We have on many occasions commented on the very strong and noble tradition of comic theatre in the Caribbean with insights into its history. We have seen repeated signals of its dynamism and the way this has been developing on the contemporary stage in Guyana. The most recent signs appeared in the annual comedy show Nothing to Laugh About 7 produced by Maria Benschop and directed by Lyndon Jones.
When this production started in 2007 it played to the much smaller auditorium at the Theatre Guild before moving to accommodate the crowds at the Cultural Centre. It has made nothing less than a killing at the box office from the very beginning. But it didn’t have to work hard for its clamouring audiences because the popular audience was there waiting for another show of its type when Maria Benschop took the plunge to invest in a full comic production. Guyana had already developed a lively market for this kind of theatre, and that was another stage in the development of the local popular theatrics. The trend in the Caribbean had already set the pace decades ago; Ms Benschop has literally cashed in on it, and her seventh production demonstrated strains of another brand seen in the outer Caribbean.
In the Programme Notes the producers promised the audience that “what you are about to view is the franchise’s seventh edition and could be considered its best to date.” It was the fourth in the series to have been directed by Lyndon Jones. The truth is that it has come a very long way. The first few efforts were nowhere near as accomplished as
