On Sunnday, 16-6-19, I saw the new Tiatro “C.M.” written and directed by the well - known Tiatrist Mariano Fernanndes. It was very well attended by the audience starting at 3.45 pm at Hanuman Theatre, Mapusa where due to the hall being a non-A/c, it was horrible at least in the beginning to cope up with the heat. Not only that it was a non A/c hall but even some of the chairs were found broken and defective requring repairs if not replacement. What is the use of increasing the Ticket charges suddenly astronomically by Rs 50/- from 150/-to 200/-per seat when amenities are not provided properly.
Moreover, the arrangement for the Stage setting was not done properly because of it one front Curtain fell down needing time to fix it back, while this Curtain was in the process of making it ok, Mike system indicated its mostly irresponsible arrangement on the part of the Management of this Tiatro. I remember in 1958 when C.Alvares came to Goa to stage his best Tiatro “Axea”, my father and his one local friend got the contract to show this Tiatro in our village Candolim starting at 10.30 PM. But C.Alvares was C. Alvares, he was not from the ranks of Ladru & Pedru but a genius in Tiatro and composing excellent Duets. He was moreover a responsible man as he was an excellent Organiser and to prove this capacity he came at 5.00 PM to the place where “Mattou” arrangement was in progress to stage his Tiatro in another 5.5 hours and from close angle he watched everything was arranged properly and in time. He told my father who when questioned him politely why he had to come especially only to check the Mattou arrangement when everything is taken care of, replied Alvares, sorry to speak like this but I could not get a nap after my lunch because my whole attention was rolling on Mattou arrangement, of course because I am a responsible director, my audience have confidence in me and this trust to build in me and my audience it took me years besides strong sacrifices. I cannot take my audience for granted and above all as the director I have my own reponsibilty.
At the start of the Tiatro people started shouting vociferously thereby inflicting fear into the minds and hearts of the attendees thus putting into the minds of the director and the owners of the Hall that “beware, it is too long that this hall is not equipped with sound Mike system. Gone were the days when Mapusa had the huge and spacious Mattou of Narvenkar opposite to the Police Station that catered to the needs not only of Mapusa City and its ambient areas but also many of the villages around Mapusa. It is a pity that the elected representatives from Mapusa are doing nothing much for the betterment of Mapusa. See, have a round in Mapusa Bazar, everything is filty because elected representatives of Mapusa are filty, they have no interest in doing anything good for Mapusa, it looks they are elected not to serve Mapusa and its citizens but to serve themselves only.
As announced in the local newspaper the Bollywood actors Dhruv and Rajiv and TV actress Harsha as well as Bollywood singer who performed so well in this Tiatro were not even introduced to the audience. The actress Harsha with her two singing items in Konkani mesmerized the audience not only thru her vocals but also thru her attractive appearance and beutiful looks while both the Bollywood artistes played their respective roles in the play extremely well, one played the role of the CM and the other that of the local politician. By observing their acting minutely, I found their every move even walk and talk had the mathematical precision. They brought an extra flavour and grandeur to the Konkani Stage. They were ably supported in their performance by yet another Hindu female artiste Shalini who does the role of the mother of CM who takes the whole Tiatro to the crescendo in the last scene which captures the total attention of the audience. While taking the story to its zenith, he scolds the current rulers of Goa for doing nothing for the cause of the public when it is so easy to do. In fact the Konkani Tiatro Stage is brought to the pedestal level by the Hindu artistes also from the time the most renowned among the Hindu artistes, Kamat de Assolna stepped on to the Konkani Stage somewhere in 1956. Both the Bollywood artistes as indicated above are also Hindus just as we have so many in Goa who kept the Konkani Stage well decorated.
Mariano in the past was known to bring about some innovations on the Stage but this time not much new nor anything extra ordinary. However, I cannot remain indicating my admiration for the depiction of the Goa Legislative Assembly where it looked like live session was going on with the display of Benches and Tables as they are there in the Assembly. Full credit to Mariano Fernandes for this innovation of which type I never seen before shown by any of the best or mediocre directors. The scene of the Railway carrying Coal looked very genuine and inducting in this Tiatro the best of yesteryears artiste Bai Platilda who is still in high demand from the audience, stole the show by her same old looks, voice, appropriate dress code and smart acting. She was not only the Comedy Queen of Konkani Stage but was the genius comedian because she gained a lot of confidence and experience by playing her comedy roles with the then topmost comedians namely Jascinto Vaz, Luis Rod, Wincy of Young Stars of Goa, M. Boyer, Greg de Candolim and many more. We are very fortunate to have her still with us and attaining the status of “Garamae” she still acts like a teenager. May God give her more years to serve the Konkani Stage.
The other comedian who is enjoying the lokhpriya status on Konkani Stage is Bai Anita whose daring and robust comedy turns the table upside down. She played her comedy role very well thereby raising the standard of the play high.
And the third comedian that inducted into his play by director Mariano Fernandes was Prince of Konkani Stage – Prince Jacob. In fact Jacob was extremely on high spirit performing very well, even in his own dramas you rarely find him in this atmosphere. He shouldered the responsibility of the comedy with zeal, dedication and push
Among the singers who rendered their songs well were attractive Maggy, handsome Elvis, Domnick-Platilda-Prince Jacob – Michael (a quarter) and others.
A.Veronica Fernandes.