There is an often repeated lament in Guyana about the state of the local theatre. It expresses a very low opinion of the contemporary quality in general, but particularly targets comedy. The rise of comedy is seen as commensurate with a general decline and broad-scale deterioration on the local stage. It is lamented that not only has local drama lost its way, but comic plays have killed off “serious theatre”.
This lament has a history which goes beyond Guyana. As early as in the 1970s, the rapid rise of comic theatre in Jamaica was greeted with an outcry from a vocal community of critics against the
