Avoi Ghe Mai! -- Konkani Tiatr made in Texas By Cynthia Gomes James jadoo...@hotmail.com
Horses, cowboys, barbecue, and sizzling summers -- that's what Texas is known for. But Konkani tiatr? Well, that's exactly what the G.E.M.s of Texas, a vibrant organisation of Goans, East-Indians, and Mangaloreans living in the Dallas metroplex have added to the Texan landscape. Their first original Konkani production Alfred, Alston, ani Anthony was staged in 2008 for their 10th anniversary, and more recently *Avoi Ghe Mai*, their second tiatr, was staged on October 27th in Garland, Texas for their 20th anniversary. Both plays were written and directed by the author of this article, a Bomoicar whose ancestral roots are in Chinchinim, and both productions were performed by an all-local amateur cast and crew. Avoi Ghe Mai -- a musical comedy about a Goan girl Goretti and a Mangalorean boy Manuel, who are courting despite objections from their mothers -- had a cast of over twenty talented local Texans of Goan, East-Indian, and Mangalorean origin. Goretti was played by Jelsy Fernandes from Margao, and Manuel by Nolan Serrao, a Mangalorean from Urwa. Thomas and Lysette Goes from Colva and Mangaloreans Marita D'Sa (from Bangalore) and Percy Pinto played the parents. Percy Pinto's entry in a lungi was an instant hit with the audience. True to form, the tiatr had comedians and jokes galore. Budd 'Rogot' Decosta of Chinchinim and Rosy Carrasco Kintzinger of Mapusa pumped up their flair for comedy as Sacru the sacristaon, and Filsu the compounder. Osler Kamath of Bolar and his wife Maria, a Mangalorean from Pune, kept the audience in splits as Cristo Pereira and his Mexican-American wife J-Lo from Texas. J-Lo's character infused enough English into the play to help non-Konkani speakers in the audience from other parts of America and India get a good idea of the shenanigans on stage. The probability of spotting an American in a tiatr in America may be almost nil, but this one did star a true blue American -- Paul James in a cameo role as a Russian. The talented cast also included Glen Cardozo from Margao and Stanlin D'Cruz, a Mapusa Bomoicar. The script of the one-and-a-half hour-play flowed seamlessly between Mangalorean Konkani, Goan Konkani, and English. Momentum was maintained with short, funny scenes punctuated by thoroughly entertaining songs. The musical compositions by this writer included a mix of original songs and adaptations of old favourites. Noel Da Costa, a Goan from Bangalore, accompanied the singers brilliantly on the keyboard, and this writer's sixteen-year-old Rohan joined in on trumpet for a couple of songs. The tiatr's opening song featuring the lead players set the context nicely for the audience. Gracian Serrao, Eustace and Patricia Fernandes, Anil Pinto (GMC alumnus), and Cheryl Lobo were other singers who graced the stage with catchy songs and polished performances. The writer and director herself serenaded the audience with original compositions and the foot-tapping title song 'Avoi Ghe Mai' set to the tune of 'Mamma Mia'. The high voltage finale, 'Kazaar Ami Zaunya', an adaptation of Bruno Mars' song 'Marry You', performed by "amcho Bruno Vaz" Daniel D'Souza with the flair of a rockstar brought the house down. Not surprisingly, the song made Daniel, a Mangalorean who grew up in Bombay, an Internet sensation. The cast performed to a full house of around 250 excited fans from Dallas and beyond. A busload of Goencars from Houston had happily embarked on a four-hour road trip to enjoy the tiatr, thanks to Bob and Dimple Lopes from Vasco. The Houston Goans revved up the atmosphere with their enthusiastic appreciation and the Dallas crowd followed suit. All through the show, the hall resounded with the sounds of applause, whistling, and cheering, and the ambiance harked back to tiatr halls in Bombay and Goa. The contemporary feel and the plot line culminating with Bruno Vaz's concert kept the youngsters in the audience hooked. The tiatr being a 'one night only' performance, the cast and crew gave it all they had, playing their roles to the hilt in fluent Konkani, despite having settled down thousands of miles away from Goa and Mangalore. By way of background, the Konkani theatre form now called Tiatr had made its debut in 1892 with Italian Bhurgo, the art form having evolved incrementally while adhering to the tried and true format for decades. [See an free-to-download ebook here http://www.tiatracademygoa.com/rafael-final-apr3-noon.pdf ] The play in Texas used the traditional tiatr format -- an opening theme song, pordhes, cantos, and cantaars -- but the writer also employed newer techniques for the plot developments with subtle word-play, a soundtrack for the opening and closing of each scene, projected backdrops, and the full cast taking bows at the end. Other bold variations (also adopted for the first tiatr) included a shorter duration than traditional tiatr, the inclusion of Mangalorean characters and other Konkani dialects, the use of Western theatrical devices, themes around modern culture, and off-stage narration in English by Sonia Santimano, to introduce each scene. The adaptations were made to appeal to a more assimilated diaspora and the younger generation raised in the West, and also to get more Westernised Goans and Mangaloreans to appreciate a fun theater experience in their mother tongue. The tiatr received glowing reviews and requests from around the globe to take 'Avoi Ghe Mai' on the road. Unfortunately, the logistics would not be feasible, the cast and crew all having day jobs and careers in Dallas. You can watch the full video of the tiatr and clips of the songs on YouTube at this link [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HzOfeT4tx7c] Avo Ghe Mai Tiatr 2018. And the next time you feel inclined to exclaim 'OMG', instead just say: "AGM! Avoi Ghe Mai!" -- Goanet Reader is compiled and edited by Frederick Noronha (fredericknoron...@gmail.com) for Goanet (founded in 1994 by Herman Carneiro). Submissions for circulation among the global Goan diaspora and back in Goa are welcome. Send your feedback to the author (address above) and also to goa...@goanet.org Goanet archives can be found at http://lists.goanet.org/pipermail/goanet-goanet.org/