Tiatr
Etymology. The word comes from the Portuguese word for theatre, . Earlier variations were , and . Description. today revolves around social, religious and political themes. It is considered to be a mirror of Goan culture. The drama consists of six or seven acts called . The acts are interspersed by songs which need not be directly linked to the content or the issues of the main drama. There are two or three songs between each of the acts. "Tiatrists" have always demonstrated a very high degree of social awareness. Most of the themes of are concerned with social problems confronting the people . The is an instance where mass support plays a crucial role. It is an art form which despite centuries of Portuguese suppression and post-liberation neglect from the state governments, has not just survived but also thrived and reinvented itself in many ways. The as a dramatic form has been traditionally dominated and patronised by the Christian community, but over the years several young Hindu artists have been performing in the , which are also seen by people from the Hindu community. The lone Muslim so far has been mimicry artist Sheikh Amir. Songs. Songs integral to the plays are known  as . Other songs, called , are generally either comedic or based on topical, political and controversial issues that are interspersed through the performance. These musical interludes are independent of the main theme of the play. The songs are often satirical and unsparing of the politics and politicians of Goa. The music is provided by a live band including keyboard, trumpet, saxophone, bass guitar and drums. Section::::"Tiatr" today. Besides the regular commercial shows, are held as part of the celebrations of nearly every church and chapel feast in the state. The Goa Kala Academy organises a state-level competition every year while  the Tiatr Academy organises a popular competition for dramas which have exceeded 25 performances. Although efforts have been made to preserve the art form as a tradition of Goa, there have been calls for greater recognition of Mumbai-based "tiatrists". Khell "tiatr". There is another version of the called the , whose performance is restricted to the festivals of Carnival, Intruz and Easter. It differs from the Konkani in another respect, that is, that its songs are integrated with the main drama and do not deviate in content from it. History. Prior to the emergence of , entertainment in Konkani was mainly  through and . Both of them had their distinct style. While the was more lyrical, the had dialogues and while the former was more popular in Bardez; the latter was firmly entrenched in Salcete. Costancio Lucasinho Caridade Ribeiro, more popularly known as Lucasinho Ribeiro, who was from Assagao, was seeking employment in Bombay. Passionate about the performing arts, he was highly impressed with the stylised Italian operas performed there. He took up a job for an Italian opera troupe which was touring Indian cities at the time, staging an opera called "Italian Boy". When the troupe left India, Lucazinho Ribeiro bought  the costumes used in the play with the intention of staging a Konkani play on the style of the Italian Opera. His collaborators in the effort were Caetaninho Fernandes of Taleigao and João Agostinho Fernandes of Borda, Margao. On Easter Sunday, 17 April 1892 the first-ever performance, "Italian Bhurgo", adapted from the Italian play, was staged at the New Alfred Theatre, Bombay. This day is celebrated as (Tiatr Day). Hence, the Goan art form of was the product of the meeting of Goan culture and the opera of Italy, which, incidentally is the birthplace of the opera, and the  was born in Bombay. Since there were many different scenes in this and as it required different stage sets, they 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. The first original script was written and directed by João Agostinho Fernandes, entitled "Belle de Cavel" or "Sundori Cavelchi" in 1895 in Bombay and for all his consistent devotion and encouragement over fifty  years, he was conferred the title "Pai Tiatrist" ('Father Tiatrist'). Regina Fernandes, wife of the playwright João Agostinho Fernandes, became the first female actor in on 22 November 1904. "Divorce", a written and directed by Airistides Dias, was the first to complete 100 performances on 5 October 1980. However, as time passed the standard of as well as Khell deteriorated in quality with the introduction of elements of vulgarity. Educated people stopped patronizing the as well as the . While was making its presence felt, its original form – the and the – were dying a slow death and the finally stopped being  performed while the continued. But in 1956 the underwent a dramatic change. Given its state at that time, Antonio Moraes thought it fit to take the from the street performance to a stage performance. Helped by his friend and colleague Antonio Marian, the "khell" was performed on a stage for the first time with a backdrop and other paraphernalia associated with theatre. The first , , written and directed by Antonio Moraes, was staged on the third day of Carnival of March 1956. However, this form became very popular only in the 1970s when Rosario Rodrigues coined the term and came up  with extremely successful shows. Thus, the ground-based plays known as evolved onto the stage and further into 'non-stop dramas' but have now generally dropped this label and are generally referred to as . In 2007, the Government of Goa started the Tiatr Academy of Goa (TAG) to facilitate the development of . In 2008 legislation was approved granting 15 lakh () rupees to the newly formed Tiatr Academy of Goa. References. 10 Origin and History of Tiatr Find all about tiatr and tiatrists on a website dedicated for tiatr and tiatrists - * tiatr.in