The roots of the fruit- TIATR
The Origins
of Goa’s most amazing folklore. {PART-I}
Teatro – Goa’s most widely acclaimed Goan folk lore
that is not only fascinating to Goans but even the world that lies outside this
beautiful abode. It is enjoyed not only
by the Christians of Goa but other religions too that like to watch Tiatr. It
has become an integral part in the life of Goans. This unique folk lore is
found only on the land of Estado de India.
However as one enjoys beauty of the present Tiatr, s/he should know the origins
of this folk lore.
Many believe that the Portuguese are
to be credited for getting the form of Teatro or Tiatr to Goa. However before drawing such conclusions, one needs
to look at the social and cultural history of pre-Portuguese Goa. When one takes a look at this history, one
finds that the traditional entertainment of Goans were the khells and zagor. Zagor is a Hindu performance genre in Goa. Wherein the participants would stay awake for
a full night in order to honor and worship a particular local pantheon of
ancestors, gods, saints and spirits. Costumed men and boys performed on stage. The plots were enacted through dance, song
and theatrical acting with various themes highlighted.
The khell is a name used for ritual
dances performed by various village communities. So thus we see the form of dance and drama
was already known to the Goans before the arrival of the Portuguese.
The intermingling of Goan culture with the
Portuguese brought about a major transformation to the local folk. Teatro both in Portuguese and Italians means
theatre. The term ‘theatre’ has been in
use in Goa ever since dramatic performances were held in Goa with the advent of
the Portuguese. Thus one needs to see that Tiatr emerged from the fusion of
both the Luso and the Indo cultural folk.
Initially Tiatr was not celebrated
as the way it is done today. Today it is performed on stage with a huge crowd in
front of it. Earlier a group or troupe
would go from place to place. They would
stop at a particular place mainly where there are a large number of houses and
perform their play there. They would not use any major prop, at the minimal
sometimes a curtain at the backdrop and a table and a chair were used. The
musical instrument was the traditional “Gumot”. Like the Elizabethan theatre, men
used to dress like women and used to act with broken voices as women were not
allowed to act on stage. Such form of Tiatr
was initially called as Khell Tiatr. The modern Tiatr is an outcome of this
Khell Tiatr. Today even though Tiatr in its new aspects has gained huge
popularity ,the Khell Tiatr is also widely celebrated across Goa.
ELTRIN D’SOUZA
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