The Mustard Seed Art Company has been playing an important role in English theatre in Goa for over three decades. Almost two generations have grown up loving and eagerly anticipating their plays and Isabel de Santa Rita Vás doesn’t disappoint when it comes to presenting plays that are contemporary and relevant to Goa. She has been engaging the audience with her original plays that leave a lasting impression.
The amateur theatre group’s latest production is ‘Who Stole the Water?’ which will be performed at Sunaparanta Goa Centre for the Arts, Altinho, Panjim, on November 3 at 6 pm. The cast includes Kiran Bhandari, Priyanka Pandit, Stuti Gaitonde, Jeff D’Cruz and Rohan Olegario Nazareth. The play is directed by Isabel SR Vas and Kiran Bhandari and the script is by Isabel SR Vas. Understanding the need for fresh water and the ongoing Mhadei dispute, Isabel put pen to paper and started writing the script four months back.
Wars have been fought for water and there is a strong emotion when it comes to River Mhadei. “Wars are usually triggered by scarce resources. And if water becomes a scarce resource for Goa despite its bountiful natural water resources, we can expect inevitable trouble. This play does refer to the Mhadei issue but it actually touches upon wider issues like learning about our water resources, water management, water and the opportunities it offers to a coastal state like ours, etc, all in a fun story manner. Digging a well and the problems associated with it become a metaphor for our present day indifference and ignorance of our water resources,” explains Isabel about the hour long play.
She adds, “We are keen that our children, parents, educators and the public at large grow more interested in learning about the water that's all around us. It is sad that our school syllabus teaches us so little about our rivers, seas, wells, monsoon and the role of the ocean in sustaining life and so on.”
Isabel feels it is absolutely vital to talk about water at this point of time. “Every single day, there's a story in the newspapers about people around us suffering from water shortages. The future looks really bleak and scary unless we understand water. As they say, no blue, no green. Our agriculture is also entirely dependent on our management of our water resources,” she says.
Depending on the play, the cast has been either large or small. This time, the cast is made up of five actors, who have been undergoing two months of practise in the months of September and October. The play has new actors and some experienced ones too which makes it a wonderful experience.
The play is directed by Isabel and Kiran Bhandari. “Kiran has been a talented and responsible member of the Mustard Seed Art Company for very many years, has acted in twenty plays, and has co-directed earlier too. My experience of working with him is extremely interesting, since he brings along new perspectives and is also a very supportive and encouraging artiste to work with.”
Elaborating on the original song for the play, ‘Sing to the Water,’ sung by Dionisia Juliao, Isabel says, “The lyrics came with the script; the tune of this song has been composed by Jeff D'Cruz, the newest actor in the group. He has an interest in music, so he was encouraged to compose his own song, which he was happy to do. The musical arrangements were the work of our talented musician friend, Eng Rui Lobo, who teaches music at the Central Garden Studio in Panjim and his colleague Tony Dias. The voice is that of Eng Dionisia Juliao, a melodious voice we delight in. This is a collaborative effort that has worked pretty well. This is, in fact, indicative of our collaborative manner of work.”
After performing 71 plays, with 44 original plays, the Mustard Seed Art Company has highlighted Goan issues over the years. “The Mustard Seeds generally tell stories that are close to their lives and hearts. For instance, ‘A Harvest of Gold’ touched upon the exploitation of the farming community by the builders' lobby. ‘On the Holy Trail’ also highlighted the greed for land in Goa. We have over the years touched upon themes like child labour in ‘Little Boxes’, dishonesty in public life in ‘Who Killed the Ministers’, our trend of increasing violence in ‘The Case of the Missing Peace’ and many other relevant stories. We have also celebrated exciting personalities from the Goan soil like Abbe Faria in ‘Kator Re Bhaji’ and other artistes like Mogubai Kurdikar and writers like Armando de Menezes, Bakibab Borkar, Propercia Correia Afonso, Dharmanand Kosambi in ‘Ghosts at Large’, and many others,” informs Isabel.
The Mustard Seed Art Company will be performing at Sunaparanta on November 3, followed by a performance at Florence Nightingale Centre in Chinchinim on November 5 and on November 11 at Sensible Earth at Salvador do Mundo (Saloi). They will be performing at Goa University too. How does it feel to take the show to four different venues in Goa? “It is very exciting. We are looking at different venues, different publics, and different responses. This play is intimate in character, and deliberately so. Four venues? Probably many more,” concludes Isabel.