The piety of the tiatrist fraternity is something to beadmired. Its members always invoke God’s blessings each time they embark on anytiatr assignment. An artist making the sign of the cross and bowing just beforeentering or stepping on to the stage is an age old tradition passed down fromgeneration to generation. The tradition continues till date. Some seniorartists displaying a picture of Jesus or their favourite saint on theirdressing table in the green room is yet another sight. But, no dramatic troupehowever established or amateur will ever take the stage and commence the showwithout reciting a small prayer back-stage to invoke the blessings of God forthe creative work they are about to present. This short prayer is usually ledby the tiatr director or any other senior artist. But this small yet importantritual and tradition is observed with all sanctity and obeisance.
It is believed that the patron saint of performing artists,actors and musicians is St Cecilia who lived in the sixth century. Thoughmarried, she maintained a life of pure virginity. She converted many peopleduring her life time. She was persecuted for her missionary work and finallyarrested and sentenced to death. Legend has it that there were two failedexecutions which bewildered her executioners. Finally after leaving her alone,she bled to death, preaching until her very last breath. She was later elevatedto the honour of sainthood by the Catholic Church.
The Konkani non-stop Tiatristanchi Sonstha, a Navelim basedorganisation of the tiatrist fraternity, celebrated the feast of their patronsaint on November 22 with a Eucharistic celebration at the ‘Our Lady of RosaryChurch’ in Navelim, which was followed by a get-together of all the artists atthe association premises. The feast mass was celebrated by Reverend FatherRoque Gonsalves, parish priest of Navelim and in his homily exalted the role oftiatrists for their creative talent. He praised them for educating and bringingabout awareness among the masses through the medium of tiatr on social,political and other issues plaguing society. A large number of Konkani stageartistes including musicians, and back stage artistes were present for thecelebrations with their family members. A full-fledged brass band was inattendance and brought about a perfect festive atmosphere with its instrumentalrenditions.
