The decision of the Tiatr Academy of Goa to appoint a special committee to organise and oversee the tiatr competitions is indeed a right step in the right direction. During the last term, Prince Jacob the then President of the Tiatr Academy of Goa, did not participate in the Popular Tiatr Festival to ensure free and fair participation. With the organising of these competitions placed in the hands of the academy staff, who are sub ordinates of the President, interference in judgement making was a possibility and hence to discard all fears from the other participants, Prince Jacob did not participate in the competition.
This year the Childrens Tiatr Festival was until recently engulfed in a cloud of suspicion as the vice president of the Academy will be competing in the competition and some participants raised their doubts about the free and fair conduct of this competition. To dispel these doubts, the executive committee have now formed an organising committee under the chairmanship of the visionary tiatrist Premanand Lotlikar, known for his progressive fair and just attitude towards tiatr. The formation of this organising committee has also addressed the problem of script scrutiny. Last year a script that did not meet the required qualifications was presented and declared winner in the children's tiatr category. This led to several protests from participating troupes. Taking cognizance of this, the organising committee remedied the situation this year. The scripts submitted were scrutinised and some writers were directed to effect necessary changes in order to make the scripts relevant to the lives of children.
Also, the same committee will be in charge of organising the Popular Tiatr Festival of commercial tiatrs. Thus there will be no hue and cry raised if the President Agustine Temudo or the vice-president William Fernandes are participants of the festival as appointment of judges and interacting with them will be the prerogative of the organising committee and the president and vice president will have no say in the matter.
With all fears dispelled, all eyes are now set on the appointment of judges for the festival that commences on December 7. There is no prize money for the winners and hence a fair and just judgement will be the only consolation for the participating troupes. May the best walk away with honours.
