Kala Academy (KA), Goa’s oldest art and cultural institution, has come along catering to various art and cultural activities of the Goan community.
Apart from promoting art and culture of the local artistes and artisans, KA has also been contributory towards the upliftment and growth of tiatr in Goa. By organising tiatr competitions annually, it has definitely raised the standard of tiatr in different aspects.
With the sole aim of uplifting tiatr culture in Goa, KA took the lead of organising its first tiatr competition in 1974-75. There were 14 participants for the tiatr competition and it was initially held at three different venues, namely Mapusa, Panjim and Margao, as it would help various social and cultural institutions to pick up the closest venue for performance.
Organising tiatr competition at three different venues in the cities also helped the tiatr lovers to step in at the closest venue and enjoy tiatrs at leisure. As tiatrs presented on stage were of high standard in every aspect, people would rush to book their tickets and enjoy the shows.
With overwhelming response from the participating troupes and audience as well, in the second consecutive year (1976-77) there were 23 social and cultural associations from across the State participating in the tiatr competition. And again it was held at three different venues, namely, Canacona, Margao and Panjim at Kala Academy.
From 1979-80 the annual tiatr competition was shifted to one venue at Kala Academy’s auditorium. Taking cognizance of the overwhelming response from the participants and associations, the thought of conducting the competitions in two groups came into existence.
From 2014-15 the KA’s tiatr competition was divided into ‘A’ and ‘B’ groups. This year is the 50th year for ‘A’ group tiatr competition held annually and without any interruption. Whereas this is the 10th year for the ‘B’ group competition, with one year break in 2019-20 on account of the pandemic.
With various social and cultural associations participating in the annual Kala Academy’s tiatr competitions, the standard of tiatr, be it with the script, direction, stage sets and lights, costumes, improved in leaps and bounds. The bar of tiatr was raised to a totally different and higher level.
Undoubtedly, the tiatr competition organised and held at KA annually has served as a platform to showcase raw talents, nurture them over the years and excel in the theatrical field in the near future. Many artistes (singers and actors) who hopped on stage for the competition have turned out to be commercial tiatrists today, earning their daily bread through theatre art.
But with the growth and progress of tiatr through annual competitions organised by Kala Academy, politics also crept in, thus making the entire event look murkier.
After good performances on stage in every aspect and appreciation received from the large audience, many of the performing groups and writers, directors felt disappointed at the end of the day when they did not figure anywhere in the winners’ list. It was also noted that there was outside interference with the judges and finally a fair judgment was denied to the participating groups.
There were instances where several individual prizes were bagged by one particular troupe, but that troupe did not stand in the overall winners’ list. Whereas the association which won less or none individual prizes was declared the winner.
Tomazinho Cardozo from Candolim, who initially participated in KA’s tiatr competition under the banner ‘Candolim Sports Club’ (first two festivals) and ‘Saipem Sports Club’ (next two festivals), mentioned, “When Kala Academy started its first tiatr competition, a platform was given to all budding artistes to showcase their talents as far as tiatr was concerned.”
“And on account of the tiatr competition several artistes, who otherwise would not have come to the limelight, became topmost artistes in the field of tiatr. So this is the biggest advantage that Kala Academy tiatr competition gives in order to bring up and expose the hidden talents on the tiatr stage,” he added.
“Secondly, the development of tiatr has taken place primarily through the KA’s tiatr competition because whatever innovations that were introduced on the tiatr stage, happened during the last 50 years of the tiatr competition,” said Cardozo, adding, “and by doing that, the non-commercial artistes, who used to participate in the KA’s tiatr competition, they came forward to give a better and modern look to the tiatr through these competitions.”
“So the quality and standard of tiatr presented at the competition, and particularly those tiatrs which won first, second, third or consolation prizes are very high compared to all other Goan commercial tiatrs and which can be equivalent to dramas in other languages as well.”
“Thirdly, when innovations are mentioned,” Cardozo said, “so many things like shadow playing, flashback, the thoughts of a confused mind of a character so and so forth was for the first time in tiatr shown at the KA’s tiatr competition. Presently, this has become a normal trend because all these tiatrs which are shown at KA’s competition, use these new techniques which you don’t find in the commercial stage.”
In 1979 Cardozo came full-fledged with his tiatrs under the banner ‘Kala Mogi, Candolim’ and won many prizes at the competition. He said that other benefits of the KA’s tiatr competitions were and still is that new, young artistes are given an opportunity to act in those tiatrs.
Focusing on the lows of KA’s annual tiatr competition, Cardozo said, “However, there are few cons which need to be improved by the KA as well as writers, directors of tiatrs. First of all, the quality of judges many times is not good as many do not know what is the format of tiatr, including how the duos, duets, trios, quartet should be presented on stage. And consequently, the preparation of results becomes a hassle. And many times non-deserving tiatrs get the prize.”
Secondly, Cardozo continued, “Goa being a very small State, the judges appointed by the KA’s authorities are, on most occasions, related directly or indirectly through friendship, to various directors and writers of tiatr. And accordingly, an element of favouritism enters in the preparation of the results, which disheartens good and sincere writers of tiatr.”
One of the writer-directors, Avito Fernandes from Merces, who participated in the annual Kala Academy’s tiatr competitions and won several prizes, shared his views, mentioning, “There’s no denying the fact that Kala Academy has played a vital role in raising the standard of tiatrs by organizing the competitions over the years. Over the years, many writers, directors, actors and other artistes onstage and offstage got the privilege to showcase their talents.”
“The number of entries in the said competitions started swelling,” he continues, “There came a time where over 30 institutions took part, thus prompting Kala Academy to split the competition into two groups, namely ‘group A’ and ‘group B’. However, many times Kala Academy was criticized for bad judgement. A recall makes it clear that at one of these competitions the institute did not win a single individual prize, but was awarded the first prize for best performance.”
Fernandes mentioned that many times the employees of Kala Academy itself took part in the competition, thus raising the eyebrows of tiatr lovers of whether the judgement was fair or not.
“However, the sad story today is the number of contestants, especially in the ‘B’ group, has started falling, for reasons best known to the respective institutions,” he said.
In Fernandes’ opinion, Kala Academy should revert to the old idea of having only one group. The other reason for this is, every year the first three winners in group ‘B’ goes to group ‘A’. “If the group ‘B’ contest is not held for the minimum number of entries, then how will they go to group ‘A’? he questions.
“These institutions will have a slow death in turn a setback to tiatrs,” opines Fernandes. In the past, Avito Fernandes has been a regular contestant at the tiatr competitions and all his tiatrs, except two, were award winning.
Congratulating KA on the golden jubilee of organising tiatr competition, famed tiatr irector, Agnelo (Borim) said that it was a visionary and futuristic decision by the tiatr aficionados to preserve this traditional stage art form with its unique format found nowhere in the world and raise the standard of this contemporary theatre through this festival.
“This festival gave a priceless platform for creative writers, directors and other stage technicians to innovate, experiment and explore virgin topics besides providing a fresh dimension to this popular stage art form, which encompasses story, song, drama, music, acting simultaneously, on one stage,” he said.
He further said that this competitive tiatr festival brought dignity, themes and concepts gave food for thought, innovative stage sets, effective background music, carefully designed light effects added to the success of the presentations.
He said that he is proud to be a part of this rich tradition as playwright, director, producer, actor and lyricist.
However, at the same time he also is of the opinion that though tiatr has a history of over 100 years, is not explored academically as such. According to him focus has shifted in the judging criteria as per the whims and fancies of the authorities in the seat.
“Styles of presentation lost its importance, innovation and creativity lost its scope, script lost its place in the marking sheet and comedy took the centre stage. This forced most of the competitive tiatrs to lose their essence, traditional value and thus the audience, as the winning is the ultimate goal. There is no difference in the commercial and these competitive tiatr nowadays”, he added.
He said that the new generation have not witnessed original tiatrs, presented by stalwarts like M Boyer, C Alvares, Prem Kumar, John Claro etc and is compelled to believe; whatever is staged today is original tiatr.
“The tiatr lovers will be grateful to KA if surviving tiatrists are invited to share their knowledge about authentic tiatr to the participating institutions, Tiatr as a subject is introduced at the KA’s College of Theatre art. This will definitely add to the success of achieving the aims and objective of organising this tiatr festival,” he suggested.
Michael Gracias, a well-known figure in the tiatr fraternity, argues that the true essence of tiatr, a traditional Goan form of theatre, is preserved exclusively within the context of competitions organised by the Academy.
According to Gracias, these competitive events are crucial for keeping the art form vibrant and true to its roots.
He said, “The format of tiatr is preserved in true spirit only at tiatr competitions. There are some hiccups which the participating groups will soon meet and sort out, with deliberation with the Art and Culture Minister Govind Gaude.”
According to him, Kala Academy serves as the ideal platform for this preservation effort, as it effectively supports and promotes the true essence of the art form.
Gracias remarked, “The entry of many youth and educated individuals into the tiatr field at tiatr competition is a significant achievement. This development signifies progress for tiatr and indicates a promising future for the tiatr, given the enthusiasm and interest from the younger generation.”
Agreeing with Gracias, Xavier Fernandes, a tiatr enthusiast, stated that the ongoing tiatr competitions organised by Kala Academy have undoubtedly contributed to the growth and development of new talents in the field.
He believes that these competitions provide a crucial platform for emerging artist’s to showcase their skills and advance their careers in tiatr.