On the concluding day of the first All Goa Inter-School Tiatr Competition, Our Lady of the Rosary High School, Dona Paula, presented its tiatr, Matiechem Bhangar.
Matiechem Bhangar, penned and directed by Antonet de Souza, revolved around the teacher-student relationship and was centered solely on the classroom environment.
ABOUT THE TIATR
The main characters in the play are Francis (Carina Alexea Paes) and Dominic (Reesa Sardinha), who study in the same class. Both these students are mischievous in their own ways.
Francis takes a fascination for teacher, Jenny (Swizel Furtado), who is pregnant. And, when she goes on leave, Francis is disheartened and loses interest in studies.
A new Konkani teacher (Deandra Gonsalves) steps in the school, replacing teacher Jenny. As before, Francis shows affection towards the new teacher as well, but he cannot forget his old teacher.
There’s also a new student, Sherly (Synetra Furtado), who hails from Delhi and seeks admission in the school.
When teacher Celina (Reanna Nazareth) enters the class, there’s a clash between Celina and the Konkani teacher. Will Francis be carried away by his new classmate or by the new Konkani teacher? When the Konkani teacher plans to visit Francis’ parents, what follows next? What are the misunderstandings that pop up between the remaining staff, headmistress and students?
Various situations that rise in the classroom between the teachers and students are the highlights of the play. And, how those tense moments need to be tackled tactfully has also been projected in the play.
BEHIND THE SCENES
All the characters in the play have been enacted solely by the students of the school, without any involvement of the teaching staff.
The artistes have played their roles with ease, including those enacting the teachers’ roles.
Among them all, Carina Paes has enacted the male lead role quite confidently, though a little exaggeration here and there could be noted.
Reesa Sardinha and Jaslyn Dias, as the male and female comedians, entertain in between while seated in their classroom. Their natural body language and prompt witty dialogues bring laughter among the audience.
As per the norms laid down by the Tiatr Academy of Goa (TAG), there were four cantos included in the play and the entire play carried 6 podd’dde. The comedy was also related to the play.
In the section of songs, excluding a handful of renditions, many singers couldn’t catch the right pitch and went off while singing their songs. A little extra practice with the band members would have solved the problem.
A solo by Swetlana D’Cunha, a trio by Nicole Pereira, Alida Menezes and Nyssa Mendonsa were appealing to the ears and carried a message, or two, to the audience.
Musicians Vitorino Araujo and his team – Antonio Azavedo (saxophone), Putush (trumpet), Johnny (keyboard), Nevil Cardozo (bass) and Xavier de Moira (drums) provided good live music offstage.
The stage sets and light effects were handled single-handedly by Anthony de Ambaji, while the background music was taken care of by Myesha Coutinho. Mahamad and Cecilia Esteves looked after the costumes and makeup respectively.