In Kala Academy’s 9th Tiatr ‘B’ Group Competition, Tiatr ‘Nishthavan’ written and directed by Gloria Ferrao and presented by G F Production, Navelim, Salcette was staged on the sixth of the contest.
The curtains unfold to a scene in the cemetery wherein Brenda (Liby Mendonca) is seen lighting candles on the graves. There’s also a priest (Nicky da Silva) and Rahul (Lincoln Dias), who is in love with Brenda. Jimmy, a pet dog, the role enacted by teenager Ronil Khadapkar, is also seen around the place.
After the death of her parents in an accident, Brenda’s aunt, Mona Lisa (Gloria Ferrao) takes care of her niece, including her own daughter Reema (Alfreda Pereira). They all reside under one roof.
Brenda is very fond of her pet dog Jimmy and feeds him on a regular basis. Although Rahul is a Hindu, he steps in and expresses his wish to unite in marriage with Brenda. But Brenda’s aunt is not in favour of it.
One fine day, Jimmy is fed by Reema, Mona Lisa and Rahul. And after a while, Jimmy collapses. Untimely death of the pet dog leaves Brenda insane. Greed for wealth owned by Brenda leaves Mona Lisa and Rahul to take extreme steps.
Tiatr ‘Nishthavan’ was an attempt to highlight the faithfulness of animals towards human beings. Human beings may betray each other, but animals, especially dogs, are always loyal to their master.
Tiatr ‘Nishthavan’ carried a poor script and its execution on stage was even worse. The casting of artistes was uneven, including those in the lead roles, and the overall presentation was an offense and disgrace to the tiatr stage.
Although Lincoln was comfortable in his negative role, Liby opposite him looked much older in her physique. Ansh Bandekar as a servant in Mona Lisa’s house looked more of a clown.
For some comedy on stage, there was Halwaldar Pandu (Custodio Pacheco) with his two daughters, Shanti (Nevida Pacheco) and Rekha (Tina Travasso). But comedy was outside the main plot and the three failed to entertain the audience.
In the section of songs, there was only one rendition after every ‘podd’ddo’ in the first half and two, three songs followed in the second half. But the presentation was below the expectations of the spectators. Live music by Edrol and his musical team offstage was good, but the singers on stage spoiled the show, maybe due to lack of rehearsals.
As far as stage sets and lights were concerned, the director did not do her homework well with all those who were assigned with different tasks. There might have been some technical fault, but the concerned technicians should have rectified it before the show and not allow light effects to play a spoilsport throughout the show.
When a recognized institution like Kala Academy is noted for promotion of raw talents and tiatrs via tiatr competition, such poor scripts and presentations should be discouraged and discarded henceforth. Such low standard presentations project a poor image of the organize