Life can be very unpredictable. On Saturday morning the tiatr fraternity and tiatr lovers in Goa and across the globe woke up to the shocking news of the passing away of one of the stalwarts of the Konkani stage, Mario Menezes. A singer, song writer, script writer, an actor par excellence, a good director of the Konkani stage, a well known tiatr personality with a touch of class and vice-president of the Tiatr Academy of Goa (TAG) Mario Menezes, popularly known as ‘The Tragedy King’ will be greatly missed on the Konkani stage. It is understood that Mario suffered a heart attack while travelling to Mumbai with fellow tiatrists to give a stage performance. He was a guiding light to many upcoming artistes of the Konkani stage. It may be recalled that for the first time in the history of tiatr, a total of 25 children of leading tiatrists in Goa, took to the stage, many making their debut with his tiatr, ‘100% (Hundred Percent)’. Mario made his debut on the professional tiatr stage in 1982 and was part of the late Rosario Rodrigues troupe. He later became an excellent script writer and director and was crowned as the ‘Tragedy King’ of the Konkani stage. Mario gave many memorable tiatrs to the lovers of the Konkani stage. One of which was the thought-provoking drama ‘To Porot Yetolo’, his 41st tiatr presentation. May God grant his soul eternal peace.
