First Annual Shakespeare in Paradise Closes
Ringplay on Oct 13 2009 at 3:13 am | Filed under: Shakespeare in Paradise
Over the past eight days, dream became reality.
Shakespeare in Paradise, an international theatre festival, opened on October 5th, and closed on the holiday Monday. As far as we can tell, it’s the first festival of its kind in the English-speaking Caribbean, featuring seven productions over the eight-day period, taking place in seven separate venues, and providing a mix of productions and a mix of nationalities.
For our first festival, it was a success. The idea was a hit with the Bahamian public, who came out in numbers, giving us sold-out houses for much of the weekend and near-capacity houses during the week. It was even attractive to our visitors and second-home residents, as individuals from the cruise ships, Atlantis, and Lyford Cay made their way to the shows.
We had more crucial partnerships with local corporate entities than we ever dreamed of, and that made it possible for us to mount the festival with virtually no cash flow to speak of. Not until we opened our box office and began selling tickets did we get the kind of revenue that enabled us to start paying the bills we were running up, and there were a tense couple of weeks just before the festival, when we were seeking to finance our programmes, our tickets, and our line of t-shirts. But our partnerships — which enabled us to house our visiting artists, provide them with transportation around town, run the ads that got our audiences interested, and create the look for the festival that made us attractive — carried us through.
So we’d like to thank everyone who made the festival possible. We’ll thank them personally and often, but for now, a big big hug and thank you to them all:
Ringplay Productions
Track Road Theatre
The Dundas
The Hub
The National Art Gallery of The Bahamas
Nirvana Beach
Graycliff
Marley Resort
CL Concepts/You in Music
Cable Bahamas
Robin Hood
The Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture
Gems FM
La Rose
The Ministry of Tourism
The Endowment for the Performing Arts
Cable Bahamas Cares Foundation
Coles of Nassau
Buttons Formal Wear
Cultural Experience Productions
Wild Seed Designs
Blanco Bleach
… and many many others. Thanks to you all!!
