Konkani Tiatr Review: Canadian Tiatrist Made History in USA
It's true. Jr. Menezes and the Goan Konkani Troupes, of Toronto, Canada made history in New Jersey with the ADEUS Konkani tiatr. It was a hit here for the first time with a crowd that had the house full. We had audience from New York, New Jersey, Philadelphia, Boston, Maryland and other places. The Goan Association of New Jersey proudly presented this first ever event in Konkani. And, it was intense and well-organized. Cheers! For everyone who made this triumph.
Our local groups from NJ, Peekskill-NY, and New Yorkers presented group performances on the stage before the tiatr start and at half time. The group performances were well-organized and fabulous with rich costumes.
The story line of the play was excellent. It started like a movie reflecting on a childhood, and then flashing forward to the current adults, with hilarious comedy all through out the play. Serah Barbosa acted as a 'Gaudhin' and her accent were really 'gaudhin' type. She was fabulous and extravagant in her act, and her costumes were marvelous. AC Pereira acted as a 'GHANTTI,' or sort of South Indian Malabari guy, with real authentic style and look. Jr. Menezes had acted 4 different roles in the play for the first time, but the 'gaudhi' role wearing KHASTTI was extraordinary and superb. It was a shock to our audience but they truly enjoyed and loved it. It was so funny and natural. In one particular scene, the 'gauddi' father vo 'Abh' with 'KHASTTI' was overwhelmed to see his son had returned from Dubai, and when they are going home he starts to scratch his exposed ass. That made the audience really laugh, and such laughter brings the flash back of Goan tradition in those olden days. These three artists made the crowd laugh and laugh from start to end. All in all, every single artist, including the children artists, has done their role in a great measure to make this tiatr truly mesmerizing.
Singers from the New Jersey and Toronto groups sung their songs well with Goan pride and spirit. Stage sets, sound effects, lighting effects, and the starting film concept were incredible and amazing. The Canadian thrilled the audience with their state of the art technology. Really, it was hard work, but in the end it was all well-done and we had a great success! Cheers! And claps started from beginning to ending of the tiatr. Masters of Ceremony were Aurita Dias in Konkani with all jokes in between, Tony Barros in English, and Brenda Fernandes in Konkani and English. Everyone did their best. Musician Cooty and his group (Illusion) played very well. Three Cheers For Jr. Menezes and his troupes! We wish him all the best in his future venture and great success on the Konkani Stage.
To view opening chorus of this Tiatr, go online and click:www.youtube.com./mikenjusa
A Review by: Miguel Barreto, Kepem-USA
