Tomazinho Cardozo is the former president of the Tiatr Academy of Goa
The history of tiatr tells us that no tiatr has becomecommercially successful if it did not have comedy elements in it. I have yet tosee a tiatr becoming commercially successful without comedy sequences. With theexception of religious tiatrs, no other tiatrs, be they social or political;have earned any recognition of the people.
As comedy became a very important aspect of tiatr, so alsothe artists acting as comedians too became equally important. In the past aswell as even today the importance of comedians has not decreased. On thecontrary, comedians do not only act comedy roles but they have become a sourceof attracting audience. It is for this reason that the comedians in tiatrsreserve a prominent place for themselves in advertising and promoting tiatrs.
If we go through the history of tiatr, we shall be surprisedto note that the Father of Tiatr, Joao Agostinho Fernandes, himself was acomedian. Elders of tiatrs say that Joao Agostinho was a natural comedian andcould make people laugh very easily. In fact, before he was called the Fatherof Tiatr by the lovers of tiatrs, he was popularly known as ‘Comic Fernandes’because of his comedy roles. Thomas Coogan was another comedian of yester yearswho stole the hearts of tiatr goers in the 1940s and 50s.
Another important comedy character of tiatr stage wasJacinto Vaz. His entry on the stage alone was enough for the people to laugh.He was rightly called ‘Charlie Chaplin’ of tiatr stage. He was a born comedian.He was so natural in his acting of a drunken person that he simply mesmerisedthe audience. M Boyer has revolutionized the Konkani stage with his excellent scriptsand lyrics. He was a revolutionary comedian too.
Anthony Mendes is yet another comedian of tiatr stage whocarved a special niche for himself in the tiatr world. A comedian of highcaliber he could entertain the people not only with his funny dialogues butalso with his swift and comic body movements. In fact he was called ‘SpringMan’ by his fans only because of his unique body movements. The presentgeneration had no opportunity to taste the comedy of Anthony Mendes but they,if interested, can still see his comic histrionics in the Konkani film “AmchemNoxib”.
Kid Boxer was another artiste of Konkani stage who performedcomedy roles and entertained the tiatr loving people. He always played the roleof the comedian in all the tiatrs written and directed by Minguel Rod. JephsisHitler was also a comedian of high quality. His diminutive stature was a pluspoint for him to send the audience into pills of laughter. Acting the characterof a Kunbi person was his forte. Peter Champion was also a comedian parexcellence. Rico Rod, Titta Preto and Paul Romy too have earned recognitionfrom the people for their comedy roles. In the present times we have ComedianHumbert, Comedian Domnick, Luis Bachan, John D’Silva, Agostinho, Salvy andothers creating laugh-riot on the tiatr stage.
Comedians of tiatrs stage have been very influential andmany a time quite demanding too. Even today the same trend continues on tiatrstage. Tiatr lovers will not only see who are the writers & directors oftiatrs but also who are the comedians in it before buying the tickets.
