Manuel D'Lima

D'Lima[a] (c. 1934 – October 2016) was an Indian former playwright, theatre director, musician, and banker known for his work in tiatr productions and radio plays.

A former member of the Goan cover band The Syndicate, D'Lima became known mainly for his religious plays that he staged during the Lent season in Goa or Bombay.

There he presented his first major tiatr, Ek Oklek Don Noure (The Bride With Two Bridegrooms), in support of Socorro-Union, a type of social club[2] in Socorro, Goa around the mid-20th century.

Although predominantly biblical in nature and tied to the season of Lent, these productions aimed to inspire introspection, contemplation, and personal transformation among their audiences.

[4] He, along with Konkani dramatists such as Simon C. Fernandes, Remmie Colaço, Prem Kumar, Robin Vaz, and Aleixinho de Candolim, is credited with upholding the legacy of Souzalin's religious tiatrs.

[3] Collaborating with popular actors from the Konkani stage, D'Lima began to write a series of up to seven larger-scale tiatrs productions during the late-20th century.

[3] These include Europi Saukar (European Banker), Shakuntala, Bism Saib (The Bishop), Milagr (The Miracle), Khorkhos Ostori (Inevitable Woman), Soddvondar (The Deliverer), and Quo Vadis?

View from a hill in Porvorim, Goa, where D'Lima spent his early years.
A religious tiatr handbill , Sam Francis Xavier by J. P. Souzalin , in Konkani
Santacruz railway station in 1952, one of the stations used by the Goan Catholics during internal migration [ 10 ]