Former Goa Speaker is eloquent on stage
- Frederick Noronha / TOINS

He may have had a tumultuous tenure as a politician, but former Speaker Tomazinho Cardozo has to his credit a number of firsts on the Konkani stage.

Cardozo, whose tenure as speaker ended last year, is back in a field where he is completely at home. His Kala Mogi-Candolim troupe is back to staging plays in `tiatr', a popular and vibrant form of subaltern Goan theatre.

Konkani `tiatr' is a form of local folk drama. It has been immensely popular, particularly among the Catholic subaltern sections, but has long been considered crude in its approach to theatre, unlike the more-refined Marathi theatre forms, say, from nearby Pune in Maharashtra state.

Cardozo got caught in the political quagmire during his tenure as speaker.

Even his election as speaker was controversial, with some votes being declared invalid. Recently, he made a successful comeback to folk drama and staged his 25th `tiatr' called `Hello Uncle' at state capital Panaji.

"The play has nothing to do with politics," he told IANS. "It's a comedy, featuring three youngsters who want to live extravagantly without earning a penny. They do so with money sent by rich relatives abroad," he added.

Goa has a significant number of people settled across the world, not to mention the rest of the country. Most of its creative work, therefore, deals with migration.

Before the play, Cardozo's troupe recalled its achievements in refining the Konkani `tiatr' stage. Cardozo's was the first troupe to introduce the revolving stage in December 1968. This innovation was adopted from the Marathi stage, and the manner in which it came about is a story in itself.

"In the neighbourhood, there was a huge tamarind tree which had fallen. The trunk was sawn across and a stand made. In the centre, a big cylindrical hole was drilled, into which another cylindrical piece of wood was fixed which would rotate," recalls Cardozo.

Later on, the troupe introduced novel stage curtains (made from borrowed sarees), and the use of lights instead of a whistle that was earlier used to indicate the start of a song after a scene within the `tiatr'.

Shadow play was another innovation brought by the dramatist-politician, as was introduction of the characters involved in the play. Flashbacks, and depiction of dilemmas faced by characters were also gradually brought onto the `tiatr' stage. This was done by using different lights and background voices.

Freezing of the characters at the end of each scene, and the use of symbolism and suggestive stage settings were other innovations brought on by the troupe.

Cardozo also introduced the concept that Hindu artistes would play the role of Hindu characters. Since the `tiatr' is largely popular among Catholic audiences, the lack of participation from other religious communities not only limited its appeal, but also brought in an element of negative stereotyping of others.

Incidentally, Cardozo's `Kanttech Kantte' (Thorns and more Thorns, 1980) is apolitical satire "born out of disillusionment of Goans with democratic governments".

Describing the play, Cardozo said, "For 17-18 years after Goa's liberation, it was noticed that dishonest and corrupt politicians made tall promises during elections only to forget them soon after. The aim of the play was to warn Goans not to get fooled by politicians, but to select worthy representatives on the basis of meritorious deeds." In this play, an young and promising village schoolteacher contests and wins elections. He has great plans for the upliftment of his people. But he soon realises that his cabinet colleagues are insincere and selfish and are not interested in fulfilling election promises they made to the voters.

Later on Cardozo, who happens to be a former teacher, principal went on a similar track on his political career.  Last weekend, Cardozo also released a cassette of Konkani songs called `Lharam'. "It is a fusion of East and  West. Let's see if listeners appreciate it," Cardozo said.

Interestingly, Goa's politicians have a strange link with the arts and sports. Many are closely involved in sports administration. Churchill Alemao, a Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA), heads one of Goa's top-most football clubs, Churchill Brothers.

Minister Victoria Fernandes has starred in a Hindi film in a minor role as the mother of actress Juhi Chawla. Others like ex-legislator Sanjay Bandekar are known for their musical and singing talents. -- IANS
(Gaspar Almeida)