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Happy New Year Twenty-Ten
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Lucazinho Ribeiro - The Creator of Goan Tiatr
Tomazinho Cardozo
It is surprising to learn that the Goan Tiatr took birth in neighboring Bombay,
almost 117 years back i.e. in 1892. A young man called Lucazinho Ribeiro
hailing
from Sokolwaddo, Assagao in Bardez Taluka can be called the innovator of the
Tiatr
because he along with Joao Agostinho Fernandes and others staged the first
Tiatr
performance on the occasion of Easter on 17th April, 1892. The name of the
first
Tiatr staged was "Italian Bhurgo". This Tiatr was written and directed by
Lucazinho
Ribeiro hence he can be called the creator of the unique form of Konkani drama
called Tiatr.
There is no documentation at all which gives a clear picture of the staging of
the
first Tiatr in 1892. It is only in 1943, on the occasion of Golden Jubilee of
the
Tiatr that Joao Agostinho Fernandes, popularly known as Father of Tiatr, wrote
an
article, which was published in the issue of 'Ave Maria', a weekly in Konkani
in
Roman script, dated 28th November, 1943. In the beginning of his article Joao
Agostinho Fernandes says, " As I have taken the responsibility to celebrate the
Golden Jubilee of Konkani Tiatr, I feel it is my duty to make all Goans in
general
and tiatr lovers in particular known who is the first Goan to write ans stage
the
first Tiatr." In his brief article Mr. Fernandes describes how Lucazinho
Ribeiro got
a job in an Italian Opera Company and how he wrote the first tiatr 'Italian
Bhurgo'.
He also in this letter makes a mention of one Caitaninho who also assisted Mr.
Rebeiro besides him to stage the First Tiatr in 1892. In the last paragraph of
his
letter Joao Agostinho Fernandes says "Undoubtedly this credit goes to late Mr.
Lucazinho Ribeiro on the Tiatr stage. I bow my head to Mr. Ribeiro, who was my
guide
and teacher and because of his guidance I still continue to present Tiatrs of
good
values to the Tiatr lovers".
This article is the only source, which provides information about the
innovation of
the Tiatr and the staging of the first Tiatr. The information given in this
article
is authentic because the letter was written by a person who was directly
involved in
staging the first Tiatr "Italian Bhurgo" in 1892.
Why did such a dramatic form come into existence? It was because the standard
of the
then existing dramatic forms 'Zagor' and 'Khell' or 'Fell' deteriorated due to
introduction of elements of vulgarity to create fun and cheap entertainment for
the
audience. This decline of quality in staging Zagor and Khell prevented many
people
from witnessing these forms of entertainment. Educated people stopped
patronizing
the Zagor as well as the Khell. Goans were in need of good and qualitative
entertainment.
During the centenary year of the Tiatr in the year 1992, I visited Assagao in
order
to find out the roots of Lucazinho Ribeiro. I met Lucazinho Ribeiro's grand
daughter-in-law Lucy who showed me the house of Lucazinho Ribeiro, which was
all in
ruins. Only the balcony existed without the roof over it. One had to climb
12-14
steps to enter the collapsed balcony. She informed me that her father-in-law
used to
tell her that Lucazinho Ribeiro used to stage small cultural programmes of
Konkani
songs and skits by converting the balcony of his house into a temporary stage.
He
used to make use of bed-sheets as curtains.
Young Lucazinho Ribeiro migrated to Bombay, as most of the Goans did, in search
of a
job. During that time Italian dramatic troupes were touring important cities of
India such as Bombay, Calcutta, Delhi and Madras to stage Italian Operas. When
in
India, they used to employ Indians mostly as back stage artistes. Lucazinho
Ribeiro,
having love for dramatic art, tried his luck to get employment in one of the
Italian
dramatic troupes. He got a job as a back stage artiste. The troupe was staging
the
opera called "Italian Boy". When the troupe completed its assignments and was
to
leave India, Lucazinho Ribeiro bought the costumes which were used in the play.
This
act itself shows Ribeiro's intention of producing a play similar to "Italian
Boy".
Accordingly, based on the same story of "Italian Boy" he wrote a "Teatro" in
Konkani
and called it "Italian Bhurgo"
As there were many different scenes in this "Teatro" and as it required
different
stage sets, in order not to waste time, he thought of dropping the curtain and
introduced songs and dances in front of the curtain. He felt that it was needed
to
entertain the audience while the Stage Setting was being done behind the
curtain.
These songs and dances did not have any relevance to the theme of the play
'Italian
Bhurgo'. The experiment done by Lucazinho Ribeiro clicked. About 300 people who
witnessed the performance liked the new format and congratulated Lucazinho
Ribeiro
and others for staging such a unique form of entertainment. Thus a new dramatic
form
called Tiatr was successfully staged at the then existing New Alfred Theatre,
in
Mumbai on 17th April, 1892. Yes the Goan Tiatr took birth in Bombay thanks to
the
pioneering efforts of Lucazinho Ribeiro.
Tiatr Academy Goa will celebrate the birth anniversary of Lucazinho Ribeiro
with a
special function on 2nd January, 2010 at 4.30 p.m. at the Black Box, Kala
Akademy
Panjim. It will be great to attend this function and know more about late
Lucazinho
Ribeiro who gave Goans their most liked entertainment - the Tiatr.
