The A Group Tiatr Competition organized by Kala Academy is all set for a royal finish this Monday with Fr. Doyel Fernandes' troupe from Chinchinim staging their tiatr ‘Carnaval’.
Any competition has a set of rules and this year Vishnu Surya Wagh, the chairman of Kala Academy went one step further and called for a meeting of the participating institutions along with the members of the jury for the purpose of correct interpretation of rules as during past years it was noticed that some good tiatr were being presented, but without maintaining the format of tiatr.
As per the set of rules for the competition, a tiatr should necessarily have six or seven porddes (acts), with comedy as an integral part of the tiatr and with a minimum of 10 songs sung in between each porddo. These songs should compulsorily include two interactive duets, one interactive duo, trio, quartet and a choral song. It is clearly mentioned in the rules that without the comedy related to the tiatr and these interactive songs and the choral song, even if a tiatr scores higher marks, it will not be considered for the award.
In spite of these clear cut directives issued in the rule book and clarified in the meeting held with the club representatives and judges, it was disheartening to note that quite a few institutions failed to conform to the rules set forth for the competition. While some troupes had no comedy at all, some troupes had comedy that was not an integral part of the tiatr. While one particular troupe had no choral song, another group had most of the songs in the choral style. Just a four liner interaction in the last chorus does not make an otherwise well sung solo an interactive duet. Roadside comedy jokes that have no bearing on the storyline and characters of the main play also do not make the comedy an integral part of the tiatr.
The Tiatr Academy should set forth and exercise its authority to see that the format of tiatr is maintained in all types of tiatr. Tiatr troupes that do not adhere to the norms and format put forth should not be given any sort of assistance or schemes. Commercial tiatr that do not practice the format or tiatr in which comedy is not relevant to the main story and in which the side show songs are not of an interactive nature should not be given an opportunity to participate in the Popular Tiatr festival or travel concession for tiatr travelling outside Goa or even subsidies as per the scheme.
Unless we follow the format of tiatr in letter and form, the spirit of tiatr will not be maintained. If tiatr has to be preserved for posterity, its true spirit must be maintained.
