A return of the old traditions

A scene from the play Ghett-Out when it made its US debut earlier this year (Internet photo)

The very popular Jamaican play Ghett-Out has proved itself to be a work of limited dramatic achievements.  But it represents considerable achievement in the context of the forward march of commercial theatre.

Developments in cultural industries in the Caribbean are extremely wide-ranging and really very interesting.  The important question was asked in the Carifesta Symposia in 2008, “Are we there yet ?” in “defining and refining” our cultural industries.  Meetings have been held with stake-holders in Georgetown, and Caricom has been holding task force discussions on the subject.  But one of the most fascinating dimensions of this that has been happening quite outside of all those fora, is the way theatre has developed as an industry, and, in doing so, has returned to old commercial traditions.

This was brought sharply into focus with the recent activities of Stages Productions in Guyana.  Stages continued their usual practice of tours to Guyana with some of their current popular plays, but this time the tour quite sharply reflected the developments in