Ghatki Judas doesn’t betray its audiences

Varca: For those who believe that the soul of Judas Iscariot still struggles to escape purgatory, it must also be known that the man who ‘gave away’ Jesus to the Romans for 30 pieces of silver has accepted his fate…history will never remember him as anything but a traitor.
In a fictional space, Cruz Pinto – director of the Lenten drama ‘Ghatki Judas’ (Judas, the betrayer) – portrays the apostle (played by Filipe Almeida) in conversation with Jesus.Judas tells the friend he once betrayed that he is tired of being made the scapegoat every time someone errs. “Why do they take my name in vain and wash their hands of wrongdoing when they betray you a million times more than I? Why am I always blamed?” he asks, begging Jesus for one opportunity to tour the Earth and try to strike his name off the ‘black list’ of history.
Judas’s journey back on Earth doesn’t really see any closure through the story line of the play, but another way of looking at it is that the stories that unfold during the course of ‘Ghatki Judas’ are basically moments witnessed by Judas during his brief visit to the world. The tiatr resolves around a typical Goan family comprising a mother, Eugene (Dolla), her elder son Jackris (Menino Mario), younger son Joseph (Anil Pednekar) and their wives, both of whom are childless. It begins with a scene where Isabel (Roma), the elder son’s wife, announces that she is pregnant and Eugene is overjoyed that she will soon be a grandmother. But, the mood changes as soon as Mary (Olga), the other daughter-in-law, enters the home. Eugene curses and insults Mary for not giving her grandchildren and even threatens to have Joseph divorce her and remarry another girl who can conceive.
The tiatr bluntly discusses burning social topics such as abortion, infanticide, doctors and hospitals shunning their ethics and toying with people’s lives and emotions. It exalts Goa’s communal harmony and even dedicates two songs to assert that the Goan community is defined by its liberal, intermingling nature, where people across religious boundaries partake in one another’s good and bad times.
The plot is supported by well-timed comedy, especially by Max (Alvyn D’Souza, aka Junior Bachan) whose accent and actions on stage almost made the audience forget that the tiatr stretched way past their dinner time. Max’s mere entrance on to the stage would spark a giggle in the crowd, and his crazy yet feisty conversations with his nagging wife, Kate (Dorothy), has audiences choking with laughter. Santan (Aurelio), and Marie-Santan (Rudolfina) also play along, providing for some rib-tickling comedy.
Portraying two approaches towards relationships, the comedy hits home that love cannot be defined. There are sparring couples (such as Max and Kate), who seem incompatible, unromantic and on the verge of separation, but cannot bear to stay away from each other. Then, there are those like Santan and Marie-Santan that are too emotive and romantically inclined, but stand the risk of one little misunderstanding almost tearing them apart.
Following a few twists and turns, arguments and unfortunate deaths, both daughters-in-law miss out on becoming mothers. The elder delivers a blue baby, paying the price for all those newborns she sold as a nurse, while the younger one is forced to undergo an abortion by her husband who suspects that it wasn’t his child. The anxious closing scene is characterized by some strong advice from the director who plays a host of crucial roles in the tiatr.
‘Ghatki Judas’ is a beautifully conceptualized and well-enacted tale of how people continue to betray Jesus, and yet, blame it on a Jew who made a mistake thousands of years ago. Staged in front of a packed house at the Varca church campus, the tiatr didn’t allow its viewers an opportunity to leave midway, thanks to a power-packed performance by the actors and crooners. Nancy Gomes, Santan Crasto, Osvi Viegas, Bernard Fernandes and Evaristo Rodrigues lent their powerful voices to some thought-provoking lyrics.
Being the final act to be featured in TOI’s ‘Lenten Tiatr Festival’ series, ‘Ghatki Judas’ didn’t literally live up to its name. It instead portrayed a gripping storyline of the spirit of Lent, that featured a thought-provoking plot, tense moments interspersed with commendable comic relief and a synchronized live band that set the tone for the night.