Nestled in the
beautiful village of Poinguinim in Canacona, the audience will be left
mesmerised as some of the best forms on Indian theatre will be staged over four
days. Canacona Theatre Festival will be organised by Theatre Flamingo- Goa will
be held from May 11 to 14 at Mhalwada, Poinguinim, Canacona. A total of eight
different performances from all over India will be staged at the venue.
Founded in 2017, Theatre Flamingo is a theatre ensemble of
like-minded artists, performers and enthusiasts who seek to promote grass-root
theatre among the youth. The Canacona festival started with a dream of having a
theatre festival in their own village, with and amongst their own people.
Everyone is invited to come and participate. From 2017, Theatre Flamingo-Goa
has been organising Ghumchye Kattar Theatre, a children theatre project,
experimental theatre and theatre residencies. In 2018, they conducted a 55-day
residency with artistes from different parts of India. From 2019 to 2023, they
conducted 11 residential acting and theatre workshops with mentors like Irawati
Karnik, Miles Lobo, Megh Pant and Zouzou. This year, the ongoing residency
includes artistes from Goa, Bengaluru, Jaipur and Pondicherry.
The team members of
Theatre Flamingo-Goa include Keatan Jadhav, president from Shristhal, Canacona,
Shravan Fondekar, Vice president from Surla, Velguem, Shablo Gaonkar from
Morlem, Prajakta Kavlekar from Ponda, Pranav Tengse from Poinguinim, Amodi
Sanap from Ponda, Santosh Naik from Shristhal, Satyam Acharya from Canacona,
Mandar Jog from Ponda, Navjyot Naik Gaonkar from Agonda and Swastik Naik from
Poinguinim.
With ‘Gaanv Chodob
Nahi Natak Chodob Nahi’ (I will not leave my village nor theatre!) as their
motto, the team has been working wholeheartedly to make this festival a
success. The festival will commence with an opening ceremony on May 11,
featuring esteemed guests including Raju Nayak, Dr Ajay Joshi, Fullbright
Scholar and theatre critic from Pune, Sunil Paiginkar, Deputy Sarpanch of
Poinguinim, Canacona, Kavindra Phal Dessai, Playwright, poet and theatre
practitioner, Uday Prabhu Gaonkar, president of Narshiva Parshuram Temple
committee, and Keatan Jadhav, artistic director of Theatre Flamingo.
Mandar Jog, a noted
stage and film actor and one of founding members, says, “The festival began in
2022 as a tribute to the prolific theatre-maker, Badal Sircar, establishing the
importance and priority of minimalist theatre. Last year, we began the stage
performance with plays like Zomnivhelle Khell but since we have more
performances this year, we won’t have these folk plays.”
The festival will
showcase a diverse range of performances, ranging from Marathi Dastangoi, Hindi
musical satire, Kavad storytelling, multi-disciplinary movement art drama, and
farcical plays, providing a platform for both regional and contemporary
theatre. “Different storytelling styles will be explored through the festival.
Dastangoi is a storytelling format that implements pictures, poems and songs.
Kavad storytelling is a Rajasthani art form that combines mythology and family
histories to tell stories,” adds Mandar.
The festival will
feature a wide spectrum of plays of playwrights from India and around the
world, performances like Dastangoi, Kavad storytelling and non-verbal
performance. An 'Artist' Circle' would be conducted by Fulbright Fellow, Dr
Ajay Joshi at the end of each day. A collective effort to install theatre in
the artistic cog and illuminate its power thoroughly— is what the festival aims
to achieve.
“We are thrilled to
announce the line-up for the Canacona Theatre Festival 2023, which promises to
be an enthralling and diverse showcase of theatre talent from across the
country,” says Keatan Jadhav, president of Theatre Flamingo-Goa.
The
festival has generated a lot of interest among the theatre community in Goa as
people from Margao and Ponda also travel to Canacona to witness the plays.
Different villages in Canacona also anticipate plays after the theatre
residencies. The festival is open to all.