Diana Abraham is currently a PhD Candidate at the Faculty of Environmental Studies, York University, Toronto. She was at the Playhouse on Friday, June 12th 1964 when the tragedy which killed her father and seven of her younger siblings struck.
In the, December 7th 2007 Business section of the Stabroek News Karen Abrams, wrote “Whenever I attend a Guyana event in the United States, I’m always struck by the sameness of my experience.” She describes the categories of ‘professionals’, ‘entrepreneurs’ and the ‘elderly’ people who attend these events and who seem intent on ‘showing off’ rather than using their resources to make a contribution.
Reading this column I was struck by how different the situation described was to the one which some members of the Guy-Can Diaspora recently experienced as we came together to ‘do something’ in Toronto to raise funds for the revitalization of the Theatre Guild Playhouse.
Contact with the Local Committee told us that a production of Frank Pilgrim’s play Miriamy had been mounted in Georgetown and the takings from the first performance were donated to the Playhouse fund. Thus was born the idea of a Toronto reading of Miriamy as a playhouse fundraiser. Copies of the play were obtained and a cast of readers and others willing to work on the production assembled to begin the process.
The “Toronto Thespians” as we began to call ourselves, is a group of individuals whose backgrounds encapsulate the beauty of Guyana’s landscape in all of its geographic, ethno-racial and educational diversity. One of us is in the 7th decade of his life, our youngest members have not yet completed their 2nd, and our educational backgrounds in Guyana are equally diverse. We immigrated to Canada over the last five decades and three of our members are here on student visas. Some of us have the privilege of living off the Canadian pensions gained in exchange for the fruits of our labour, others are active in the workforce in a range of occupations, and as mentioned some of us are students. Among us we share memories of performing or playing one role or another in the Theatre Guild in the ‘good old days’. One of us is a well known ‘crooner’ in Toronto’s Caribbean community, another a member of a famous Guyanese band, others have performed in school recitals or have had other broadcasting or theatrical experiences. No one cared about who within our group were ‘professionals’, ‘entrepreneurs’ or the ‘elderly’. The important thing is that, to use Abrams’ term, we ‘brought our collective assets together’ to do something which we felt would contribute to the development of the arts in Guyana.
Our commitment to making the project work involved us in Saturday afternoon rehearsals, some loud and often parallel talking, differences of opinions on how things should be done, reworking the script to make it suitable for a reading rather than a stage production. As a play the audience would see the Norah character pulling up her stockings which were falling down, while in the reading this had to be integrated into her dialogue, to wit ..”Oh gawd me stockings fallin down’. Our age differential also created a smile when one of the younger members of the reading cast was not familiar with the notion of the telephone ‘exchange’!
Rather than selling tickets, we invited people to come to the reading of the play, and told them that entrance would be by a ‘generous donation; to the Playhouse Revitalization. We created the Merry Widow’s Parlour stocked with patties, pine tarts and cucumber sandwiches donated by members of the Guy-Can Diaspora and friends who were either from other parts of the Caribbean, Canadian born or other parts of the world (For those unfamiliar with the play, Miriamy is the owner of the Merry Widow’s Parlour ). Our audience, like the Toronto Thespians reflected the Guyana landscape, with the addition of audience members in the 8th and 9th decades! It included many Canadian friends, one of whom had once lived in Guyana and had been active in the Playhouse.
The comments from the audience spoke of the sustaining power of Miriamy to entertain, and for many evoked memories of other times. Times when the playhouse was a centre of creative drama and performances which reflected the vast array of talent and magical energy which happens when people come together to do something which they enjoy. Some were even more profound, reflecting that the evident harmony and cohesion of the group were indications of how Guyanese could come together successfully in spite of superficial differences.
As it was with the playhouse we are all volunteers who did it for the enjoyment we experienced, the skills we learned and the affection we feel for the sense of community created in the process. These are the visions we share for the future of the playhouse in Georgetown and why we were thrilled that our effort raised $4,000.00 Can to send ‘home’ as our contribution to the Playhouse, and why we are now planning a second fundraiser reading in March 2008.
We invite any members of the Guy-Can Diaspora in other parts of Canada or the US reading this to join us in March!
