Marathi theatre in Goa has a rich legacy with almost every village organising a Marathi natak for their annual feasts. From children Marathi theatre to different competitions that are organised annually in the state, there is still a need to write new scripts that are based on Goa and Goan issues rather than adapting scripts from other languages.
Nilesh Mahale is the director of the award winning Marathi play ‘Infiltration’ which won the Marathi Drama Competition A group last year. The play was written by Prakash Vazrikar and was also performed at the 61st Maharashtra Rajya Natya Spardha in Maharashtra and won best natak, best direction best actress, best actor and best lights. “There is a lot of talent in acting, direction and technical aspects in Goan theatre. The new generation is excellent when it comes to applying it on stage. However, the only part where we are little bit behind is when it comes to scripts. Goans always participate in the state level competitions and many nataks have gone ahead and won competitions in Maharashtra as well. It is a big achievement as there are nearly 400 plays at 20 centres and different levels of the competitions and finally to win the award is great. Many Goan groups have won accolades and shows that Goan theatre is very strong,” says Nilesh.
Speaking about the rich history of Marathi theatre, Nilesh explains, “Goa has the rich heritage of Utsavi Rangbhumi in villages which is keeping the culture alive and their hard work is required to sustain this performing arts. Yet we need new literature with scripts focusing on current issues. The script is the foundation on which can help the actors and director to express the story. We have to struggle to reach that national and international level.”
Pradeep Naik began his acting career in Marathi theatre before Konkani tiatrs. We recently returned from the UK, where he performed in Com Brian’s tiatr, ‘Mhoji Khori Maim.’ “I enjoy performing in both the languages but there is a difference in the response from the audience. In tiatr, they just love you and respect you. They will respond with laughs and applause. In Marathi theatre too, they will respond but it’s not that overwhelming. Many people will tell me in the break, that they liked my performance but I didn’t hear the same response in the hall,” says Pradeep.
There is a lot of work being done to encourage young talent in Marathi. There are competitions in different genres of Marathi theatre like Sangeet Natak, Nataks which can be social, historical and fictional and even an all women cast Marathi Natak competition, Mahila Natya Spardha.
Veteran theatre artiste Sridhar Kamat Bambolkar has written and directed several Marathi and Konkani dramas. He throws light on the history of Marathi theatre in Goa. “Goa is known for Utsavi Rangbhumi dramas which takes place in every village. Marathi theatre in Goa is over 200 years old and was mostly Sangeet Nataks. Most of the plays were based on legacy and Puranas. There are several competitions that encourage youngsters as well gives the audience to see good nataks. There are also directors who focus on children Marathi theatre,” says Sridhar, a noted artist.
Institute Menezes Braganza recently organised Rangabhumi Din at IMB, Panjim with a panel discussion on the topic ‘Gomantakiy Marathi Rangbhumiche Vartaman Ani Bhavishya’ (Goan Marathi Theatre: Present and Future). Goan renowned personalities in the field of drama, Nitin Kolvekar, Devidas Amonkar, Dnyanesh Moghe and Ujwala Tarcar participated as the panellists while Dr Saish Deshpande chaired the panel discussion.
Dr Saish Deshpande, founder member of Abhivyaktee-Panaji, has been actively involved in theatre since 1989. He started with Marathi children theatre in 1979 and then inter-collegiate Marathi Theatre Festival. After completing a three year diploma in Theatre Arts at Kala Academy’s School of Drama, he graduated from Mumbai after completing a two year course to gain an overall experience in theatre. Coming back to Goa, he enriched the Marathi and Konkani theatre stage. He has directed more than 100 full-length plays especially working with children and youngsters.
Speaking about the future of Marathi theatre, he says, “We need a young breed of writers who can produce meaningful and well-crafted scripts in Marathi. Actors should be able to speak the lines correctly, with perfect dialogue delivery, pronunciation and the apt use of language. The scripts should reflecting regional or local issues. Right now the focus is restricted to the competition level and on the prizes. These plays should be taken forward to the local audience. The same competition plays should be presented with dedication for local annual feasts in the villages. There is a good future for Marathi theatre with great actors, directors and techniques. But Goan writers should not depend on Maharashtrian writers and adapt the script. Modern Marathi plays should reflect issues of Goa and that too speak the language that youngsters can relate to and showcase not solutions but at least their problems. We have to do away with long monologues and bring in a musical interlude or a twist to hook the audience.”
Award winning film director and a stalwart in Marathi and Konkani theatre, Dnyanesh Moghe has always been vocal about the problems affecting the world of performing arts in Goa. He was a panellists of the discussion on Marathi theatre. “We have a tradition of Marathi in Goan families. But now good Marathi speakers have reduced and the language is still strong becaiuse of Marathi newspapers and families that still communicate in Marathi. Goan Marathi also has its flavour but very few actors can speak fluently when they perform on stage, even for the competitions. Language is not given importance and its authenticity is lacking,” says Dnyanesh.
He further recommends how Marathi theatre can be revived, “An actors’ workshop can be conducted for language and long residential workshop with online and offline workshops should be conducted for screen writing for Marathi writers as writing a script is a craft with technical details. The workshop will be able to produce at least 7-8 original scripts and within 3-4 years, automatically the quality will surpass that of Maharashtra.”
Founded in 2017, Theatre Flamingo have been organising Ghumchye Kattar Theatre, a children theatre project, experimental theatre and theatre residencies. Keatan Jadhav, president of Theatre Flamingo says, “I don’t find much difference between Marathi and Konkani theatre except that the audience who attends Marathi plays will not attend Konkani plays and vice versa. We work on different forms of experimental theatre including Shakespearean plays like Macbeth. I have been part of Hauns Sangeet Natak Mandal, Ponda since I was a child. The institute itself is 74 years old. From being a child artiste to an actor and then director at the same institute makes it special for me. I directed two plays for Hauns Sangeet Natak Mandal, Ponda including an adaptation of a French play.”
He further adds, “The true talent in Marathi theatre can be seen at the Marathi Drama Competition organised by Kala Academy. Every year, at least 15 groups participate in the A and B group competitions.”
Pradeep Gaonkar, programme and development officer, Kala Academy informed about the Marathi Drama Competition. “The Marathi Drama Competition group B just concluded yesterday, November 8 where 13 plays were performed. The Marathi Drama Competition A group will be held in the first week of December,” says Pradeep about the competitions which were held at Ravindra Bhavan, Sanquelim.
Marathi Theatre Day will be celebrated with great enthusiasm today, November 9 at Ravindra Bhavan, Margao at 6.30 pm in association with Ravindra Bhavan, Margao and Samrat Club, Margao. The evening will include ‘Natyarang’, a programme of popular theater music, featuring famous Goan singers like Gayatri Patil, Sharda Shetkar, Nitesh Desai, Yuga Sambari and Gaurang Bhandiye. They will be accompanied by Shivanand Dabholkar on organ and Nitin Korgaokar on tabla.