Come rain or shine “ tiatr goes on growing stronger.

The benevolenceof the rain Gods on Goa is unprecedented. While the rains flood
our towns and villages, the ‘tiatrs’ are flooding our auditoriums in the main
towns of Panjim, Margao, Mapusa and Sanvordem. Vasco’s Port town has noauditorium
worth its name, so it has lost the race on the entertainment front. Unmindfulof
the rains there is an avalanche of tiatr lovers flocking to see tiatrs in allthe
towns.

The 120 year old Tiatr is one of Goa’s popular and inexpensive forms of massentertainment with a ticket fare of around Rs. 70/-. An average family of fivemembers can easily afford to see even two or more tiatrs in a given monthwithout drilling a big hole in their pocket and rocking the monthly budget.This is one reason why people flock to the tiatr at weekends and consider it asa family outing. It is not so easy to find a ticket unless you have booked themin advance at Kala Academy, Panjim or the Ravindra Bhavan at Margao orSanvordem during the weekend shows.

The weekendshows on Saturday and Sunday get full within a short time from the opening of theplans. I have seen families with children go back disappointed, just becausethey did not take care to book their seat in advance.

Till date,Ravindra Bhavan in Margao is the nerve centre for the decisive verdict to saywhether a tiatr is good, average or below the expected standard. Theplaywrights take all the pain to ensure that they live up to the expectation ofthe tiatr goers and prefer not to take any chances. The audience today isdemanding and very difficult to please. But all said and done, the show goes onwhether it rains or shines. The tiatr is growing stronger with every passingseason.