Theatre Month is no visionary concept

THE EDITOR: We are oftentimes guilty of putting old wine in new bottles and packaging it as if it were a new product. I remember my deceased stepfather putting blended whisky in De Luxe bottles to improve his status among his friends. The true connoisseur will undoubtedly recognise the deception while the “ink” drinkers will salivate at the thought of the finest. Why this metaphor on drinking? Hopefully it will need no explanation. At the recent launch of the National Drama Association’s Theatre Month, the Minister of Community Development and Gender Affairs Senator Joan Yuille-Williams described the efforts as “a visionary concept.”

I need to say at this point that I have the utmost respect for the senator who taught me at Teachers Training College in 1979-80. With respect to NDATT’s Theatre Month however, she may have unknowingly been putting old wine in new bottles with no help from the executive to derail the deception. The Theatre Month concept is as old as NDATT itself. In fact a cabinet minute attests to the fact. The headline of note EC (80)204 reads “Request by the National Cultural Council to present a non-competitive Festival of Drama in Trinidad and Tobago during the period July to September, 1981. The objectives of the proposed festival of drama, 1981, were as follows:
• Improving standards in all aspects of theatrical productions.
• Developing audiences for the theatre.
• Stimulating groups to produce by providing assistance.
• Encouraging the formation of an association of dramatic artists.

The NDATT may not have been in possession of the cabinet note but are definitely in possession of the 22 point plan proposed by the organising committee which was chaired by Mr James Lee Wah. Point eleven of the plan speaks to “Promotion of Theatre Festivals.” The present executive must be aware of the past occasions when June and July were the scheduled months for theatre activities in Trinidad and Tobago. It is unfortunate that since 1990, under several new executives, no new festival was done. In 1995, a plea was made at a symposium organised by the Secondary Schools Drama Association by actor David Sammy for the reintroduction of the National Drama Festival since it encouraged the wider participation of groups in the National Festival and created greater public awareness of theatre activities in the country. This plea fell on deaf ears since NDATT appeared to have had another agenda.

Three years ago NDATT organised a playwriting competition that was to culminate in a mini festival consisting of the four top plays. In spite of the effort made and money spent to dramaturge the plays, the festival never materialised. NDATT should not take this commentary as negative since as an avid observer of its actions, I am tremendously pleased that a greater effort is being made by its members to fulfill the stated objectives of the founders of the association. It is unfortunate that the Minister was not appraised of the place of the festival in NDATT’s history and was allowed to commit this faux pas. The accolade of “visionary concept” rightfully belongs to the founders. The present executive of NDATT deserves to be rapped on their knuckles for allowing this to occur.

VICTOR EDWARDS