in it like a masala film – love, hate, spice, melodrama and anti-climax, as well as marvelous lighting by London’s popular Gregg Carvalho.
It was a well-rehearsed and smooth show, and given that it was staged in USA, UK and Dubai, Kuwait’s hardworking organizers deserved a full-house for their efforts. We all hope they break even with the expenses.
‘Entertaining’ is the conclusion. But the drama has not created any buzz at places it has been staged. It is mainly due to the lack of innovative script.
The script was like any other ‘common’ tiatr story since times immemorial – since the times of Ligorio Fernandes, A.M. Pacheco, Patrick Dourado, and Roseferns -- centered around 2 brothers, a treacherous wife, and a villain to complete the heartbreak.
BACK TO THE EIGHTIES
End of the show it looked like the audience were watching a drama back from the 80s, with a title that was ‘chosen out of nothing’ to put an icing on the cake.
There was applause at the end of the show, no doubt. Surely, it was not for the title but for the fluent entertainment.
The word ‘best’ according to the dictionary, means unsurpassable, matchless, unparalleled and incomparable.
In the current era, Prince Jacob looks to be the only director trying to revolutionize Konkani stage with ‘international standards’. God bless him and others who are putting their best efforts to take Goan drama to another level.
WELL, THE 'BEST' COME ONCE IN A ‘LIFETIME’ AND THEY SURELY DESERVE AN ‘AWARD’.
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Photo Courtesy: Gabby de Chandor (Dubai)ALSO READ:
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