Prince Jacob, the President of the TAG, in his welcomespeech at the ‘Lifetime Contribution to Tiatr’ awards ceremony went into minutedetails to enlighten the gathering as to why Joao Agostinho Fernandes is called‘Pai Tiatirst’, even though it was Lucasinho Ribeiro who scripted and stagedthe first Konkani tiatr ‘Italian Bhurgo’ in Mumbai on April 17 in 1892. He saidJoao Agostinho Fernandes had scripted a total of 30 plays, 26 of these were hisoriginal creations while four were translations. He went a step further anddocumented his works by publishing them in book form.
Elaborating on the work that the TAG is presently doing forthe development of tiatr and its related activities since its inception inJanuary 2009, he made a fervent and forceful plea to the Government to enhancetheir annual grants by Rs 30 lakh, so that they can undertake other projectsand schemes for the betterment of the theatre form. He also emphasised the needto have an independent administrative block for the TAG, attached with anauditorium of its own and requested the government to provide them withsuitable land and resources to fulfil the wish. The audience responded with athunderous applause.
The Chief Guest, Francis D’Souza, Deputy Chief Minster andthe Guest of Honour Shri Dayanand Mandrekar, Minsiter for Art and Culture, alsoresponded favourably to Prince Jacob request when the Chief Minister said, “Thetiatrist fraternity have preserved the language. They are real fighters andworked to protect the identity of the land of Goa facing all odds. They arehard-working and their work is endless. I will certainly put forth your requestto the Chief Minister regarding your demand for land. Considering the land isscarce and there are difficulties in acquiring land, however you should not bechoosy about getting the land in Margao or Panjim.”
Dayanand Mandrekar, appreciating the contribution of thetiatrist fraternity to the Goan society equated actors with doctors. “Whiledoctors treat your body sickness, actors de-stress your mental stress andsickness. With their three hours of healthy entertainment, they make you forgetall your worries. Your demand for additional financial grants will befavourably looked into by making budgetary provisions next financial year,” hesaid to the satisfaction of all present at the function.
The daughter-in-law of ‘Pai Tiatrist’, the late JoaoAgostinho Fernandes, was also present at the Award ceremony and the TAGrecognised her presence by presenting her a memento to mark the 141st birthdaycelebrations.
