TIATR KONSO 
John D' Silva  The 'Numero Uno' Comedian.
-  Daniel F. de Souza.

        Like several other Playwrights of the konkani stage he too has had humble beginnings. As a XII Science student of the Chowgule College, he had wide options to choose his profession in life after passing the Junior College exam, but, like any other Goan in the eighties, he preferred to try his luck in the Middle East. He had a brief spell in Qatar, only to return back to his roots after a two-year stint.  As a matter of fact, his affair with the stage began with the 'One Act Plays'.  But, the love of the stage was genetically determined with his father Custodio D'Silva also being a stage artist, a singer to be more precise.  Among the several One Act Plays John has produced, 'Jugar' staged way back in 1984 had a very successful run in Goa and brought out the actual writer in him. It won't be out of context to mention that during the eighties, One Act Plays were a craze across the State, and had a good fan following. These plays served as a launching pad for prospective artists and writers seeking to make acting as a profession. With the unprecedented success of 'Jugar' (Gambling) John D'Silva literally gambled his way onto the professional stage soon thereafter securing a role in Lino's tiatr 'Dhorm'. In this play he played a character role with conviction.

        Today at 38, John D'Silva father of two sons, Christ aged 9 and Benhur aged 4 years is a veteran of 13 full-length professional plays and still going strong with every production. Of these 13 plays, two of his plays VELL  (l996) & BOTT (2001) bagged the prestigious GULAB Best Writer Award.  The Qatar Goan Sports Club also honoured him with the Best Writer Director Award for VELL in 1996.  In 1998, he was bestowed the title of  'Intellectual Writer of Konkani Stage' for his play VATT by the 'Blue Wings Production' in Qatar.  Beginning with his first professional tiatr 'Chuklele Roste' in 1991, his other plays are : Chitrailolo Fator (1992) , Jith  & Liplele Rupkar (1993), Puja (1994) and a  Video Film 'Xinn' in 1995. Thereafter under the banner of S.B. Art, John D'Silva, wrote and produced some non-stop plays with a high literary standard, viz., Vell (1996), Dennem & Kolle  (1997) , Ekvott & Vatt (1998) Umannen & Sokallim (1999), Menn & Avesor (2000) Bott & Somzonnim (2001), Magnnem & Bovall (2002) the last named show 'Bovall'  is currently showing this season and creating waves across the State.

        An avid reader of novelist Sydney Sheldon's works, John has produced some memorable thrillers, though his plays don't have much to talk about Hi-fi technical scenes and props, just one or two on an average. He lays more emphasis on the script writing and the same is always appreciated for its rich prose. Audience is much satisfied with a script rich with meaningful dialogues. As a matter of fact, to a large degree the depth of his script writing can be only compared with those of another great Goan writer Rosario Rodrigues better known as the 'Shakespeare of the Konkani Stage'.

By nature John is a simple person, humble, more of an introvert and a comical figure too, so he naturally takes on the role of a comedian in his own plays. He, if I may say, is a born comedian, a natural comedian who makes you laugh with his mere entry and presence on stage. A feat that only the late 'Charlie Chaplin of Goa', late Jacinto Vaz could do.  In the recent times he has been engaged by several other prominent directors to do the main comedy roles in their plays and so John does a good balancing act between his own shows and that of other directors too. It is to be said to his credit that with his full-fledged attention towards comedy roles, he has been able to flourish and gain mastery in the art of making people really laugh. With due respect to all the other top comedians on stage as of now, I can confidently say that John has surpassed all the others in the race and presently is the 'Numero Uno' comedian of the konkani stage.

Those of you who have seen the standard of his comedy in the last season's Patrick Dourado's show 'Suseg Pid'dear Kelo' will fully endorse my views. He was totally in command of the entire comedy sequence in his role of a simpleton. Presently John is the crowd-puller at any show where he adorns the  comedian's mantle.

When asked to name his favourite role model on stage, John spontaneously quipped "Jacinto Vaz". Appreciating the writings of other stalwarts on the konkani stage he informed this writer that his best playwrights are; Rosario Rodrigues and M. Boyer. 'Besides Rosario Rodrigues, I have always admired the writing skill of M. Boyer in most of his dramas, his script is rich and meaningful.  John is also a close follower of the Indian Bollywood, among his favourite actors are Amitabh Bachchan and Thespian Dilip Kumar.  When at the end I asked him " John , name a personality  whom you admire the most and why ?" Even before I could complete my question John had a ready answer and without any hesitation he answered " I admire Rajan Narayan, the Editor of O Heraldo, the most.  I am his fan.  I just can't miss the intelligent editorials he
writes and his Stray Thoughts are just too much." After a brief pause he continued, " Rajan is intelligent and has a sharp mind and even sharper memory too."

        John is married to Sunita,  and is a devoted husband. When not busy with the shows, he spends quality time with his family and is basically a family man.