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The San Juan North Secondary School (SJNSS) will be representing T&T at the Caribbean Secondary Schools’ Drama Festival (CSSDF) in November 2019. The school, cast and crew will be hosting Encore, a duo of plays from March 29 to 31 at the Little Carib Theatre to assist in raising funds for the trip.

The two plays being showcased are Alan Prescott’s The Curious Cat and Zeno Constance’s The Ritual. The school’s performance of the Curious Cat in the 2018 T&T Secondary Schools’ Drama Festival gained a host of awards, including Most Outstanding Production; Costume; Set Design; Choreography; Makeup; Directing,  awarded to Performing Arts Teachers Anton Brewster and Michailean Taylor; Most Outstanding Male Actor in the Festival, awarded to Daniel Kistow-Davis; Best Supporting Actors, awarded to Uchena Myers and Meshach Hackett; and Most Promising Actors, awarded to Derecia Ali and Troy Joseph.

The Ritual was one of the productions performed for the 2018 Form Six CAPE Performing Arts practical examinations, which ultimately aided the students in placing in the top five in the Caribbean at the 2018 CAPE Performing Arts Examinations.

Taylor said 38 persons, including students, teachers and musicians, will be travelling to St. Lucia at a cost of $267,000. This figure includes airfare, hotel accommodations, food, ground transportation and other miscellaneous costs. The TTSSDF and the Ministry of Culture are covering approximately 22% of the overall cost of the trip, and everyone travelling to St. Lucia will also be making a contribution.

Taylor said the audience can expect two culturally rich entertaining performances that is relatable to all walks of society in T&T. “The Ritual addresses many issues that Black Women are faced with and various Afro-Caribbean stigmatisms which have been influenced by a history of factual happenings in the black community. The story is centred around the life of Omega, a seemingly troubled secondary school girl who is plagued with inevitable stereotypes as a black woman. Omega symbolically represents the Afro-Caribbean woman. Our adaptation demonstrates a day in the life of five young women through ritual, dance, music and song, moving from their individual spaces and converging in a classroom. Capsules of Omega’s life and challenges are displayed there as she searches for some redemption. The sovereignty of femininity, fertility, motherhood and sensuality of a woman are explored and emphasised in our production through dance and rhythm, visualised through the incorporation of the movement of some of the female African deities (Oshun, Yemonja and Oya). The drumming rhythms are substantial, not only because the African rhythms played include spiritual, calypso, rada and timate, but it also lends to the ancient spiritual traditions of our African heritage in the performing of rituals.”

He said re-presenting the Curious Cat gives the San Juan North Secondary Drama Group the opportunity to show T&T why they deserve to represent the country at the CCSDF. “The story follows John Scrooge as he ventures into studying the supernatural. He refuses to be deterred by various obstacles that are placed in his way. Driven to prove obeah is real, his desperation over power blinds and drives him to his fate which is laid out just as the saying goes “Curiosity killed the cat”… or does it? We are so proud of our accomplishments and of the quality of the production, that we feel it should be displayed to all members of our society. The production is an extremely rich mixture of acting, singing and dancing by our multi-talented students as well as a display of the talents that were put into all the technical aspects of the production.”

Taylor said this is the second time SJNSS will be representing T&T at the CSSDF, the first time being in 2015 with the play Sayings. He said there is a rich history of theatre at the school, beginning when he formed the Drama Group in 2012. “That was the school’s first appearance at the Festival, and since then we have won multiple awards in almost all the categories over the years. At the Theatre Arts CAPE level which was recently introduced at SJNSS, we attained the second, third and fifth placement on the regional (Caribbean) merit list. Our students are working very hard at rehearsals to ensure not only the success of both of the productions but to provide an excellent quality of product for the public of T&T. We hope they will give us their full support in making the shows a success and by extension, aid in funding our trip to St. Luica where we hope to achieve greatness by bring pride to our school and to T&T.”

Response to Questions:

How much money do you need to raise?  

What is it needed for? (Airfare + ?)

We are currently trying to fund our trip to St Lucia for a 38 person contingent; which includes students, teachers and musicians. The entire trip is costing two hundred and sixty seven thousand dollars ($267,000.00). This figure is inclusive of our Airfare, Hotel Accommodations, Food, Ground Transportation and Other Miscellaneous cost.

Is the TTSSDF or Government or sponsors contributing anything? 

Yes. The TTSSDF together with the Ministry of Culture be covering approximately 22% of the overall cost of the trip.

Are the students/teachers/parents being asked to contribute? 

Yes, everyone, that is, all persons that will be making the trip to St. Lucia. Unfortunately without their financial contribution towards the trip we will not be able to afford to participate at the Caribbean Secondary Schools Drama Festival in St. Lucia.

Why two plays and why these two plays?

The Curious Cat:

“The Curious Cat” Directed by Mr. Michailean Taylor, is an award winning performance at the 2018 Secondary School’s Drama Festival. Putting on this production for both Schools ( 29th March 2019) and for the public (30th -31st March 2019) gives San Juan North Secondary Drama Group the opportunity to show Trinidad and Tobago why we deserves to represent the country at the Caribbean Secondary Schools Drama Festival in St. Lucia, 2019. We are so proud of our accomplishments and of the quality of the production, that we feel that it should be displayed to all members of our society. The production is an extremely rich mixture of acting, singing, dancing by our multi-talented students as well as a display of the talents that was put into all the technical aspects of the production.

The Ritual:

This was one of the productions performed for the 2018 Form Six CAPE Performing Arts practical examinations. It was an excellent display of talent by both the students and the Director, which ultimately aided the students in placing in the top five at the Caribbean at the 2018 CAPE Performing Arts Examinations.

The artistic concept of “The Ritual” developed by the Director, Mr. Anton Brewster, written by Zeno Constance, is a timeless reflection of life at Secondary Schools. Mr. Brewster’s concept encompasses a rich combination of acting, dancing singing and drumming, allowing us to highlight our multi-talented students of the San Juan North Drama Group. It also highlights the large number of students that subscribe to the Performing Arts subject, both at the CSEC and CAPE levels at San Juan North Secondary.

Can I get a synopsis of the Ritual?

Zeno Obi Constance’s  “The Ritual” addresses many issues that Black Women are faced with and various Afro-Caribbean stigmatisms which have been influenced by a history of factual happenings in the black community.  

This story is centred around the life of “Omega”, a seemingly troubled secondary school girl who is plagued by inevitable stereotypes as a “black” woman. Omega symbolically represents the Afro-Caribbean woman.

Our adaption demonstrates through ritual, dance, music and song, a day in the life of five young women, moving from their individual spaces and converging in a classroom. Displayed there, are manifested capsuled of Omega’s life and challenges, as she searches for some redemption.

Explored and emphasized in our production, through dance and rhythm, is the sovereignty of femininity, fertility, motherhood and sensuality of a woman, visualized through the incorporation  of the movement of some of the female African deities (Oshun, Yemonja and Oya). The drumming rhythms are substantial not only because the african rhythms played include spiritual, calypso, rada and timate but it also lends to the ancient spiritual traditions of our African heritage in the performing of rituals.

Much as the title suggests, the play is a cyclical in every sense. 

Is it the same cast members for the two Productions?

Yes, the students will be performing and stage managing both productions for the durations of the shows.

What can audiences expect from these performances?

Two culturally rich entertaining performances that is relatable to all walks of society in our country.

If there’s anything you want the public to know that I didn’t ask, let me know. Also if you have photos of the productions, I could use one or two.

San Juan North has a very rich history of Theatre at the school. The Drama Group was formed by Mr. Michailean Taylor in 2012, which was San Juan North’s first appearance at Secondary School’s Drama Festival and since then we have been one of the top schools at the festival. We have won multiple awards in almost all the categories at the festival over the years. Even at the CAPE level which was recently introduced at SJNSS, we attained the second, third and fifth placement on the regional (Caribbean) merit list.

 This will be the second time San Juan North will be representing Trinidad and Tobago at Caribbean Secondary Schools Drama Festival, as the first time was in 2015 with our award winning play entitled “Sayings”. We won multiple awards in the 2015 CSSDF and we hope to accomplish even more at the St. Lucia Festival 2019..

Our students are working very hard at rehearsals to ensure not only the success of both of the productions but to provide an excellent quality of product for the public of Trinidad and Tobago.

Therefore, we are hoping that the public of Trinidad and Tobago will give us their full support in making the shows a success and by extension, aid in funding our trip to St. Luica where we hope to achieve greatness by bring pride to our school and to Trinidad and Tobago.