A quality competition

| DECEMBER 25, 2015, 12:00 AM IST

Photo Credits: pg 12- tiatr lead

The sixth edition of the Children's Tiatr Competition 2015 came to a befitting end on December 23. Kudos to the support that led to the birth of many stars (more than 200 of them) that will possibly entertain the generations ahead.

Continuing from last week, TAG committee member, tiatrist and playwright William Fernandes’ tiatr, (directed by Vasant B. Sawant) featured the contrast between rich and poor lifestyles. This was done beautifully by dividing the stage area using lighting. While hal showed a home with cracked walls, and wooden benches, the other had exquisite saree displays in a posh home. The exit for all characters was centrestage where stood a cross. The interval twists the poor boys history making him an orphan and bringing out his identity crisis; courtesy the shuffle of fate when members from both families die in a road accident. After all, it was only due to the will of God (the playwright in this case) that this Muslim boy from Madhya Pradesh was brought up in Goa. The end leaves the audiences smiling as this boy decides to stay on; courtesy the love of the Goan who brought him up and taught him good values, even as they lived opposite a family living a life of excesses.

Then came the lesson on porn, given by a peon in . Treated directorialy by Shirish Naik, Edmund Vaz spun a tale revealing how a child’s innocent mind is adulterated. The 13-yr-old boy most affected from watching movies beyond his understanding is shown transforming his perception from seeing his tuition teacher as his elder sister, to now seeing her as a woman, or rather one of the females he often pictures in his mind even when not watching porn. To bring out the impact of contrast between innocent and adult minds, the story interestingly stems from when these children overhear a mother bad-mouthing the teacher’s illegitimate love affair saying, ‘.’ So to know what this literally means, the children are left with only the peon as the alternative to get answers as the adult minds simply cannot answer the questions, ‘how does one eat shit? Have you ever eaten shit before?’, without over-reacting. The question remains till their perceptions remain innocent, and this tiatr goes beyond this, balancing the humour and sensitivity.

Following the footsteps of his tiatrist father Salvador Afonso, playwright Joesan staged with the assistance of the only woman director this event saw – his mother, tiatrist Nacia Afonso aka Inacia. Brother Sanyo Afonso playing the comedian was however more convincing than the heroine at a party making the police believe that one of the boys died due to overdose. But not only was it a murder, but also by a boy who got everything from his parents, except them being physically present. In the last scene, the emotionally disturbed boy bares all about how he longed for attention and love from his parents who are working in London. Jealous of his friend speaking with his girlfriend, he hatches a plot to kill.

Ending on a qualitative note as was the beginning of this competition was playwright Peter Vaz’s presentation, directed by Dhananjay Palkar (Taleigaon Dramatic Troupe). Depicting childhood’s pressures from peers in school, a boy is made to divert away from his goals by colleagues out of jealousy. Using the smart phone and other material pleasures besides the internet, this boy forgets about the plight of his ailing mother who sacrifices everything to bring up her aspiring engineer son. The video clip showing how these very cunning friends fall after their irresponsible triple seat ride on a bike, the only one used in this competition, sets everyone up for the last scene. The last tragedy that ended this competition however touchingly showed the mother's dying moments after she sees her son return. The fisherwoman sporting red or bright coloured frocks with flowers as well as one prominently in her hair brought out lighter moments with more takers in the audiences for the xaxti accent by this Bardeshi clan.

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