So far in 2023, theatre in Guyana has had some encouraging moments and conditions. The number of public productions and events have surpassed the record for the same period last year, there have been some notable innovations, important interventions from the Ministry of Culture and an interesting factor where the earnings of individual practitioners are concerned. The state of the industry is intriguingly poised.
There has been a succession of very different kinds of offerings on stage that have gone across nearly the entire spectrum. Stage plays could not have asked for a better beginning with the inclusion of dramatic production in the newly revised Guyana Prize Literary Festival. The play staged was Sauda by Mosa Telford, the 2010 winner of the Guyana Prize performed by the National Drama Company (NDC) in February. This was followed in April by two plays, also of important national stature – Duenne by Paloma Mohamed, the 1998 Guyana Prize Winner, and The Tramping Man by Ian McDonald. Both of these were staged at the Theatre Guild in collaboration with the University of Guyana (UG) in celebration of its 60th Anniversary.
