“Time is like fashion. If you don’t change, you will become naked,” says Caitu, a character in Konkani playwright Pundalik Naik’s Loretta, to the xenophobic Antonio Moraes. Getting Moraes to accept the changing times is the crux of Loretta.
Moraes, a landlord living a rather sybaritic existence on a river island in Goa, is appalled when his son Rafael returns home with his effervescent Anglo-Indian girlfriend, Loretta.
A cultural evangelist of sorts, greatly protective of the Konkani language and culture, Moraes tells Loretta that the only way she can stay on the island is if she learns the language. This leads to a series of events that transform life on the island and its people forever.
Looking closely at issues such as politics, cultural insularity, family dynamics and clouded perception, Loretta uses elements of Goan tiatr to make its impact. Through a picturesque array of live music, colourful sets, sharp satire and exaggerated emotions, it tells the story of a girl wanting to belong, and a man who doesn’t want to welcome her in.