Discussion at the Art Gallery on a National Theatre
Nico on Dec 13 2005 at 10:23 am | Filed under: Annoucements, General Theatre
The question is what has held back Bahamian theatre?
The focus is on local productions, the theatre of social commentary – Catalyn, Pintard, Eneas, Thompson.
Not so well represented are those works of Bahamian theatre that break the confines of local expectations — the works that unite our propensity for music and drama, the works that some people regard as seminal, not only to the Bahamas, but to the region as a whole: Sammie Swain, Our Boys, You Can Lead A Horse To Water, No Seeds in Babylon, or those works that bring heritage and other genres to the stage — the Dis We Tings franchise, The Nehemiah Chronicles, or Music of The Bahamas.
Not well represented is anyone who has tried for Bahamians to make a theatre work, to keep a theatre building going, in this economy of ours. Keith was Manager of the Bahama Rhythms Theatre, but, as with all tourist theatres, that was funded by and managed for our tourists. Represented are the nomadic, not the stationary. It’s an important part of our theatrical output, but it is not the only one.
Perhaps the reason we lack a national theatre is that our focus, as a public, is on the expected, the tried and true, the risk-free, the relatively inexpensive, and not on the challenging or the monumental. We have produced epics, but have forgotten them; and above all, we ignore what sacrifice is needed to ensure their preservation.
Be there tonight. Be challenging. Be monumental. But be there.
“What has held back Bahamian Theatre?”
This is an odd question; it seeks to assign blame.
Next, I note that the panel is incomplete. Perhaps I am being too sensitive and too analytical – and maybe I’m guilty of not giving people the benefit of the doubt and jumping to conclusions. But, let’s face it, the omissions are too big to overlook. So I can’t help wondering whether those absent personalities are being held responsible for “holding back” Bahamian theatre.
It might be more pleasant and more productive to research the many theatrical successes and look for clues that might answer questions like:
1. What accounts for the many past successes in the history of Bahamian Theatre?
2. Can those successes be useful as models for the present or are new strategies required?