NAGB’s Discussion on a National Theatre
Nico on Dec 14 2005 at 9:09 am | Filed under: General Theatre
Here’s a report on the gathering last night at the Art Gallery. I doubt I will do it justice in a single post, but I invite those people who were there to submit their own observations as well — maybe we can extend the dialogue.
The three presenters were Cleveland “Anku” Eneas III of Thoughtkatcher, Michael Pintard, and Keith Wisdom. In the audience were representatives of the two most prolific current theatre companies (as opposed to theatre personalities), Ringplay and Track Road. Track Road was out in force, from Clarence and Matthew and Deon and Ward and Bernard to Ian Strachan himself. Ringplay was represented by Philip, Cookie and me, and the Dundas was represented by Winston and Philip and Cookie.
While I criticized the unbalance of the presenters in my last post — the presence of both Michael and Anku emphasized the overwhelming focus on the kind of theatre that continues to be predominant in The Bahamas, the social comedy sketch theatre that has been augmented recently by the introduction of improv by Thoughtkatcher — I’m now not so sure it was a bad thing. The audience came ready — to comment, to fight, to educate , and the discussion led to the opening of doors, the cracking of barriers. Anku’s talk illustrated the disjunct that currently exists in theatre — the desire of young gifted people to be performers and the complete absence of any kind of legacy upon which they can . Keith began by paying tribute to the Dundas Repertory Season, and continued to talk about the absolute necessity of theatre. And Michael, who bridged the two, talked about being in between, being a neophyte and a pioneer (which he absolutely is, being the first performer seriously to refuse to perform without pay, and then to go on and perform successfully for pay, rather than leaving theatre altogether to find a paying career).
I found the discussion that followed stimulating. Tensions ran high, especially when a newly returned young man, an agent provocateur of sorts, by the name of Alexander, claimed that (a) Thoughtkatcher won laughs by denigrating the average working class Bahamian and (b) the history of Bahamian theatre couldn’t have been that good because the man on the street doesn’t know anything about the Dundas. The response to him was strong, but perhaps didn’t take off in the direction he intended.
In the end, it was a stimulating evening, and one that — for the first time in a long time — allowed me to hope. There were calls for a banding together of all theatre workers, which was started by Michael and continued by Ian. There was chastisement by Michael, who pointed out that the fragmentation of the theatre community is a large part of the problem (and he’s right), and that called for a readjustment of egos to make room for others. There was outrage by Philip, who educated those there on the purpose and the vision of the Dundas Rep, and a public answer for the first time in a long time to those who talked about “cliques”. And there were questions.
So all those who are in sight of this blog, especially those of you who were there, like Ian Fernander, weigh in. This blog is part of Ringplay, yes, but its purpose is to celebrate all Bahamian theatre. If we need to fight, let’s fight; but discussion is absolutely necessary. I’m inviting everybody to post here — if you want to guest-blog, email us at onstage@ringplay.com and we’ll give you clearance — and let’s start the discussion we so desperately need.
After all, theatre is life, and it’s our life. Our greatest writers and some of our greatest intellectuals began there and are still there. If we band together we can and will be heard. Let’s talk.
I was sorry to have missed the talk on theatre at the NAGB, however, based on the above blog, it seems that that night was just the beginning of what could and should be an on-going dialogue between those interested in theatre – whether as participants or audience members. Having a thriving theatre is, I think, one of the marks of a healthy community. Having that theatre represent many different types of performance art would represent, I believe, our success as a country. Opening one’s eyes to the varying shades of emotion, motivation and passion within ourselves and within others is the hallmark of a country which is psychologically and culturally developed or at least striving towards that goal. Finding a viable space for a theatre is crucial at this stage. Once the space has been identified one has to start about getting the word out. On-going workshops and classes for students are also esssential as this lays the foundation for a generation of theatre-goers and participants. If Miami can do it (they just recently opened their new Performing Arts Centre) and if colleges around the world (who seem to be opening new Performing Arts schools by the bundle) then certainly with the resources we have available to us we can do it!! As always, it seems, the major challenge is organisation and, also, as mentioned in the above blog a ‘readjustment of egos.’
All the best for the Xmas season,
Nicole Fair Bhatti
It is my belief that if Bahamians (in general) wanted theatre, they would have it. The problem is that we are quite often selling something they don’t want. And I am not only referring to the specific productions; I’m talking about the concepts of locally produced Culture and Entertainment. Indeed, entertainers don’t hold the monopoly on this problem: In general, Bahamians don’t buy Bahamian.
Is this a problem? Maybe. Or, perhaps, that’s just Bahamian culture and the rest of us who would like to see things change are being unpatriotic.
As for the egos…What would theatre be without the egos? Anyone waiting for the egos to go away has a long wait ahead. (I’m not kidding.)
I think the fact that this productive, provocative discussion was held in an Art Galery instead of a theatre (either of which, I daresay, were probably not busy that evening….) says volumes about the state of theatre in The Bahamas…..
For heaven’s sake, why do people speak like there never has been a thriving theatre season here? It’s as if we’re discussing the possibi;lity of STARTING one, as if it’s a foreign thing – in fact it’s simply a case of CONTINUING it aftwer a break of …well, a good 6 or so years or so. And this “new space” thing – nice idea but completely impracticle- to find a space that is safe, well-located for the public generally to reach , parking area , etc……… come on we’re talking tons of money… In fact we HAVE a perfect space (with additional work) which is The Dundas , if only those hitches – political or whatever they are at this point , could be got rid of. That space is basically going to waste! The frustration is huge! The public had been nurtured, or whatever the appropriate word is, into expecting a certain amount of plays each year to which they looked forward- we can achieve that again given the chance of an energetic, enthusiastic SUPPORTED “artistic director”. This is not a new thing – this is merely trying to get BACK to where we were many years ago & going on from there.