On the night of Monday, September 9 (tomorrow), “The Performance 12: Fountains of Emotions” will be staged at the National Cultural Centre from 8 pm. This public performance by the students of the National School of Theatre Arts and Drama (NSTAD) will close the curtains on the end of another year of study at the institution.
With this production, the students will be looking to impress not only the audience but the examiners, since this is their final test before they qualify for the Diploma in Theatre Arts and Drama. They will perform four short plays, reflecting the forms, styles and techniques that they have been studying and researching in class.
Six months ago, the NSTAD students had their first public production for the year – “The Performance 11: Ancient Secrets”. In that, their focus was ritualistic theatre, which they researched and studied at the school. That production included the students of the Diploma in Creative Writing, who had to write ritualistic plays for the drama students to perform. It also fulfilled a requirement for the creative writers since they had to have public exhibitions of their work as well.
The plays were Yule by Amaraydha Kartick, Writings From The Past by Hannah Singh, and Bush Spirit by Kyle Solomon.
This time, the ‘Performance’ will include Over the Edge written by Randy Fredericks and directed by Pearlann Rose. Then there are two short plays which were developed in the NSTAD Summer Workshops for Teachers of Drama in 2019. These are Our World, which will be directed by Dillon Mohamed and Even In Death directed by Fredericks. The fourth short drama is one written from an old Dutch Creole folk tale and titled Skilpaata. This will be directed by Alanna Gittens.
The students will be putting what they have learned into these productions. For example, the directors have all studied Directing as one of their courses and have to produce something on stage as a requirement. All students are exposed to different kinds of theatre, but mostly to the latest developing or experimental techniques, so that there is a difference in what will be seen on stage as against the plays normally done at the Cultural Centre.
The plays are enhanced with dance, ritual, storytelling and music. The students will have been exposed to dance during classes and use this to add ritualistic influence to the performances. Music is another subject of study, and the musical integration is another performance technique used. There will also be musical performances by those students who are studying music, such as Mohamed, Fredericks, Sheneria Isaacs, Janella Adolphus and Keane Bobb.
Bobb is also the choreographer for this performance, bringing her skills in dance into the production. Stage Management is yet another area of study, and Bobb also plays the role of stage manager for the show.
Some of the highlights of the kinds of theatre demonstrated may be found in the costuming and make-up. Colourful costuming is a factor in ritualistic and in Caribbean theatre performance, so the students’ study of costuming will also be in evidence. One of their classes is the Option of Design in which they learn to design costumes, props and masks around concepts in performance. The actual making of these things is another skill that they learn.
These concepts also make a great demand upon make-up for the stage, which is also studied. So, they learn to design and to apply their own make-up as one of the options available to them. Each dramatic piece makes demands on the designers and those students who are in the design class have to study and produce the costumes and the make-up for all the plays. They are then graded according to the effectiveness of what they produce.
This production is managed by the students because they have to show, as a requirement for graduation, that they are able to apply production management in real practical terms. They take on the administration, the public relations and the actual management of it to show what they have learnt in these areas.
A major part of the programme at the school of drama is performance, with acting as a large part of it. So, the students study techniques and devices used to prepare and polish actors. Acting is, of course, at the core of all the plays and the performers are graded based on the quality of their acting.
Even the technology of animation is a part of the study programme for those who choose that option. It is important as a part of the technology of theatrical production and as a form of film study. Students have produced animated presentations that will also be a part of Monday night’s programme. Dramatic characters have to be created in animation, and for each character, the performers have to find a suitable voice. Their skills are further tested because animated characters have a limited range of facial expressions and body language, so much rests on the physical appearance of the characters and the voice used for them. The voices have to reflect all emotions and all personalities.
One of the functions of drama is to offer a picture of society and a criticism of it. Drama will laugh at social situations in order to sharpen the perceptions of the audience. These functions are well in evidence in “The Performance 12”. The plays offer comments on the world we live in, on the local environments, and on the spiritual beliefs and folklore.
Our World is laced with irony. It draws on the country’s spiritual beliefs. The dramatis personae are Guyanese folklore supernatural characters living on the periphery of a flawed society. It tells a story of how an Ol’ Higue actually adopts a baby girl and brings her up to be a successful athlete making a major contribution to her nation. The Ol’ Higue’s world is inhabited by a group of other characters such as the baccoo and the massacuraman.
But the humans in this play represent the riffraff of society; human beings who are abusive, disloyal to each other, and unfit as parents. It is ironic that a creature notorious for sucking the blood of babies and is therefore a social outcast turns around and cares for a child. The supernatural creatures, seen as villains by the society, are actually more humane and caring than the humans who inhabit that society. The term “our world” then becomes a haunting mockery of the world.
Even In Death, the other play that delves into the supernatural, is based on the tradition of the wake. It is a tale of retribution, vengeance and redemption. It also has a touch of the revenge tragedy about it, since a ghost is the central character who goes on a mission to achieve justice and put right an error committed by weak human beings. This play provides scope for the theatrical staging of a nether world – when that world interacts with the so-called normal society. The wake is that hinterland between the two worlds and it is here exploited for theatrical possibilities.
The third play is more on the side of social realism. Over The Edge is a love story – more accurately a romance gone wrong. In this one, there is a draw on the great store of human emotions, the demonstration of which makes a demand on the actors and actresses. But there is also an interplay between the domestic setting and the seamy world of the bar and the club with its girls of the night.
Skilpaata is a drama based on the traditions of storytelling, and this is the play that makes most uses of ritualistic theatre. It is a fable with animals and a tale of human nature. It comes from the tradition of the trickster in Caribbean culture and the uses of mythology. Here there is colourful uses of costuming and make-up, dance, ritual and music.
The other performers are Felixanne Cockfield and Roslyn Fordyce-McKenzie, who play various roles in the plays and in the production management.
