Tiatr: Mirror of Goa

(Editorial in 'Herald')

The Konkani tiatr, a dramatic art form, unique to Goa has flourished and thrived for over a hundred years. Tiatr has been sustained entirely by popular support as it has never been extended any patronage and help either by the Portuguese colonial regime or successive governments in post liberation Goa. The Kala Academy, which is the premier institution in the State for the promotion of performing art has historically ignored tiatr. The Chairman of the Kala Academy was present on the occasion of a function associated with the tiatr recently for the first time probably because the Chief Minister Francisco Sardinha, an avid tiatr fan was the chief guest. Not just the Kala Academy, but even institutions like the Konkani Academy set up with the primary objective of promoting Konkani language and culture has tended to regard tiatr as a low brew form of popular entertainment rather than a distinct art form. In the highly casteist Goan society, tiatr has been looked down upon as a popular form of entertainment of the lower classes. So much in the so-called elite sections of society tiatr is virtually looked upon as taboo and unsophisticated. But this disdainful and patronising attitude has not affected the mass support to tiatr, which has made it commercially sustainable. Tiatr shows are invariably housefull particularly when a new tiatr is launched. Tiatrist have achieved a high degree of professionalism in recent years with elaborate sets, lighting and other technical aspects. But the success of the tiatr is mainly due to the fact that the themes chosen are topical and contemporary. What distinguishes the tiatr from other dramatic forms, is the songs on topical, burning, controversial issues that are interspersed through the performance. These musical interludes which are very satirical are independent of the main theme of the play. The songs are irreverent and gently or at times even savagely poke fun at the government. We recall that a long time ago when there were no Sulabh Sauchalayas along the Mandovi river, the government came out with an order threatening anyone who irrigated the Mandovi river side with harsh punishment. In a tiatr we attended, soon after, the super comedian Jacinto Vaz was seen carrying a bottle explaining to the audience that it did not contain feni but was being carried as there were not urinals along the river front and he did not want to attract the wrath of the authorities. Call it crude or populist or low brew but the fact remains that the message is communicated most effectively in the medium that the masses can understand. Konkani tiatrist have been unsparing of public authorities and have consistently exposed their follies and subjected them mercilessly to ridicule. While tiatr has always relied a great deal on satire, it has most of the time been clean, good fun and there is almost never any malice. Tiatrist have always demonstrated a very high degree of social awareness. Most of the themes of tiatr are concerned with social problems confronting the people. Tiatrs have focused on the drug problem, alchoholism, the false sense of values of Goans who strike it rich in the Gulf, the fall in values that lead to the neglect of parents, the problems of inter-caste marriage and the like. There is a very healthy sense of irrevenance in the themes and the dialogues in tiatr and the high and mighty including ministers and even priests. Initially the tiatr as a dramatic form was the exclusive preserve of the Christian community. But in the last two decades, several members of the majority community have written and staged tiatrs. Tiatrist have come from all sections of society. The former speaker and the Member of the Legislative Assembly from Calangute is a very eminent and successful tiatrist, who has won the first prize in the annual tiatr competition. Several priests, notably Fr. Freddie Dcosta, editor of the Roman Konkani magazine Gulab have written and staged tiatrs. Besides the regular commercial shows, tiatrs are invariably held to commemorate every church and chapel feast in the State. Though a popular entertainment form, tiatrs have always catered to the family. Though the dialogue can be very earthy it has none of bawdiness of the Marathi tamasha, which it resembles in many ways. The inane Parsee bedroom farces which are so popular with sections of the elite in Mumbai are far more

vulgar than the Konkani tiatr has even been or will be. As in the case of Hindi films, even mediocre tiatrs become popular because of the songs during the interludes, which are distinct from the theme but do not interrupt the narrative. The unfortunate part is that with rare exceptions, there has been a lack of innovativeness in tiatr. There has been little or no interaction between leading Konkani writers and tiatrist. Tiatrist have been reluctant to experiment. There have been very few attempts to adopt well-known plays in English or the regional languages to the tiatr form. We have always felt that the tiatr could be the ideal medium for musicals. The major obstacle to innovation and growth in tiatr as a dramatic form is a complete lack of official support. The fact that Konkani in the Devanagiri script was made the official language has also worked against the interest of tiatr. The Konkani cultural bodies consider tiatr a low brew and have tended to ignore it completely. The fact that Pratapsing Raoji Rane has been the Chairman of Kala Academy and the fact that he has always had a strong bias towards Marathi, has gone against tiatr. The neglect of tiatr is unfortunate, as it can be used as a very powerful instrument of social change - particularly in building awareness on issues like health care and pollution . Tiatrs are a powerful means of mass communication and has to be harnessed. The unfortunate part is that the bane of tiatr, as indeed of every institution, is groupism and proverbial Goan crab mentality. When we sought to get the tiatrist together to celebrate the centenary of the tiatr, the initiative fell apart because of the discordance within the ranks of the tiatrist. Goan research scholars have not bothered to study this unique dramatic form. The only authentic research on tiatr was conducted by an outsider Dr Promod Kale, but his efforts are not widely known or reported. Even the harshest critics of tiatr acknowledge that it was this dramatic form which kept the Konkani language alive during Portuguese colonial rule, when Konkani mai was suppressed. During the postliberation period when the Maharashtrawadis were in power again, the tiatrists preserved and promoted the language. Tiatrists played a major role in the struggle to make Konkani the officials language of the State. It is a good sign that the present Chief Minister, who is unabashed about his love for Konkani has acknowledged the role of tiatrist in preserving and promoting Konkani. Francisco Sardinha has rightly noted that the tiatr is a very powerful tool of mass communication. Tiatr should be encouraged so that both the theatric content and the level of professionalism improves. The school of dramatics and music in the Kala Academy must conduct special courses for aspiring tiatrists. Tiatrists on their part need to shed their petty personal rivalries and come together for the larger benefit of this unique dramatic form, which must work towards new vistas in the new millennium. (Editorial in 'Herald') Konkani plays called "Tiatr" or "Natak" are held in each and every village. "Tiatr" are held by the Goan Christian community and "Natak" are held by the Goan Hindu Community. It is a must for the local Deity's feast. May it be a Local Saint's 'Fest' or a 'Zatra'. It is the way of life for Goans. Tiatr plays are the folk variety. The Tiatr groups now a days stage plays in prominent towns of Goa and are quite popular. Subjects such as Fiction, Politics, Family life, Social problems are also gaining ground. Tiatr- Folk drama of Goa Bottom of Form Being rich in culture and heritage, the Goans have myriads of performing arts. Drama is one of them. The highlight of Goan drama, however, is their folk drama. Tiatr and Jagar are the names of two of the chief forms. Some of the others are Ranmale, Dashavatari, Kalo, Goulankala, Lalit, Kala and Rathkala. All the folk dramas practiced in Goa use the narrative style with the complimentary help of song and dance. The stories that they narrate are mostly those from the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. However, with changing times, these dance dramas have remodeled themselves to include modern-day social issues as well. The Tiatr or the Konkani Tiatr is a unique art form of Goa as it is solely social in content. The modern day Tiatr, however, does include religious issues a trend which started after Goa attained its liberty. The Tiatr is another instance where mass support plays a crucial role. It is one of those arts which despite centuries of

Portuguese suppression and post-liberation neglect from the state governments has not just survived but also thrived and reinvented itself in many. Tiatr, one of Goas popular form of local drama. The Tiatr comprises of a blend of song and dance with a taut narrative. Mostly they deal with social issues; in fact at one time they only dealt with social issues. They enacted family quarrels. However, since the time Goa attained its liberation from the Portuguese, religious issues have also filtered in their content. Now the Tiatr revolves around social, religious and political themes. The Tiatr is like a Greek drama in the sense that the acts are interspersed by songs which need not be directly linked to the content or the issues of the main drama. The drama contains some 6 or 7 acts. There is another version of the Tiatr called the Khell Tiatr, whose performance is restricted to the festivals of Carnival, Intruz and Easter. It differs from the Konkani Tiatr in another respect, that is that its songs are integrated with the main drama and do not deviate in content from it. Konkani 'Tiatr' originated in Bombay - by Flaviano Dias Tiatr, a popular stage art form of the Goan Catholic masses, is facing a challenge in its centuary year. Like other stage art forms, tiatr was looked down by the elite and the middle class Goans in Bombay, where it originated in the last centuary. However tiatr survived on the patronage of Goan working people in Bombay, Pune and far away Karachi (which was part of the Bombay province then). The theatre movement got a new direction when the British residents of Bombay set up a play house at Grant Road (locally known as PILA HOUSE and now falls in the red-light area and mostly stages Marathi Tamashas). Here Parsi and Marathi dramas were also being staged. Later Royal Opera House was constructed in Girgaum area. Govind Narayan Madgoankar who wrote his 'Mumbaichem Varnan' gives vivid picture of the first 25 years of the British regime in Bombay around 1820. He denounces the theatre and states it would spoil the youth. He says while the dramas written in English were by educated persons, in Bombay, they were being staged by the illiterates. Most of the dramas contained vulgar fun. Even in England he says drama actors are not considered respectable. His views were generally shared by most of the middle class persons in those days. Like Marathi dramas, the tiatr took inspiration from operas staged in Bombay. While the Marathi theatre introduced songs in their 'sangeet natya' following opera style, the Goan tiatrist rendered funny songs in between two parts of the 'tiatr' and called them 'clowns'. The Parsi theatre too had such funny characters coming between two acts of their plays while the stage settings are being changed. Goans saw these stage performances when they went with their employers to these shows. Another factor that helped the tiatr development are the Goan bands. In those days, when silent films were being shown in some cinema houses, Goans bands used to provide the musical interlude. These bands became useful for tiatr and later to the Hindi film industry too. Goan migration to Bombay had increased by then and several residential clubs (cudds) were set up on village and caste basis. The women too established separate clubs for Goan girls working in Parsi, British and other rich persons' houses. There were about 500 such Goan clubs mostly situated at Dhobitalao, Mazagaon and other areas of Bombay. This was the ready audience for tiatr in addition to other Goan families staying in South Bombay. Tiatrists too were working persons and were able to stage their dramas only during the weekends at Bhangwadi Theatre, where Konkani, Marathi and Gujrathi dramas were regularly staged. The century old Bhangwadi Theatre now closed, and Goans stage their dramas at Dinanath, Birla Matushree, Damodar Hall and other suburban halls. By now the Konkani tiatr is also being patronised by some Mangaloreans and East Indians in Bombay. In suburban areas of Bombay, Goan tiatrists and others organized their shows at the time of feasts or other cultural occasions.

However in all these tiatrs, males used to perform female roles as in other theatres in India. But the Marathi stage got out of this development much faster than Konkani tiatr(?). Only when film actress like Mohana came on the stage, a new era of girls was opened up. While other theatres including Marathi followed the western form of three acts, the Goan tiatr continued their six or seven curtain (pordde) form. Strangely, the audience still gives more importance to the songs rendered in between parts of the tiatr rather than the plot or story of tiatr itself. Development of film industry, affected the other theatres more than the Konkani tiatr probably because of the songs composed on diverse issues and subjects. During the freedom struggle of goa, nationalists tried to stage patriotic tiatrs but they could not pass the hurdle of the Portuguese censorship. In addition to the precensorship, the Portuguese sent their police and informants to hear the songs which might have been changed at the last moment. The Portuguese propagandists also tried to use 'tiatr' medium for denouncing 'Jai Hindists'. Even after 100 years, the tiatr is still marching along the same trodden path though some attempts has been made towards change after liberation. The plots of tiatr have changed, performance has improved but the huge cost of stage settings and even of staging tiatrs is keeping it behind other threatres. The other difficulty of tiatr is its limited audience of Goan Catholics compared to, say the Marathi stage, which has a wider appeal. The spread of education in Goa has led to changes in the villages, and likely to affect popularity of tiatr. The entry of TV and now Star & BBC has changed people's demand. The video parlours have opened up another vista for the village folks, some of whom have petro-dollars to burn. The danger is now to the entire cultural being of Indians (and Goans) because of the cultural intrusion in homes through these new media forms. The Goan mandos and other folk songs are already replaced amongst upper classes by pop, rock and other western forms of music. Slowly, the western forms are percolating into the life of the masses too in rural ares. 'Tiatr' started with the inspiration of the western Opera form can last, if it is able to assimilate the rock form of music as the Hindi film industry is trying to do. Or provide something different that would hold people's attention. A study made of the different information medium has indicated that the major audience size is being cornered by monthly and weekly magazines, newspapers, radio and TV. Theatre receives less patrongage than even books, movies(?). The Goan public must see the danger and take steps with the help of the authorities not to allow the local cultural forms in this new information age. In the first lesson of our second level Portuguese course, we learnt about a tradition of Portuguese culture that today is slowly becoming irrelevant. Today with great pleasure I present to you a tradition of Goa culture that is keeping itself relevant and doing a lot to improve the Goan society. The Tiatr of Goa