Daijiworld Media Network – Panaji (VA)

Panaji, Apr 16:  ‘When the curtains rise, understanding Goa's vibrant Konkani theatre’, a book by Dr André Rafael Fernandes has been published with the financial support from Tiatr Academy of Goa (TAG).

About the book

Based on a PhD thesis, the work traces the growth of the tiatr (or tiatro) right from its diverse, sometimes overlooked, origins. It unearths references to the earliest Portuguese plays in Goa. It helps understand theatre in Goa, the region's culture history, and the role of Diaspora communities in keeping the Konkani language vibrant.

The book contains some rare illustrations. For instance, the front cover illustration depicts a handbill for the 1904 performance of Batcara. List of characters confirms the early participation of women in the tiatr, at a time when this was not prevalent in other Indian theatre forms.

The printing costs of the book have been fully sponsored by the young Tiatr Academy of Goa, under its scheme to publish books related to the tiatr. It has been priced reasonably, to make it widely available and easily affordable.

It focuses on the origins of the tiatr, Goa's legacy of music and song, the beginnings of the Konkani tiatr, Pai Tiatrist, other tiatrists, challenges being faced by the tiatr today, new aspects of the tiatr, and an elaborate selected bibliography.

Though the book was initially written as a PhD thesis, its style is simple and down-to-earth, making it suitable for a wide range of readers.

One path breaking aspect of the book is that the author has released it under a Creative Commons 3.0, attribution, non-commercial license which means anyone can make copies
of the work for non-commercial purposes, and share the same by way of photocopies or through digital copies on the net. This is a notable step taken by the author to make his work on the tiatr accessible to widest possible segment.

About the author

Andre Rafael Fernandes is an associate professor at Goa University's English department. He holds a PhD, M Phil, and  M A., B Ed and B Com degrees. Originally from Raia, Salcete, he studied and researched in Darjeeling, Shillong and Portugal.

Fernandes has taught for 33 years, including for the last two decades at the Goa University. Dr Fernandes has attended 30 regional, 18 national and five international
conferences, seminars or workshops. He was part of the research project "Portuguese Language in Goa: Phonetic Study and New Technologies in Teaching", with teachers from the University of Porto in Portugal, after being awarded a research fellowship which also took him to the universities of Aveiro, Coimbra and Lisbon.

The author can be contacted at 98233 85638 or 2225110 
Email: rafael.ferns@gmail.com

For a free digital copy of the book, or to purchase a printed copy one can write to goa1556@gmail.com.