Dears, The "Mustard Seed Art Company" has explained the CRZ, land sales, the pulls and pushes of the "Goa Agricultural Tenancy Act, 1967" or the " Land to the Tiller Act" and the influence of the politicians as also the Court Room role of Evidence v/s the Truth in a way that only Isabel Santa Rita Vas can. the review by Bevinda Collaco is placed below. I am adding only the HIA [Human Interest Angle] now, Goan tomorrow :-)
Isabel and I share an Aldona connection. The judge in the land use case is my nephew, BOB Neville Rodrigues, from Anjuna. He is the son of Guirim boy and Xavierite, Mervyn, and my St. Mary's Chilli and Xavierite sister, Maria Amalia. Neville is a BOB and a House Commander during his days in St.Britto HS, Mapusa. The guy who plays the role of a foreign-returned Architect to perfection is BOB Rohan Nazareth, son of paediatrician Dr. Antonio Olegario Nazereth and an almost permanent member of the St.Britto PTA, Alcina Nazereth. Rohan was the school Chief Minister. Tamsin Pereira aka Tammy who played the role of the politician Vera de Souza is a Xavierite and so is Renita Ferreira who played the role of Adv. Justina Faria. she is the daughter of my friend Rui Ferreira who lives opposite the Church in Panaji, just at the rikshaw stand. there is no doubt as to where the argumentive skills, the loud , clear voice and the sense of humour comes to Renita. Sneha Avinash Bhonsle is the daughte r of Adv. Avinash Bhonsle, Corporator of CCP from Horta Paroquial and part of Fontainhas. I do not know the others well enough to write about I do not know her but she was by far the clasiest actor on stage, Sarvishta Gaonkar as the young, pretty Russian-Kazakhstan business woman , Narashenka Olensky. She had dead pan expressionless face during most of the court case scenes, and rolled the "Rs" when she spoke to perfection. She must be Convent or Sharada Mandir educated. If not, her performance is all the more praiseworthy. One could possibly work a bit on the costumes and settings, if the play was enacted indoors on stage, instead of the amphitheatre. The photos of Rajan Parikar on LCD projection were good. I could recognise the Siridao hotel project and the Odxel housing project besides other destructive activities that the GBA has protested against ....contrasted with the ruaral agricultural scenes. The presentation was supported by Goa Sudharop Community Development Inc. which will hold its own panel discussion on "Goa Vision 2020" with Fr. Maverick Fernandes of CSJP GBA and SVM. Ritu Prasad of GBA [with inputs from Patricia Pinto] and Soter D'Souza of GMAS as the three panelists on 29 December, 2007 from 4.00 to 6.00 P.M. at the Black Box of the kala Academy. Paucity of time prevents involvement of more panelists. The programme is open to all. Mog asundi. Miguel [Goanet] On the Holy Trail - play review by Bevinda Collaco Cecil Pinto cecilpinto at gmail.com Tue Dec 18 20:04:46 PST 2007 ________________________________ A play for Goans and Outsiders Whether you are a Goan or the much-abused Outsider, "On the Holy Trail" is a must-experience play for you. The Mustard Seed Art Company will stage two shows of this 90 minute play on December 20 and 21 at 7pm at the mini open-air-auditorium, Kala Academy. Written and produced by Isabel Santa-Rita Vaz, of the Mustard Seed Art Company, the play tackles the thorny question of the sale of land in Goa, and the sale of Goa itself. It traces the pulls and tugs of the common man to make a better life for himself or herself. That search for a better life may not sit well with others who cannot tolerate the erosion of all that is precious to their way of life, until, that is, they do it themselves. If you scratch beneath the surface, everyone is involved in some way or another with the acquisition of wealth resulting in the destruction of the fast disappearing Goan ethos. The play is constructed in two parts, the "Tinto" and a courtroom drama. The traditional village tinto with its regular characters discussing life's problems in Goa today beginning with a power cut on stage, ordained by government decree in the play. It has to be read out by the town crier because there is no power to run the presses to print the notification. There is much animadversion of the politicians. The courtroom scene goes through the intricate legal dance, where a Kazakhstan citizen is accused of robbing land, breaking CRZ rules and apparently running a brothel under the guise of a restaurant. The play progresses with the tinto and the courtroom alternately, each following its own path until the unexpected happens, rounding off the scenes but leaving the conclusion open to the audience. In the tradition of old, people gather around a story teller. Each tinto scene has one story to tell. Whether it is the green fly which is the devil that enters people's heads and makes them crazy, or the fox who cannot be trusted, or a ditty about the loss of tradition to development, the reality is everyone wants more and it all boils down to loss of a standard of life that was the envy of all. The courtroom drama peels off layer after layer of prejudice and hypocrisy and exposes all, the accused and the plaintiffs' complicity in the sale of Goa. The concept of "On the Holy Trail" is an ambitious one that is exercising the minds of everyone in Goa today. It captures the essence of the dichotomy the Goan people and the Outsiders find themselves in. The script is well written except for some purple prose which can be forgiven since harking back to the dourado aspect of Goa is generally through purple prose. The dialogue of the tinto is conversational and quick, but the courtroom drama is by far the best with crisp dialogue, thought provoking statements and the ability of the scene to get the mind moving inwards as each of us has to look carefully into our own half-uttered but fully-formed prejudices and our half-uttered but fully formed priorities. The cast are a motley mix of experienced and inexperienced actors. Sarvishta Gaonkar's performance as the Kazakhstan woman Narashenka Olenskaya was fluent; Renita Ferreira and Yulian Pinto gave convincing performances as the defence counsel and public prosecuter respectively; Tamsin Pereira as the politician and tinto story teller and Mario Coelho as social worker and tinto regular were impressive, their characters taking over to the exclusion of all else. Roger Fernandes worked his character well, as Prabhu the electronics shop owner, inventor and real estate agent, who has been an Outsider for the last 20 years, with just the right amount of resentment and scorn. Able performances were delivered by Kiran Bhandari as the mundkar who sold his land and planning to sell some more, Rohan Nazareth as the foreign-returned architect who found a deep love for his homeland and has decided to stay and fight for it, Neville Rodrigues as town crier and judge; also Santosh Madihalli, narrator and court marshall who extracted maximum mileage from his largely silent in court role. The chorus that showed the conflict between the traditional and development, between the Goan and the outsider was delivered by Malaika Vaz, Sneha Bhonsle, Santosh Madihalli and Michelle Noronha. A traditional Goan musical instrument, the ghumat was played by Kritika Bhandari. This is a story that should be heard and seen. ------------- The play will be staged on 20th and 21st December at 7 p.m. at Kala Academy mini outdoor auditorium. Please do attend and also help to spread awareness about the play by forwarding this to anyone in your address book who might be interested. ======= ________________________________ -- -.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-. Miguel Braganza, S1 Gracinda Apts, Rajvaddo, Mhapsa 403507 Goa Ph 9822982676 [EMAIL PROTECTED] -.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Spread the Christmas Cheer, even when you're not here! Send classic greetings to your loved ones in Goa. EXPRESSIONS - 2007 Christmas Hamper Visit http://www.goa-world.com/expressions/xmas/ Or e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
