Moodubelle: Family Value based Konkani Play “Shegunachi Soon” staged on Easter Evening

By Dr. Eugene DSouza, Moodubelle
Pictures by Anil Alva
Bellevision Media Network

Moodubelle, 24 April 2011: The parishioners of Belle had the double joy of celebrating the feast of Easter and witnessing family value based Konkani play, “Shegunachi Soon” in the church premises on Sunday, April 24, 2011 at 6.30 pm. The play written and directed by Walter Monteiro had been staged earlier in February, 2011 as part of the Golden Jubilee celebration of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul of Our Mother of Sorrows Church, Udupi.

 

Walter Monteriro said that  he had  written the play in 1966, exactly forty five years ago and it has been staged nearly seventy times  over the years at different places in the Dakshina Kannada and Udupi Districts as well as in Mumbai and even in Muscat. Though the play is over forty five years old, the family values that the play projects have stood the test of time and the play kept  engrossed the Belle audience till the end.

 

Walter Monteriro

 

The story of the play revolves around a family of mother, Lucy, her two sons-Dona and Richie and Meena, Dona’s wife. Dona, who had gone to Mumbai, falls in love with Meena, a non-Christian dancer and marries her and she converts to Christianity. However, Lucy and Richie were not happy with the marriage of Dona with Meena. When they come home, they were thrown out of the house and they return to Mumbai.

 

Meanwhile, doubts creep up in the mind of Dona about the fidelity of his wife as his boss sows the seeds of suspicion about Meena in the mind of Dona and he rejects her. Later, having found that his boss had misled him about the character of his wife, Dona goes to the house of his boss to take revenge and attacks him. However, his boss,  at the point of the gun forces  Dona to jump from the balcony of his  second floor  residence  and in doing so Dona  breaks his leg.

 

Being practically crippled and having lost his job, Dona becomes a pauper. Meanwhile, Lucy becomes seriously ill and Richie an alcoholic. When Dona reaches home, he was shocked to see the condition of his mother and brother. Alcoholic Richie once again throws Dona out of the house. Having broken his leg, and being homeless and jobless, Dona takes to begging and accidentally meets Meena who had changed her name to Vinny doing social work. She was surprised and pained to see the condition of Dona and to hear the illness of his mother and alcoholism of his brother. Meena, then decides to help Lucy and Richie by visiting their house regularly under the name of Vinny. By her help and care, Lucy recovers from her illness and Richie gives up drinking and gets a job. Meanwhile, he develops a liking for her.  Lucy and Richie realise their mistake of throwing both Dona and Meena out of the house and express a desire to welcome both of them back home to which Dona agrees.

 

 

In the last scene, Vinny’s identity is revealed to the surprise of Lucy and Richie and they ask forgiveness for treating Meena badly earlier when she had come home with Dona and the family lives happily thereafter by singing “Mai Munntha Shegunachi Soon”, originally composed and sung by late Jerome D’Souza, the song that is played during Mangalorean weddings when the bridegroom puts  Mangalsutra around the neck of the bride.

 

All the actors performed extremely well  in the play and there was also comic relief in between. The actors included: Alphonse D’Costa, Olivia Cornelio, Shaila Fernandes, Edwin Alva, Ronald Saldanaha, Roshan Menezes, Boniface D’Souza and Benedicta Fernandes. The play was coordinated by Gracian Botelho; stage management by Mark Fernandes, Walter Martis, James D’Souza, Winston Martis and Arlein Fernandes; Music by Projot D’Sa, Kallianpur; Prompters were-Anitha Saldanha and Victoria Cornelio; make up and stage by Saraswati Drama Arts, Kallianpur and light and sound by Anil Sounds, Shankerpura.

 

Before the last scene, Fr. Joswey Fernandes felicitated the sponsors of the play and also honoured  Walter Monteiro and Gracian Botelho. Fr. Paul Fernandes, Fr. Lancy Saldanha, Alphonse K. Alva, Vice President of the Parish Pastoral Council, Mrs. Jacinta D’Souza, Secretary and Ignatius Monis, President of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, Moodubelle were on the stage.
In their brief messages, Fr. Joswey and Fr. Paul said that they were very much impressed by the play when they had witnessed it in Udupi in February and thought it proper to stage it at Moodubelle. They said that the family values depicted in the play are worth emulating by the  families.