Theatre has been a staple product in Carifesta throughout its history. Dramatic plays were once at the pinnacle of the festival with productions from different countries featured as the signature events of successive editions of the festival. Samples of the leading drama from each country would be on show and Carifesta was the place to go to see the state of the art in the Caribbean.
There has been a dramatic step down from that over a period of many years and many Carifestas, and for various reasons the major Caribbean full length plays are not on show. What has developed as a sort of replacement is the ‘Country Nights’ – a kind of theatrical variety show featuring the performing arts and basically making a statement about each country in a single short production mainly driven by music and dance with perhaps a short dramatisation or two.
