Tiatr Mogi
Nuclear family is the norm of the day with a well earning son going out to settle in a house of his own. After moving out, does the responsibility towards the parents stop? Is it not the heart bound duty of the son to provide for the emotional and other needs of the parents? When parents have a fortune in a bank balance, can a son claim his inherent right in his parents’ wealth without having a thought of the parents’ wellbeing?
Menino de Bandar asks these pertinent questions as his latest release ‘Uzvadd Tuka Diun’ unfolds on stage.
Script
The script appeared more of a melodramatic ‘zomnivelo fell’/khell tiatr script than a tiatr script. But the storyline had some interesting sequences which at times defied logic and rational thinking. How can a commanding mother, the head of the family who staves off the distribution of her wealth when asked by her sons by making a categorical statement that inheritance will come only after her death, leave her own house to please her son who has abused her because of his wife? The script was more of the proverbial frog in the pond not knowing how beautiful life was outside it. The cantos in the script were well composed. The main plot had comedy overtures related to the main storyline but the comedy was outdated and old.
Comedy
Besides having comedy in the main storyline, there was also a parallel story in the comedy. However this comedy had vulgar references. It is a real pity that Humberto has given up his title of ‘Comedy Supremo’ and settled as just another comedian relying on vulgar references to make people laugh. By resorting to cheap comedy, he is only reducing his fan following. Nevertheless the comedy in the tiatr tickled a funny bone. Comedian Agnelo carried his character of a stuttering son with perfection. His comic timing coupled with his great facial expressions made him the best among the three. Pitush excelled as an eunuch.
Sets
The sets were pathetic and deplorable. The box set displayed the outdoor of a house whereas all scenes of the tiatr occur indoor. This was the same box set that was used for the last tiatr. The front files even carried the name of the previous production ‘Dev Tumkaim Ditolo.’ Moreover the flex material pasted on the sets had a gloss shine which was an irritant to the eye as lights came on stage. Since the comedy scenes had a different storyline and locale too, the use of blue curtain was optimum and that turned out to be an eyesore. Old sets are normally used again in tiatrs but not before changing the way it appeared the previous time. This lack of professionalism from a tiatrist called as ‘Triple Century King’ was totally uncalled for.
Acting
The tiatr has a strong line up of artistes but most of them appeared unprepared or unrehearsed. Annie Quadros carried the tiatr on her shoulders with her beautiful acting but she was too overdressed with jewelry and designer footwear adorning her body when she was in her own house. Lavina has a very natural delivery of dialogues and is shaping up as an actress of substance. She is surely an actor to watch in future. Maxcy Pereira was totally disappointing. He could not even remember his dialogues and fumbled all the time with his lines. His face too appeared too swollen and did not emote the confidence that he normally is associated with. Satyawan Tari was great and effective in his dialogue delivery. Josevon had a small role to play but executed it with finesse. Baby Skyla received good applause for her hard hitting dialogues but needs more training in diction. There is new girl in the lead who displays a lot of promise and if guided in the right manner will be a treat to watch in future. Menino de Bandar was very impressive in his cameo role.
Music/songs
The band music dished out by Mestri Domnic de Arambol and his team had a punch! The songs lacked the ‘wow’ factor. Seby de Divar and Rons Tavares sung old songs. Josevon was impressive with his solo but it was the talented Lavina who made up for all the singing failures by dishing out a beautiful solo on our lady of Vailankanni. The cantos were composed and sung like the khell style with a singer singing on stage and another singing softly from within. This style of singing from the ‘zomnivelo fell’needs to be stopped uprightly. Moreover the singer singing in background was singing ‘disafinad’and spoilt the otherwise beautifully composed canto. The director should pay more attention to upgrading the singing side and providing them good rehearsals as even a good singer like Humberto sang flat at times.
Direction
The tiatr lacked direction at all counts. The presentation and performance was redeemed only because of the individual display of talent by the artistes. The director did not make the maximum use of the resources at his disposal. The background music had no cue of what was happening. However the lightsman made his presence felt with some good lighting of stage.
