Prutha Goa

As dramatic and over the top as tiatr can be, it cannot be denied that it is quintessentially Goan and has proven time and again to be a vehicle of social, political and cultural messages. There is a certain section of Goans who attempt to distance themselves from tiatr, believing themselves to be culturally superior to individuals who are a frequent audience. I remember my English professor at Carmel College declaring that Shakespeare’s plays were nothing but the tiatr of his times. It is indeed ironical that even today we have Goans studying Shakespeare in detail and disdaining this Goan form of theatre. Tiatr has existed in Goa for over 125 years and has historically played a part in the preservation of the Konkani language and culture during the Portuguese rule. The tiatr is divided into parts called pordhe (the singular is pordho ). Between two pordhe there will be two or three kantaram (songs) where the singers are accompanied by a live band using Western musical instruments.

Goa has talent bursting at its seams, and this is no secret. Unfortunately, in the sphere of drama enough of it has not been tapped. The reason for this is not a dearth of avenues, but rather the unwillingness of parents to permit their children to explore this area as a career option has been a stumbling block. In 1987, Kala Academy decided to start the School of Drama, initially called the Theatre Art Faculty, under the direction of S B Josalkar. The motivation was to secure talent in theatre and mould it according to its capabilities. The Director of the School of Drama, Mrs Padmashree Josalkar tells us, ‘Kala Academy invited my husband and me to come here. Before that we were in Delhi. My husband was in the Repertory Company of the National School of Drama and I was teaching at the Sardar Patel Vidyalaya as a drama teacher.’ S B Josalkar, a Goan by birth, had received a scholarship to the National School of Drama. It is no surprise then that he returned to his home state to give Go