Prutha Goa

Advent is a time of preparation for the coming of Christ. It is also a time of giving, and giving freely. Carpe Diem-The Art and Learning Centre in Majorda has combined an opportunity to give with the treat of a literary evening with Goa’s noted poets and writers. Poets and Writers Evening: A Fundraiser in Support of Arz and Victims of Human Trafficking will be held at Carpe Diem on the 9th of December 2018 from 6.30pm to 8pm. Entry is free and those who wish to attend are invited to donate generously to support ARZ. ARZ, or Anyay Rahit Zindagi (Life without Injustice), is a Goa-based organisation that rescues victims of trafficking for commercial sex work. A group of professionals from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) established the organisation in 1997, and the first project undertaken by ARZ was the rehabilitation of commercial sex workers in Baina, Goa, in 1998. Arunendra Kumar Pandey is one of the founders and director of ARZ and has been working tirelessly with his t

Good Luck, Bad luck, Who Knows? is a brand new play from The Mustard Seed Company, written by Isabel Santa Rita Vas and directed by Isabel Vas and Kiran Bhandari. The play was performed with much success, eliciting appreciation from the audience. The play explores how the changing condition of a particular street, called Rua de Mascate (Street of Hawkers), Good Luck Street or Bad Luck Street depending on its circumstances, transforms the people associated with it. This street is threatened by a garbage dump and the building of a parking lot. We are introduced to the play’s protagonists, whose lives are revealed to be deeply connected with this street.  Harsha, an older lady with dementia, has made her home in this street after being cast out by her own daughter. She responds to any given situation with a stream of appropriate Gandhian quotes despite the limited functionality of her brain.  Pranoy is an artist who has defied pressure from his brother to go into a mainstream profession

The Mustard Seed Company is a name well associated with quality English theatre and has evolved entirely in Goa, thanks to the efforts of Isabel de Santa Rita Vas. The amateur theatre company has in the past performed plays that make you stop and think about life, society, the world, and the role you have to play. The latest production of The Mustard Seed Art Company is called Good Luck, Bad Luck, Who Knows? , and it will transport its audience to a street in Goa. Why a street, you ask. Isabel Vas says, ‘This is where things happen, where people’s paths cross, where strangers make contact and for a moment become neighbourly.  Streets are pathways and footpaths, but they are far from being mere blank spaces between the point of departure and the point of arrival. Flanked by doorways and window sills, and verandahs and attics, the street is filled with sounds and smells and lights and shadows, presence and absence. It’s on a street that long lost friends bump into each other, where the f

When the Day Was Young is The Mustard Seed Company’s latest serving of amateur English theatre, much appreciated by those who feel the dearth of English language plays in Goa. The play that was performed at Gomant Vidya Niketan, Margao, and in collaboration with Sunaparanta, Goa Centre for the Arts, Panjim, at the Sunaparanta amphitheatre, dealt with the age-old problem of seniors being relegated to homes for the elderly. The playwright, Isabel Vas, delves into the deeper concerns that affect the golden years with a touch of magical realism. The story begins with Bonita, an old woman, having a conversation with herself, and attempting to cheer herself up with some entertainment to keep her sanity. There is a supernatural being she communicates with who is not revealed to the audience. Sushila, the caretaker, or supervisor, of the old age home, is extremely ‘by the book’ and brooks no rule to be broken. A future political aspirant, Sushila is an uptight personality who is governed enti

The 7th and 10th of October 2016 saw a production of George Orwell’s Animal Farm staged by The Mustard Seed Art Company. Audiences who caught the play adapted from the famous novel at Gomant Vidya Niketan (Margao) and Kala Academy (Panaji), were fortunate indeed. Those acquainted with Orwell’s novel, written in 1945, will certainly make connections with its allegory which retells the political scenario of the time, with communism hailed as the answer to society’s problems. The novel mirrors the events that took place from before the Russian Revolution of 1917 to the rule of Stalin. The satirical novel, by his own admission, is Orwell’s first deliberate attempt to use literature towards a political revelation. The play produced by The Mustard Seed Art Company was adapted for theatre from the novel by Peter Hall. The play opens with old Major, the boar, fomenting the spirit of rebellion among the farm animals with his tirade against humans. After old Major dies, the younger pigs Napoleo

Many a times we are held back from achieving our dreams because we permit our fears to overcome us. We stew in the hell our minds fabricate and sabotage our own ambitions. All Those Pipe Dreams is a reminder that surmounting the perceived obstacles in our path can be achieved by confronting our fears. The play opens with typical banter between husband and wife, with Caitu Soares playfully teasing his wife about her obsession with make-up and ‘high fashion’, while Veena harangues him to get the pipes fixed so that water will flow into the sink again. The scene seems innocuous enough to belie the prospect of anything untoward occurring or having occurred. We learn that Caitu has purchased this huge mansion in the hope of starting a restaurant but does not seem to have made a go of his dreams as yet. Sonali is Caitu and Veena’s daughter, we learn, who has not visited home in a long time and is designing furniture in Chennai. Both parents yearn for their absent child. Meanwhile Caitu sets

His drive to promote mime is evident in the fervour resonated in his voice. One of Goa’s own has taken the state to the international stage and still somehow remains unsung and uncredited for his contribution. Drupad Gaonkar, who spent about a month in Goa recently actively disseminating his artistry, became a mime artist at a later stage in his career. Earlier, all of Goa knew him as a dancer and a theatre person. Today he works as a researcher in mime perspectives and history at the Sri Aurobindo International Institute of Educational Research. He says, ‘I had a backdoor entry into mime. Earlier, I used to write plays, choreograph dance dramas, etc. I’m more of a teacher type. In my performing arts I would include many elements…including juggling. I always wanted to bring mime on stage.’ In 2004, Drupad had his first opportunity to focus entirely on mime when he was told that Isabel de Santa Rita Vás required someone proficient in the art at IFFI. Following this venture, he felt the

The Mustard Seed Art Company draws in crowds to its dramatic presentations merely by the mention of the name of the production company. As amateur theatre, it vies for a billing similar to that of one of the better theatre production companies, thanks to the skilled writing of playwright and director Isabel Santa Rita Vás. The latest play, Whistling in the Light , revolved around thought provoking themes. The year is 2030 and the world has undergone a monumental change since 2020, the commencement of the Age of Light. Most countries, with the exception of France and Brazil, have shielded themselves from the natural light and are illuminated through artificial lights called LEDX. The programme is called Fiat Lux and the State dictates times when you can venture outside and the nature of the light you will experience. For all intents and purposes, it seems like a utopian world, as the move was brought about in an attempt to protect the people from the ever expanding hole in the ozone lay

The gift of light has not been appreciated as much as it should be and the true nature of its wonders are withheld from the common man due to lack of awareness and understanding. To illumine minds, 2015 has been dedicated as the Year of Light in celebration of this treasure of luminosity. Taking inspiration from this endeavour, The Mustard Seed Art Company (established 1987) is all set to entertain, and as it always does, subtly educate its audience through the medium of a new play by playwright Isabel Santa Rita Vás. Whistling in the Light has been co-directed by Isabel Santa Rita Vás and Kiran Bhandari. One might recall The Story of Light Festival held earlier this year, which was an innovative and educative experience brought to Goa by Nash Paul D’Souza, Jaya Ramchandani and their team. ‘The Story of Light Festival brought it to my notice. And yes, they did a fantastic job, their initiatives were beautiful!’ says Ms Vás. She clarifies, ‘The plot has nothing to do with The Story of

Voices After Me by the Mustard Seed Art Company, is probably one of the most intellectually stimulating plays performed in recent times on a Goan stage. The group of performers banded together by playwright Isabel de Santa Rita Vás and under the direction of Daegal Godinho and Celsa Pinto, staged a play that provoked the audience to question and appreciate the myriad thoughts, memories and subjective perceptions that shape us as human persons and in turn affect our relationships with other people. The play was one in a series, put on in an effort to promote theatre and the appreciation of drama in Goa. This programme by the Directorate of Art and Culture (Goa) was presented by Prayog Saanj (Evening of Experiments), which has dramas staged in other languages besides English, and after the performance there is a discussion held to determine the strengths and weaknesses of the play. The play, Voices After Me , was scripted by Isabel de Santa Rita Vás and took the audience through the rem

In Goa, Isabel de Santa Rita Vás is a name synonymous with English drama. Having written and directed numerous plays, this playwright of exceptional calibre, allowed us to partake of her vision of this art form. Her illustrious career as a college professor of English Literature has included becoming the head of the English department at Dhempe College of Arts and Science. Her position as an English Literature lecturer indubitably led to her acquaintance with other forms of literature. She was often entrusted with the duty of putting up performances to embellish regular college programmes or whenever occasion demanded it. Her passion for literature and the bond that she shared with her students enabled her to immerse herself wholly in drama and its nuances. In time, the challenge and charm of transmuting play scripts into stage performances encouraged a more adventurous endeavour. Along with a group of young people, she set out independently to stage a well-known American play in the t