M. Boyer’s Tiatr ‘Ekuch Rosto’.
I took this picture from my house in Canca, Parra, Bardez, Goa. Circa 1992. I lived and worked in Dubai then, and was in Goa on a short holiday during that time. It was a little after breakfast. I was getting ready to join Mr. Freddy Barboza (my father-in-law) and Mr M. Boyer in announcing and distributing Tiatr handbills in the villages in the north-west of Goa.
Freddy Barboza and M. Boyer were very good friends since their acting days in Konkani Theatre in Bombay. Mr. Barboza used to take contracts for staging Konkani dramas in Bombay and Goa. Ready with two loudspeakers facing different directions on the roof and after having the Advertisement Board firmly secured at the back of the taxi, they were waiting for me.
Announcements in Konkani, like for example, “Tiatr, Tiatr, zo zatolo Mapuca, Hanuman Hallant, Mai-ache 18-ver, donparcheam 2.30 horancher” (Eng. trans: Drama!, Drama!, that will be staged at Mapusa, in Hanuman Theatre, on 18th May, at 2.30 in the afternoon) were made by Mr. Freddy Barboza over the PA system fitted to the taxi as we passed through the villages of Siolim, Anjuna, Arpora, Calangute, Candolim, Saligao, and back to Canca-Parra. We played Konkani songs on cassette tapes along the way. I had made a couple of announcements myself too. En route in the afternoon we had stopped for some cold beer and snacks. Overall for me it was an exciting and enjoyable day and a wonderful experience.
As a young kid growing up in Goa, I used to be very excited whenever a car passed by advertising ’Tiatr! Tiatr!” and I would run towards the main road to pick up a hand-bill. And today, here I was, handing hand-bills myself from a car, while announcing: ”Tiatr! Tiatr”!!!!!
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