The parishioners of St Michael’s Church, Taleigao, will be staging a Konkani operetta focusing on the trials of Jesus and his sentencing to death, in the church compound today
CHRISTINE MACHADO | NT BUZZ
With soulful music and poignant enactments, the faithful will have an opportunity to reflect of the sufferings of Jesus and his redeeming love in a new operetta that will be staged this evening.
Presented by the parishioners of St. Michael Parish, Taleigão, the two-hour operetta titled ‘Formonn’ will look at the trials of Jesus from the Sanhedrin, the supreme council of ancient Jewish society, to the trials before Pilate and Herod Antipas, culminating in the final judgment and crucifixion.
Written by Deacon Aestrony Costa, the operetta has been in the works for the last six months. “There were two trials that took place before the crucifixion of Jesus- the Jewish trial and the Roman trial. However, I have observed that not many people are as aware about the Jewish trial. So this operetta is my humble effort to depict how this Jewish trial took place and the illegalities that were involved in them,” says Costa, adding that the operetta will be divided into two parts- the first part with six scenes will focus on the Jewish trial and the second part with four scenes will highlight the Roman trial.
Around 65 artistes and musicians from the village will be a part of this operetta. “Often, during our programmes, the best of the singers and actors get a chance to be on the stage. But this time we wanted to give a chance to everyone to portray their talent. With the exception of a few, many of the participants are not trained or professional artistes,” shares Costa. A core team worked to put together the backdrops, costumes, and other background work. “Everything has been handled by our own people. In particular, the parishioner Jennifer Ferrao has been very instrumental in putting things together,” says Costa, adding that while he has previously seen and sung in operas, this is his first time writing the script for an operetta. In fact, the same goes for Joynus Noronha, who has composed the music
for the operetta.
“The songs are based on the scriptural accounts we find in the four Gospels,” says Costa, adding that while they have tried to stay true to the accounts presented in the Bible, there were challenges while putting together the script for parts where the scripture is silent about. “One example of this is the scriptures do not mention how Mother Mary came to know that Jesus had been arrested. So we had to recreate it ourselves,” he says.
Another challenge they faced was getting all the cast together for rehearsals. “Given that they were all working in different fields, it was difficult but they made time and put in effort for this. It is because of their hard work and resilience that we have managed to come up with this show,” he says. Costa also acknowledges the support provided by the parish priest, Fr. Caetano Fernandes, and assistant parish priest Fr Soccoro Rebelo. “When I proposed the idea of this operetta to them they were very encouraging. In fact, as a deacon, I was only in the parish during the weekends. So during the week, rehearsals were taken by them. They have done all the hard work,” says Costa.
(The event will begin at 7.30 p.m. and will be graced by Archbishop Filipe Neri Cardinal Ferrão, Auxiliary Bishop Simão Purificação Fernandes, director of the Pastoral Institute of St. Pius X Fr. Candido Fernandes, provincial of Goa Salesian Province of Panaji Fr. Clive Telles, provincial of the Franciscan Capuchin Province of Goa Fr. Steve Rodrigues, along with several priests and nuns. It is free and
open to the public)
