Tiatr Mogi
Our life is a continuous journey treading the paths of Calvary that Jesus trod for the salvation of humanity. The journey with the Cross is the hallmark of Christianity. For the followers of Christ the call is clear, ‘Take your Cross and follow Me’.
Fr Nevel L S Gracious, popularly known as Nevel Vell’llekar makes one reflect that carrying of the Cross is the only option available in our lives if we want to lead a life in the true spirit of Christianity in his current release Hi Vatt Khursachi.
Script
The tiatr has a script that is faithful to the format of tiatr. The script is simple rather too simple with little or no development of sequences. The creation of characters in the script defies logic. There is a character from the village who has his nose poking in the affairs of people. But then how can he enter somebody’s house and start driving them crazy digging into their past and admonishing them time and again when the household members do not even know him. Which sane family will entertain such a character time and again in their house? In a script shouldn’t the existence of characters be justified?
Comedy
The comedy is modest and simple. The comedy is related to the main storyline. However there were very few laughing moments. What the comedy could get out was smiles. Incorporating the funny side in the script is the hallmark of tiatr and Fr Nevel Gracious has done well in following this format faithfully and not falling prey to the current trend of introducing comedy that runs parallel to the storyline of the plot.
Sets
The sets suggested the locale of the plot and even though the sets are seen time and again on stage for different tiatrs, for a newcomer the sets jelled well with the plot of the play. The blue curtain, which is an eyesore of the hall, for once, was not put to use. A little furniture would have enhanced the beauty of the sets.
Acting
All artistes featured in this tiatr have given their best in their performance and the professionalism of the artistes can be seen in display. Elias as the priest is superb. His walking style, his dialogue delivery, his cuteness and smiling face did justice to the character. Mini Mario is seen acting after a pretty long time. The actor displays great stage presence in the portrayal of his role. Rupesh Joglekar makes his character his own, his appearance, dialogue delivery and expressions are what every actor should possess in his kitty and display onstage. Rupesh Joglekar is definitely one of the best crop on tiatr stage. Dolla Mascarenhas is superb as the mother and her decent dressing adds to her characterisation. Melissa is too loud in her dialogue delivery and has a tendency of unnecessarily shouting her dialogues as is done in the zomnivelo khell. She needs to control her vocal chords. Comedian Domnic is very expressive and his funny expressions were enough for people to smile, but lack of content in the comedy could not bring his talent to the fore. Comedian Cedric was however out of form. He was more serious than comic in his expressions.
Music/songs:
The tiatr features beautiful music provided by Nolvert Cota and his troupe that featured the ‘the dancing drummer’ Xavier de Moira alias Paklo, who is a real treat to watch whilst playing. The songs are well composed but was it necessary to get the theme line ‘Hi Vatt Khursachi’ in every song rendered? Songs of a tiatr should have no connection with the main story. this is the formula of a tiatr so having songs on the same theme was repetitive and monotonous. It appeared that the tiatr has two opening songs. Care should be taken in scheduling the summary to avoid such impression. Solos by Mini Mario, Melissa, Elias a duet by Dolla and Elias, were pick of the lot.
Direction
The absence of the director in the troupe that performed was felt. The Biblical quotient that is a must in a Lenten Tiatr was shown on screen in English language in a form of a film with a commentary in Konkani preceding it. Was the screening really needed? Couldn’t the scenes be acted on stage? Can the work of a film maker be incorporated without giving credits to the film maker? Doesn’t this amount to plagiarism and theft of content? The director needs to answer this.
Overall a good job executed on stage and a tiatr which can be called a Lenten tiatr. However the presentation lacked the usual depth that has been annually seen in Fr Nevel’s tiatr.
