“It is important for a nation, in creating an identity, to celebrate our unique heritage, and not be limited in scope.” Natalia Dopwell, Creative Director of the Classical Music Development Foundation of T&T (CMDFTT), says it is for this reason the Foundation has commissioned “Songs of the Islands”, an albums of songs derived from music … Continue reading
Filed under Arts and Culture …
Bitter Cassava revival is sweet (June 26, 2016)
“Hell hath no fury like a woman wronged.” “Your sins will come back to haunt you.” These sayings embody the spirit of Bitter Cassava, which tells a story of betrayal and revenge with a strong Trinbagonian flavour, delivering several strong emotional blows with a sprinkling of comedy to relieve the tension. The story touches on … Continue reading
Yale offers T&T Director Special Fellowship (June 19, 2016)
Marcus Waldron is a young Trinidadian theatre director who has been accepted to the Yale School of Drama in Connecticut. He will be pursuing a Special Research Fellowship in Theatre Direction over the course of four months. Waldron’s tuition is being paid by the college, but he is currently trying to raise approximately TT$71,300 in … Continue reading
Arielle plans on Goldsmiths MA (June 19, 2016)
Art educator and poet Arielle John exudes an aura of intensity and focus, whether performing Spoken Word on stage, talking about human rights activism or her work with teenagers. It’s little wonder that she’s been accepted by the prestigious Goldsmith University, University of London, to pursue a Masters of Arts (MA) in Performance and Culture. … Continue reading
Bitter Cassava returns, still relevant (June 12, 2016)
Power defines Bitter Cassava, from the music to dancing to the singing to the performances delivered by every actor on stage. The play tells the story of Samuel William Blondell (Muhammad Muwakil), the village ram, who throws his common-law wife Justina (Tishanna Williams) and their three children out of the house when he decides to … Continue reading
Rapso, theatre and mas: Wendell Manwarren speaks on his life in the arts (June 12, 2016)
(I’ve added some pieces here that I had to leave out of the newspaper version. Enjoy!) Rapsoman Wendell Manwarren has had a long and varied career in the arts, beginning with the opera and continuing through theatre, mas-making and rapso. Manwarren spoke about his journey to a standing-room only crowd at the Monday Night Theatre … Continue reading
Amoroso recalls a rich career (June 5, 2016)
Playwright, director and actor Ronald Amoroso credits his early influences in life growing up in South Trinidad and studying abroad with his later success in the theatre. The 81-year-old also studied as a civil engineer and told the audience at the Monday Night Theatre forum that he uses the techniques of the two disciplines interchangeably. … Continue reading
I-She dazzles again (June 5, 2016)
The audience at the gala performance of Shades of I-She: Every Woman’s Story on April 27 was held spellbound by the powerful performances. Audience members said the play, written and directed by Eintou Pearl Springer and put on by the Indigenous Creative Arts Network (ICAN), grabbed them by the throat with its intensity. Patron of … Continue reading
Pride Arts Festival a first for region (June 5, 2016)
Internationally, June is celebrated as Pride Month by members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community. This year, I Am One T&T, a local community-based organisation which seeks to address the needs of gender and sexual minorities, will be hosting a Pride Arts Festival in T&T from June 3 to July 1. I … Continue reading
DMAD stages play to fund playback theatre (May 29, 2016)
As society explores ways to enable young people to express their problems, more and more theatre companies are going into schools to interact with students. One such company is the Drama Making A Difference (DMAD) Company, who will be putting on a play in June to fund their efforts in the schools. The group is … Continue reading
