TIATR KONSO
John D' Silva The 'Numero Uno' Comedian.
- Daniel F. de Souza.
Like several other Playwrights of the konkani
stage he too has had humble beginnings. As a XII
Science student of the Chowgule College, he had wide
options to choose his profession in life after passing
the Junior College exam, but, like any other Goan in
the eighties, he preferred to try his luck in the
Middle East. He had a brief spell in Qatar, only to
return back to his roots after a two-year stint. As a
matter of fact, his affair with the stage began with
the 'One Act Plays'. But, the love of the stage was
genetically determined with his father Custodio
D'Silva also being a stage artist, a singer to be more
precise. Among the several One Act Plays John has
produced, 'Jugar' staged way back in 1984 had a very
successful run in Goa and brought out the actual
writer in him. It won't be out of context to mention
that during the eighties, One Act Plays were a craze
across the State, and had a good fan following. These
plays served as a launching pad for prospective
artists and writers seeking to make acting as a
profession. With the unprecedented success of 'Jugar'
(Gambling) John D'Silva literally gambled his way onto
the professional stage soon thereafter securing a role
in Lino's tiatr 'Dhorm'. In this play he played a
character role with conviction.
Today at 38, John D'Silva father of two sons,
Christ aged 9 and Benhur aged 4 years is a veteran of
13 full-length professional plays and still going
strong with every production. Of these 13 plays, two
of his plays VELL (l996) & BOTT (2001) bagged the
prestigious GULAB Best Writer Award. The Qatar Goan
Sports Club also honoured him with the Best Writer
Director Award for VELL in 1996. In 1998, he was
bestowed the title of 'Intellectual Writer of Konkani
Stage' for his play VATT by the 'Blue Wings
Production' in Qatar. Beginning with his first
professional tiatr 'Chuklele Roste' in 1991, his other
plays are : Chitrailolo Fator (1992) , Jith & Liplele
Rupkar (1993), Puja (1994) and a Video Film 'Xinn' in
1995. Thereafter under the banner of S.B. Art, John
D'Silva, wrote and produced some non-stop plays with a
high literary standard, viz., Vell (1996), Dennem &
Kolle (1997) , Ekvott & Vatt (1998) Umannen &
Sokallim (1999), Menn & Avesor (2000) Bott & Somzonnim
(2001), Magnnem & Bovall (2002) the last named show
'Bovall' is currently showing this season and
creating waves across the State.
An avid reader of novelist Sydney Sheldon's
works, John has produced some memorable thrillers,
though his plays don't have much to talk about Hi-fi
technical scenes and props, just one or two on an
average. He lays more emphasis on the script writing
and the same is always appreciated for its rich prose.
Audience is much satisfied with a script rich with
meaningful dialogues. As a matter of fact, to a large
degree the depth of his script writing can be only
compared with those of another great Goan writer
Rosario Rodrigues better known as the 'Shakespeare of
the Konkani Stage'.
By nature John is a simple person, humble, more of an
introvert and a comical figure too, so he naturally
takes on the role of a comedian in his own plays. He,
if I may say, is a born comedian, a natural comedian
who makes you laugh with his mere entry and presence
on stage. A feat that only the late 'Charlie Chaplin
of Goa', late Jacinto Vaz could do. In the recent
times he has been engaged by several other prominent
directors to do the main comedy roles in their plays
and so John does a good balancing act between his own
shows and that of other directors too. It is to be
said to his credit that with his full-fledged
attention towards comedy roles, he has been able to
flourish and gain mastery in the art of making people
really laugh. With due respect to all the other top
comedians on stage as of now, I can confidently say
that John has surpassed all the others in the race and
presently is the 'Numero Uno' comedian of the konkani
stage.
Those of you who have seen the standard of his comedy
in the last season's Patrick Dourado's show 'Suseg
Pid'dear Kelo' will fully endorse my views. He was
totally in command of the entire comedy sequence in
his role of a simpleton. Presently John is the
crowd-puller at any show where he adorns the
comedian's mantle.
When asked to name his favourite role model on stage,
John spontaneously quipped "Jacinto Vaz". Appreciating
the writings of other stalwarts on the konkani stage
he informed this writer that his best playwrights are;
Rosario Rodrigues and M. Boyer. 'Besides Rosario
Rodrigues, I have always admired the writing skill of
M. Boyer in most of his dramas, his script is rich and
meaningful. John is also a close follower of the
Indian Bollywood, among his favourite actors are
Amitabh Bachchan and Thespian Dilip Kumar. When at
the end I asked him " John , name a personality whom
you admire the most and why ?" Even before I could
complete my question John had a ready answer and
without any hesitation he answered " I admire Rajan
Narayan, the Editor of O Heraldo, the most. I am his
fan. I just can't miss the intelligent editorials he
writes and his Stray Thoughts are just too much."
After a brief pause he continued, " Rajan is
intelligent and has a sharp mind and even sharper
memory too."
John is married to Sunita, and is a devoted
husband. When not busy with the shows, he spends
quality time with his family and is basically a family
man.
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