The recent reading of veteran playwright Marvin L Ishmael’s play, Duppy In The House, at the Trinidad Theatre workshop, brought, as promised, a lot of laughter while addressing social issues. Ishmael said “we wanted to look at a number of issues, and if you can get people to laugh, you can tell them anything.” The … Continue reading
Filed under Arts and Culture …
The politics of wining in Carnival (February 21, 2016)
Perhaps if now ex- Port-of-Spain Mayor Raymond Tim Kee had attended the recently held forum, “Just a Wine: Body Politics in the Carnival,” he might have begun to understand why his controversial remarks led to women and men uniting to carry out the protest which eventually resulted in his resignation. The forum, held on January … Continue reading
Makeda Thomas – Tripping the Light Fantastical (February 21, 2016)
“I’ve always rejected the idea that dance is ephemeral, that part of what defines it as an art form is that it goes away once it is performed. This is why I want to take a very long time working on my project, “Speech Sounds”, at least for the next few years.” Performance artist Makeda … Continue reading
Youth, adults, show off acting skills in TTW showcase (February 14, 2016)
The Trinidad Theatre Workshop’s (TTW) School for the Arts showcase on January 23 showed off a host of talented actors of all ages who are sure to grace the stages and screens of T&T in years to come. The Showcase was put on by members of the latest Children’s, Teens, Beginning Adult Actors and Advanced … Continue reading
Theatre legend Helen Camps talks Carnival (February 14, 2016)
The fourth Monday Night Forum at the Trinidad Theatre Workshop featuring legendary Trinidad Theatre practitioner and Tent Theatre Founding Artistic Director Helen Camps, drew a crowd of admirers, theatre practitioners and the curious, and for good reason. Camps’ stories of her current work in the maximum security prisons alternately drew tears to the eyes and … Continue reading
Ethnic Jazz Club reprises Bim (February 7, 2016)
Andre Tanker’s Bim Suite, as performed by members of the Ethnic Jazz Club (EJC) on January 31, brings the sounds of the Caribbean to life. The sounds of the sea rolling over the shells in the surf at the beach, the wind moving through the trees, the sounds of steelpan and sitar and merengue and … Continue reading
Meditations on a Minshall mas (February 7, 2016)
“T&T mas has played the glory that was Greece, Imperial Rome, Africa, New Guinea, China, the Forbidden City and gone into realms of fantasy. There are no boundaries to the realms of the imagination.” Veteran masman Peter Minshall had those words for those who questioned the relevance of his 2016 Carnival King piece, “The Dying … Continue reading
Badjohn Republic giving T&T music bois (January 31, 2016)
“Waiting on the Stage” by Machel Montano has been the subject of much talk since it was released, with many commenters saying it doesn’t sound like soca. That sound, a fusion of EDM and soca, is the product of Badjohn Republic, a new production group. “Waiting on the Stage” is the group’s first major outing … Continue reading
3 Canal “duttying up” the Black Box (January 24, 2016)
“I hope they come away from the show having experienced something visceral.” 3Canal’s Wendell Manwarren expressed the hope following the first Backyard Jam where the group’s new music for 2016 was launched, along with this year’s Jouvay concept, Black Jab Nation. This year, the show will be held at the Big Black Box on Murray … Continue reading
Forces of nature bound in words (January 17, 2016)
Hurricanes and Wakes, the inaugural NGC Bocas Lit Fest event for 2016, featured readings of previously published work from Andre Bagoo, Shivanee Ramlochan and winner of the 2012 OCM Bocas Prize for Poetry, Puerto Rican poet, Loretta Collins Klobah. First was Ramlochan, who read “Shepherd Boxcutter 1,” “Shepherd Boxcutter 2” and “Caracara”, which were published … Continue reading