Can one imagine any performance without the fairer sex? Well, we were quite a conservative bunch as Indians. But maybe not so much as Goans. One can say this simply because according to records, the first lady to ever perform on stage was in our Konkani theatre. “Women came in to Marathi theatre much after 1904,” confirms tiatr historian Wilmix Wilson Mazarello who was the first to record the history of tiatr in the book, ‘100 years of the Konkani Tiatr’.
Tiatr always had women in their depictions, right from its conception in the year 1892. However the first real lady to come on the stage was Regina Fernandes. Prior to this, not only would one see tiatr greats like Remmie Colaco and others in roles of males, but also performing as women. Tiatrists prior to that fateful day of November 22, 1904, always had male tiatrists dressed as females and that too most convincingly. “Sometimes, given the girlish voices they used and the costumes and make up, it was very difficult to discern who it was playing the woman’s role,” confirms an octogenarian tiatr goer.
Incidentally, Regina Fernandes was the wife of a man with great vision that will last forever. She was the wife of none other than Joao Agostinho Fernandes, after whom the air conditioned hall at Ravindra Bhavan Margao is named. This man is known as Pai Tiatrist, for his first Konkani script while a gentleman called Lucasinho Rebeiro was the writer and director of the first tiatr called ‘Italian Bhurgo’ that was staged in Bombay during the fag end of the 1800s.
Nonetheless, credit must be given to Joao Agostinho for respecting and acknowledging the capabilities of women and finally being the change himself in this movement for women emancipation the world over during those times. Undoubtedly, it was a bold step at a time when even boys were restricted from performing on stage in our country. The name of this tiatr was ‘Bhattkara’ and was staged at the Gaiety theatre in Bombay. Regina Fernandes did three different roles in this tiatr. And after all that hullabaloo about women performing on stage, records claim that the entire audience clapped for this first lady of the stage in India, for her performance.
Come this Monday, December 14, it will be the birthday of this iconic person, namely, our very own Pai Tiatrist “ Joao Agostinho Fernandes. And on this day this year, the Tiatr Academy of Goa (TAG) has decided to felicitate a few tiatrists for their lifetime contribution to this traditional art form of Goa, due to which women emancipation was possible. And so we had our maim tiatrist “ Regina Fernandes.
