Maicon Anthony Pereira from St. Inez has been selected for the Josephine Dias Puroskar 2026 instituted by the Tiatr Academy of Goa (TAG). The selection was made by the executive board of TAG.
The award, sponsored by Arvind Dias in honour of his mother, veteran tiatrist Josephine Dias, celebrates promising young artistes who have made a significant impact on the Konkani stage.
A student of Rosary High School, Cujira, Bambolim, Maicon is the son of Pascoal Pereira and Maria Felicia Fernandes. His love for tiatr was nurtured from an early age by his late grandmother, Delfina Pereira, who regularly took him to watch performances at Kala Academy and in Margao. He stepped onto the Konkani stage at the age of 10 and made his debut in 2022 through the school tiatr ‘Dennem’, written and directed by
Fr. Doel Dias. Since then, he has emerged as one of the state’s most promising child artistes, earning widespread appreciation for his stage presence and versatility.
His acting achievements include first prize for Best Actor (Male) in the 2nd All Goa Inter-School Tiatr Competition for ‘Kallokhi Vatt’, written by Austin Rodrigues. He also secured second prize for Best Actor (Male) in the 12th Children’s Tiatr Competition for ‘Mhaka Zogpak Zai’ and the 3rd All Goa Inter-School Tiatr Competition for ‘Kalliz Roddtta’. In 2024, he featured in the World Theatre Day Konkani production ‘Sopon Sot’, a sangeet khell written by Antara Bhide with music arranged by Dr. Saish Deshpande.
As a singer, Maicon has also carved a niche for himself by winning several competitions. Representing Rosary High School in ‘Ugtem Mollob’, directed by Santosh Shetkar, he won first prize in solo singing (‘Accident’), duet (‘Paddo Zotacho’), and choral singing at the 1st All Goa Inter-School Tiatr Competition. He later won first prize in the duet category for ‘Boyfriend Naka’ at the 12th Children’s Tiatr Competition and topped the solo singing category with ‘Dakhvel’ at the 3rd All Goa Inter-School Tiatr Competition.
He won top honours at ‘Suadik Tallo-3’, securing first place in the solo category for ‘Mandovi’ and the duet category for ‘Tum Mhojem Sukh’. He also won the solo singing title at the St. Inez parish youth talent show –‘ Amchim Noketram Amcho Avaz 2026’.
Congratulating the young artiste, TAG president Anthony Barbosa expressed confidence that the youngster would continue to scale greater heights and play a significant role in preserving and promoting Goa’s rich tradition of Konkani tiatr.
