Tiatr actor Antonette de Calangute no more PANAJI: The tiatr fraternity woke up on Thursday morning to the shocking news of the sad demise of versatile Konkani stage artiste Antonette Pereira, well known by her stage name Antonette de Calangute. Around years ago Antonette had suddenly took ill during a rehearsal of Menino de Bandars troupe. Doctors diagnosed her problem as a serious case of renal failure. Quite soon the ever charming artiste, who had rendered yeoman service to the Konkani theatre, was shattered, turned feeble and entirely dependent on continuous and costly medical attention. The tiatr fraternity, especially those directors-playwrights whom she worked tirelessly for several years, teamed up and decided to stage shows of their respective tiatrs to contribute their bit for her treatment, hoping for a speedy recovery. Antonettes innumerable fans too prayed fervently and longed to fine her fit and back on stage but in vain. She waited in vain for a cadaver kidney transplant, for which she had registered at a hospital in Hyderabad. Antonettes untimely death has dealt a serious blow to the Konkani theatre, where she had excelled in acting as well in singing. Emoting excellently and handling varied roles with equal ease, especially as a tragedienne par excellence she had endeared herself to audiences throughout Goa and the overseas diaspora. Prince Jacob, president of the Tiatr Academy of Goa, admits that Antonette de Calangute was a prolific actor, with enthusiasm to serve the Konkani stage selflessly. Incidentally, she was born on March 6 and passed away on the same day. Her illness brought together the tiatr fraternity and all the tiatrists worked as a family to contribute financially for her treatment. But Gods ways and plans are different, he added. He defined Antonette as sobit sundori (fair beauty) on and off the stage. Veteran tragedienne Jessie Dias from Anjuna, who had shared the stage with Antonette in Xeza Pais tiatr Maim Dukhi, Sasumaim Sukhi, also expressed grief over Antonettes untimely demise. During 1978-79 Antonette would take part in several tiatrs staged in the village and after the late night shows she would often spend the night at my place. I visited her just a few days ago and assured her of my prayerful support. She bore her sickness stoically, Jessie said. Amcho Avaz editor Tomazinho Cardozo, who had cast Antonette in four of his plays, acknowledged that she was a fine artiste, with tragedy being her forte. She handled stellar roles with sufficient ease and natural beauty was her asset. With her death, we have lost a good artiste and that too at a very young age, Cardozo said. Besides being a versatile artiste, who glorified the Konkani stage with her God-given natural beauty, Antonette, as I know her, was a warm-hearted and a loving person. Simplicity was her forte and she had the gift of winning hearts. The Konkani stage has lost a great artiste at the peak of her career, said noted Konkani writer Daniel F de Souza. For 13 years on the trot, Antonette formed a part of Roseferns troupe, having made her debut in his tiatr Sot Tem Sot. She was a talented artiste as well as a good person. She was duty-minded and performed with dedication. Due to her illness, she suffered a lot and her demise is a great loss to the Konkani stage, he said. Antonette was last seen in Menino de Bandars tiatr Munis Kiteak Visorta?. She joined Meninos troupe in 2005 and performed in nearly 12 productions. Besides earning applause for her outstanding character role of an aged woman in 100 Vorsam, she excelled in the mothers role in the tiatr Dha Lakh and won 26 awards from the audience. She was rehearsing for tiatr Kristanv when she fell ill. She had even stitched her costumes, but could not make it for the final show, disclosed the director. Antonette leaves behind her husband Bonny, also a tiatrist, and sons Clifton and Collin. The body will be laid to rest on Sunday, after a Eucharistic celebration at Our Lady of Merces Church, Colva, at 3.30pm.
Posted on: Fri, 07 Mar 2014 16:23:54 +0000
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