BY DANIEL F DE SOUZA

THE KONKANI tiatrist fraternity lost a promising and upcoming colleague in comedian Edisson Fernandes on October 17, 2009 after a brief ailment. His mortal remains were laid to rest in his native village of Orlim on October 19, 2009. Edisson was part of the Mario Menezes troupe for the past three years and appeared to be growing into a noteworthy artist of the Konkani stage. Under the direction and guidance of Mario Menezes, his inherent talent was just beginning to flourish and get noticed when death dealt an untimely blow.

Though comedy was his forte and he was seen making a mark for himself on the Konkani stage in the role of a laughter machine, he was also a talented singer, known for singing fairly good comedy solos and duets. One of his recent comedy duets in the role of an intoxicated husband with comedian Joana, if I can recall correctly, to the tune of ‘Brazil’ will be remembered for a long time. As a singer, he had perfect sense of timing and good voice modulation.

His contribution to the professional Konkani stage will be remembered by all tiatr lovers for the simple reason that he showed a lot of promise and had an infectious enthusiasm for acting. Had not death visited him in the prime of his youth, Edisson would have surely gone a long way on the Konkani stage, making people laugh their guts out.

It is in fact tragic that, over the last few years, the Konkani stage has seen the departure of three promising, highly talented and young comedians in the prime of their youth returning to their creator. The other two comedians who passed away at a young age were comedian Vitorino (Rose Ferns Troupe) and comedian Luis Dias who passed away when their careers were taking off. Comedians are the backbone of any dramatic presentation and finding a good comedian who can establish a good rapport between the stage and the audience is like searching for a needle in a haystack. The passing away of these young comedians is a grave loss to the tiatr fraternity and their contribution to the Konkani stage will always be remembered.

GIRESTKAI

ANOTHER old popular tiatr ‘Girestkai’, written and directed by Anthony Sylvester, has been converted into DVD format from the original VHS version. This is an old tiatr and features a popular cast. The story is engrossing and revolves around the family with some nice ‘kantos’ and songs comprising of solos, duets and trios. It is a traditional tiatr in every respect and a real treat for the eyes.

The cast includes C. D’Silva, Jr. Rod, Anthony Sylvester, Aristides Dias, Young Chico, Anthony-Souza Boy-Jr. Nelson, Josephine, Platilda, Mary Vaz, Avers and the Charlie Chaplin of the Konkani stage, Jacinto Vaz.

This is one of the very few tiatr DVDs that gives the viewer a rare opportunity to see the late Jacinto Vaz in action. He plays the major role of a comedian in the drama and creates peals of laughter with his natural comedy, merely with his body language. Fans of Jacinto Vaz should buy this DVD in memory of their favourite comedian. The younger generation must watch it to experience the excellent acting prowess of this great comedian, whose place remains unfilled on the Konkani stage.

Since the original format was VHS, the clarity of the DVD is not up to the mark. The light effects are also of poor quality and, technically, the DVD is not of a high standard. But, considering the recording was done several years ago, the presentation is decent and can be viewed without any interruptions. Performances of some of the Konkani stage stalwarts, both living and the dead, is what makes the DVD a must buy. The sheer presence of Jacinto Vaz is reason enough to buy the DVD.

The music for the tiatr has been scored by Fidelis and the DVD is marketed by V.P. Sinari & Sons, Panaji.