We are reminded that The Tides of Susan-burg by distinguished Guyanese dramatist Francis Quamina Farrier is a history-making drama. It was Guyana’s first local ‘soap opera’ created when radio executive Rafiq Khan suggested to Farrier that there should be a local full-length radio serial drama which he would broadcast on Radio Demerara. From all reports it was a popular success, prompting rebroadcasts, celebrations in the memory of those who listened to it, and the achievement of legendary status ever since.
It was converted into a stage play and performed at the Theatre Guild Playhouse in 1986, with many of those who created roles in the original radio serial treading the boards in the same parts. These included Hector Stoute, John Exetor and the extraordinary Rosamund Addo.
As a tribute to the venerable playwright, the play was brought back to the stage with a new cast. Farrier has a place in the history of Guyanese theatre because of his work and the manner of his emergence at the Theatre Guild in the 1960s during the rise of social realism and nationalism in literature and the theatre before
