The question of whether Goan tiatr a folk drama arises because I often come across speeches made by many leaders – political as well as cultural - referring to Goan tiatr as a folk dramatic form. I am at a loss to understand why.
I am of the opinion that those writers whoconsider Tiatr as a folk drama have not understood the difference between theTiatr and the Khell-Tiatr. ‘Tiatr’ and ‘Khell-tiatr’ are two different dramaticforms. However, those who do not have the basic knowledge of the concept ofthese two dramatic forms consider them as same. In reality Khell-Tiatr is anextension of the Goan folk play called ‘Khell’ or ‘Fell’, the origin of whichis not known. It has been passed on from one generation to the other and itexists even today. It was/is staged at different village grounds duringthe carnival season and also on the feast of Easter. There is no doubt that it possessesfolk elements. Therefore it is not wrong to categorize ‘Khell-Tiatr’ as a folkdrama.
On the flipside we are aware of the factthat the first Tiatr “Italian Bhurgo” was written by Lucasinho Ribeiro andstaged in Bombay on 17th April, 1892. This Tiatr was an adaptationof the English Opera called ‘Italian Boy’. When rehearsing, Mr. Ribeiroencountered difficulties arranging different sets for different scenes in theplay. As time would be wasted during the change of sets, which would bore theaudience, he thought of introducing songs in front of the curtain while thestage was being set for the next scene behind the curtain. He did it andsucceeded in his first attempt. The audience was happy because they could enjoythe play as well as the songs. And this new format came to be known as ‘Tiatr’.
The musical instruments used to providemusic for the songs included a violin, a banjo, a trumpet, a saxophone and adrum. There were no rustic musical instruments used nor were the songs sung onthat day traditional in nature. The musicians were those who had studied musicand learnt to read and write the score of music.
Following the success of ‘Italian Bhurgo’,Lucasinho Ribeiro, Sebastiao Gabriel D’Souza, popularly known as Karachivala,and Joao Lazarus D’Souza adapted and staged several popular western works. JoaoAgostinho Fernandes was the first writer to write original scripts of Tiatrs onthemes highlighting injustices in the Goan society. Original scripts, lyricsand music melody such as these, cannot be a part of the folk drama or the folksong.
If this is the reality then does the folkelement in the tiatrs and songs presented by the pioneers of Tiatr lie? On the contrary, it had a tremendous influence of contemporary European theatreand music of the time. Hence tiatr cannot be categorized as a folk dramaticform but it is a product of modern theatre – a fusion of modern prose andmodern song and music of its time.
Tomazinho Cardozo is the former president of the TAG
