Tiatrist

is a type of musical theatre popular in the state of Goa on the west coast of India as well as in Mumbai and with expatriate communities in the Middle East, United Kingdom and other cities where Konkani speakers have a considerable presence. The dramas are performed mainly in the Roman Konkani dialects and include music, dancing and singing. performers are called ''tiatrists''.

Etymology

The word comes from the Portuguese word for theatre, . Earlier variations of the word were and .

Description

today revolves around social, religious and political themes. It is considered to be a mirror of Goan culture. The drama consists of six or seven acts called . The acts are interspersed by songs which need not be directly linked to the content or the issues of the main drama. There are two or three songs between each of the acts.

''Tiatrists'' have always demonstrated a very high degree of social awareness. Most of the themes of are concerned with social problems confronting the people. Despite centuries of Portuguese suppression and post-liberation neglect from the state governments, as an art form has not just survived but thrived and reinvented itself in many ways.

The as a dramatic form has been traditionally dominated and patronised by the Christian community, but over the years several young Hindu artists have been performing in the , which are also seen by people from the Hindu community.

Songs

Songs integral to the plays are known as . Other songs, called , are generally either comedic or based on topical, political and controversial issues that are interspersed through the performance. These musical interludes are independent of the main theme of the play. The songs are often satirical and unsparing of the politics and politicians of Goa. The music is provided by a live band including keyboard, trumpet, saxophone, bass guitar and drums.

''Tiatr'' today

Besides the regular commercial shows, are held as part of the celebrations of nearly every church and chapel feast in the state.

The Goa Kala Academy organises a state-level competition every year while the Tiatr Academy organises a popular competition for dramas which has exceeded 25 performances.

songs and performances are recorded and sold on CD and DVD in Goan and Middle Eastern markets.

Although efforts have been made to preserve the art form as a tradition of Goa, there have been calls for greater recognition of Mumbai-based ''tiatrists''.

Khell ''tiatr''

There is another version of the called the , whose performance is restricted to the festivals of Carnival, Intruz and Easter. It differs from the Konkani in another respect, that is, that its songs are integrated with the main drama and do not deviate in content from it.

History

Prior to the emergence of , entertainment in Konkani was mainly through and . Both of them had their distinct style. While the was more lyrical, the had dialogues and while the former was more popular in Bardez; the latter was firmly entrenched in Salcete.

Costancio Lucasinho Caridade Ribeiro, more popularly known as Lucasinho Ribeiro, who was from Assagao, was seeking employment in Bombay. Passionate about the performing arts, he was highly impressed with the stylised Italian operas performed there. He took up a job for an Italian opera troupe which was touring Indian cities at the time, staging an opera called ''Italian Boy''. When the troupe left India, Lucazinho Ribeiro bought the costumes used in the play with the intention of staging a Konkani play on the style of the Italian Opera. His collaborators in the effort were Caetaninho Fernandes of Taleigao and João Agostinho Fernandes of Borda, Margao.

On Easter Sunday, 17 April 1892, the first-ever performance, ''Italian Bhurgo'', adapted from the Italian play, was staged at the New Alfred Theatre, Bombay. This day is celebrated as (Tiatr Day). Hence, the Goan art form of was the product of the meeting of Goan culture and the opera of Italy. Since there were many different scenes in this and it required different stage sets, they thought of dropping the curtain and performing songs and dances in front of it. This was needed to entertain the audience while the stage setting was being done behind the curtain. These songs and dances did not have any relevance to the theme of the play.

The first original script was written and directed by João Agostinho Fernandes in 1895 in Bombay and was titled ''Belle de Cavel'' or ''Sundori Cavelchi''. For all his consistent devotion and encouragement over fifty years, Fernandes was conferred the title ''Pai Tiatrist'' ('Father Tiatrist').

Regina Fernandes, wife of the playwright João Agostinho Fernandes, became the first female actor in on 22 November 1904. ''Divorce'', a written and directed by Airistides Dias, was the first to complete 100 performances on 5 October 1980.

However, as time passed, the standard of as well as Khell deteriorated in quality with the introduction of elements of vulgarity. Educated people stopped patronising the as well as the . While was making its presence felt, its original form – the and the – were dying a slow death and the finally stopped being performed while the continued.

In 1956 the underwent a dramatic change. Given its state at that time, Antonio Moraes thought it fit to take the from the street performance to a stage performance. Helped by his friend and colleague Antonio Marian, the ''khell'' was performed on a stage for the first time with a backdrop and other paraphernalia associated with theatre. The first , , written and directed by Antonio Moraes, was staged on the third day of Carnival of March 1956. However, this form became very popular only in the 1970s when Rosario Rodrigues coined the term and came up with extremely successful shows. Thus, the ground-based plays known as evolved onto the stage and further into 'non-stop dramas'. They have now generally dropped this label and are generally referred to as .

contributed to keeping the Konkani language alive during Portuguese colonial rule, when Konkani was suppressed. played a major role in the struggle to make Konkani the official language of Goa.

In 2007, the Government of Goa started the Tiatr Academy of Goa (TAG) to facilitate the development of . In 2008 legislation was approved granting 15 lakh () rupees to the newly formed Tiatr Academy of Goa.

File:Tiatr, a popular Konkani folk theatre from from Goa 17.jpg, Tiatrists performing on stage
File:Tiatr, a popular Konkani folk theatre from from Goa 03.jpg, Tiatr performance

List of tiatrists

Past tiatrists

Active tiatrists

References

External links

{{Performing arts of Goa

Goan music
Theatre in India
Performing arts in India
Culture of Goa