Goan Tiatrs

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.  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.  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 irreverence in the themes and the dialogues in tiatr and the high and mighty including ministers and even priests. The tiatr as a dramatic form has been traditionally the exclusive preserve of the Christian community.  Tiatrists come from all sections of society. 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.  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 was suppressed. Tiatrists played a major role in the struggle to make Konkani the officials language of the State.

Goa is always projected as a fusion of East and West. This is basically because of the influence of the Portuguese who ruled Goa for almost 450 years. Portuguese regime ended in Goa only in December 1961. Goa was known as 'the Rome of the East'. Portuguese rulers did try their best to give this impression to the whole world. Some of our Goans too did not remain behind to project Goa as something different from the rest of India. This happened only because of tremendous influence of 450 years of Portuguese rule on our culture.

Portuguese rule in Goa was a set back to Konkani Culture.  It was a set back to the creativity of the Goan art, set back to thinking process of Goans and it was a set back to the customs and traditions of Goan society. Our songs, our dances and our dramas suffered very badly. In other words Goan Culture was suppressed and not allowed to flourish.

With this background I would like to bring to light various aspects of Tiatrwhich is the most popular dramatic form of the Konkani Stage.

History in brief

It is surprising to learn that the Goan Tiatr took birth in neighboring Bombay, almost 119 years back i.e. in 1892. A young man called Lucazinho Ribeiro hailing from Sokolwaddo, Assagao in Bardez Taluka can be called the innovator of the Tiatr because he along with Joao Agostinho Fernandes and others staged the first Tiatr performance on the occasion of Easter on 17th April, 1892. The name of the first Tiatr presented was "Italian Bhurgo". This Tiatr was written and directed by Lucazinho Ribeiro hence he is the inventor of this unique dramatic form.
     
However it was Joao Agostinho Fernandes hailing from Margao, Salcete who wrote and directed numerous Tiatrs and gave a high standard of excellence to the Tiatr Stage. He even published his Tiatr manuscripts in book form over hundred years back. He was rightly called the 'Father of Tiatr'.

There is no documentation at all which gives a clear picture of the staging of the first Tiatr in 1892. It is only in 1943, on the occasion of Golden Jubilee of the Tiatr that Joao Agostinho Fernandes wrote a letter, which was published in the issue of 'Ave Maria' dated 28th November, 1943. In this letter, Joao Agostinho Fernandes describes how Lucazinho Ribeiro got a job in an Italian Opera Company and how he wrote the first tiatr 'Italian Bhurgo'. He also in this letter makes a mention of one Caitaninho who also assisted Mr. Rebeiro besides him to stage the First Tiatr in 1892. Mr. Fernandes also informs through this letter how jealousy crept in and how different dramatic troupes were formed, thereby creating disunity among the tiatr artistes in those years. Although  Joao Agostinho Fernandes went all out to develop the Tiatr  and brought high standard to the Tiatr Stage and whom people lovingly called Father of Tiatr shows his greatness of in the last paragraph of his letter in which he says "Undoubtedly the credit goes to Late Mr. Lucazinho Ribeiro on the Tiatr stage. I bow my head to Mr. Ribeiro, who was my guide and teacher and because of his guidance I still continue to present Tiatrs of good values to the Tiatr lovers".                          
          
This letter is the only source, which provides information about the innovation of the Tiatr and the staging of the first Tiatr. The information given in this letter is authentic because the letter was written by a person who was directly involved in staging the first Tiatr "Italian Bhurgo" in 1892.

Why did such a dramatic form come into existence? It was a fact that before Tiatr was born, the entertainment to the Goan masses was provided by folk dramatic forms namely Zagor & Khell. Zagor was popular in the north of Goa whereas Khell, which was also known as Fell, was popular in the south of Goa.

Infact Zagor & Khell entertained the Goan masses for a long time, Whenever Goans migrated to other parts of the country for employment they took with them these forms of entertainment. However as time passed the standard of Zagor as well as Fell deteriorated due to introduction of elements of vulgarity to create fun and cheap entertainment for the audience. This decline of quality in staging Zagor and Khell prevented many people from witnessing these forms of entertainment. Educated people stopped patronizing the Zagor as well as the Khell.

Goans were in need of good and qualitative entertainment and thus the Tiatr was born. Shri Lucazinho Ribeiro was one of the few youths in Assagao who knew to read and write English. Being unemployed, he used to give tutions to others in English. He was very much interested in cultural activities from his young age. He was a good singer too and enjoyed singing Konkani & English songs.

During the centenary year of the Tiatr in the year 1992, I visited Assagao in order to find out his roots. I met Lucazinho Ribeiro's grand daughter-in-law Lucy who showed me the house of Lucazinho Ribeiro, which was all in ruins. Only the balcony was existing without the roof over it. One had to climb 12-14 steps to enter the collapsed balcony. She informed me that her father-in-law used to tell her that Lucazinho Ribeiro used to stage small cultural programmes of Konkani songs and skits by converting the balcony of his house into a temporary stage. He used to make use of bed-sheets as curtains.

Having knowledge of English and being unemployed, he migrated to Bombay, as most of the Goans did, in search of a job.

During that time Italian troupes were touring important cities of India such as Bombay, Calcutta, Delhi and Madras to stage Italian Operas. They used to come with the required number of artistes' in order to reduce the cost of transport, accommodation, etc. When in India, they used to employ Indians mostly as back stage artistes. Lucazinho Ribeiro, having love for dramatic art, tried his luck to get employment in one of the Italian dramatic troupes. He got a job as a back stage artiste. The troupe was staging the opera called“Italian Boy”. When the troupe left India, Lucazinho Ribeiro bought the costumes used in the play with an intention to produce a similar drama in Konkani. Accordingly, based on the same story of “Italian Boy” he write a “Teatro” in Konkani and called it “Italian Bhurgo”

As there were many different scenes in this “Teatro” and as it required different stage sets, in order not to waste time, he thought of dropping the curtain and introducing songs and dances in front of the curtain. 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 ‘Italian Bhurgo’. This is how a new concept of dramatic form called Teatro came into existence on 17th April, 1892.

Tiatr – Not a Folk Drama

A folk drama, a folk song or folk music is generally limited to the knowledge that is transmitted from one generation to another by word of mouth or imitation. Nobody knows about their composers and writers. There are no records in writing either of the prose content or the music or song. The music is crude, the singers  are hoarse, musical instruments rustic and traditional and the musicians unrefined. In case of Tiatr there is no such evidence whatsoever to say that Tiatr belongs to the folk category. 

The first Tiatr “Italian Bhurgo” was written by Lucasinho Ribeiro and staged in Bombay on 17th April, 1892. This Tiatr was an adaptation of the Italian Opera called ‘Italian Boy’. When Mr. Ribeiro encountered difficulties for setting up the stage for different scenes in the play, as time would be wasted during the change of setting, which could bore the audience, he thought of introducing songs in front of the curtain while the stage was being set for the next scene behind the curtain. He did it and succeeded in his first attempt. And this format came to be known as ‘Tiatr’. The source of the script of the play is known and the writer who translated/adapted the Italian Opera in Konkani is also known. Secondly, the musical instruments used to provide music for the songs included a violin, a banjo, a trumpet, and a drum. There were no rustic musical instruments used nor were the songs sung on that day  were traditional in nature. The musicians were those who had studied music and learnt to read and write the score of music. There is no connection whatsoever to the folk plays “Zagor” or “Khell or Fell” in the evolution of the Tiatr. This format came into existence when there was tremendous influence of European Modern Theatre on Indian Theatre. In fact Marathi Theatre in Bombay and Bengali Theatre in Calcuta had already undergone that universal change.

After the success of the first tiatr ‘Italian Bhurgo’ Lucasinho Ribeiro translated some more world classics such as Alladin, Ali Baba and Carlos Magno and staged them as Tiatrs. Sebastiao Gabriel D’Souza popularly known as ‘Karachiwala’ translated ‘Merchant of Venice’,  ‘As You Like It’, ‘Hamlet’ and ‘Winter’s Tale’ and staged in the Tiatr format. Joao Lazarus D’Souza adapted and staged ‘Romeo and Juliet’ in the same manner. This only proves that the tiatr was born and developed under the influence of modern European Theatre. Joao Agostinho Fernandes was the first writer to write original scripts of Tiatrs on themes highlighting injustices in the Goan society e.g. caste system, dowry harassment, etc. etc. He was also a pioneer in composing lyrics and original music scores for songs. These songs can be heard even toda