Celebrating 125 years of tiatr

The two-day celebration of the 125th anniversary of tiatr was filled with music, art, special performances and nostalgic tiatr talk. Tiatrists, tiatr lovers and one of Goa’s yesteryear tiatrist Titta Pretto from Mumbai were present at the occasion.
On Monday evening, Goan singers paid tribute to the state’s tiatrists, starting with a foot-tapping Minguel Rod number Tarvotti sung by O’luv and his troupe, followed by another groovy number Lady From Goa by Alfred Rose in English and Konkani, and M Boyer’s Combi Bokdi Mazor.He concluded with a medley of popular Konkani songs like Ami Goenkar, Santan Mauxi and Golleant Sankli Soneachi.
Next, the late Allen Costa’s daughter Tina and granddaughter Ruth Beatriz Costa performed a heartwarming rendition of his emotional track Adeus Korchea Vellar.
Along with the function, tiatr fans were also treated to a special exhibition of 102 caricatures of yesteryear tiatrists like Costancio Lucasinho Caridade Ribeiro and João Agostinho Fernandes by cartoonist Alexyz.
“Tiatr has completed 126 years and we kept the 125th anniversary celebrations going throughout the year,” tiatrist Tomazinho Cardozo told us, adding, “When tiatr completed 50 years in 1942-43, a golden jubilee celebration was held in Mumbai, but nothing happened in Goa. During the 75th anniversary as well, there wasn’t any celebration here. The 100th anniversary was celebrated with a one-day ceremony held at Kala Academy. This time, we wanted to make it grand, in order to show the art form the respect it deserves.”
“This year, we felicitated around 600 tiatrists from Goa and Mumbai,” he added. On Tuesday, 12 senior tiatrists – Anthony Fernandes, Mingues Dias, Tomazinho Cardozo, Luis Costa, Milagres Fernandes, Lorna Cordeiro, Domingos Coelho, Thomas Britton, Cesar d’mello. Franscisco Xavier Fernandes, Theodor Alvares and Jean D’souza – were felicitated for their contributions to tiatr.
A TIATR POSTAGE STAMP!
Also revealed during the ceremony was the special postage stamp dedicated to tiatr,by The Department of Indian Postal Services,New Delhi,that will be released all over the country.“This is an iconic day in the history of tiatr. The commemorative postage stamp will be released in 1,100 centres across India," said Tomazinho, adding, "This way, the entire country will get a taste of the Goan tiatr. It’s a matter of great pride and honour for us."
The 125th anniversary celebration committee is also publishing a commemorative book that will detail the contribution of all the yesteryear tiatrists.