Eric touches on the supernatural

Political intrigue. Calypso bachannal. A touch of the supernatural. Eric Barry plans to unleash The Catalyst upon an unsuspecting Trinidadian audience. This is the first full length play from the multi-talented actor, writer and former drama tutor. It is being produced by Tete-a-Tete Theatre, a drama company part owned by Barry. He is part of the Trinidad and Tobago drama contingent performing at Carifesta VIII in Suriname from August 25 to 30. But foremost in his mind is the release of his major production in October. The Catalyst will be the culmination of 12 years of perseverance and 16 years of life in the local theatre.

The Couva native is the youngest of nine children. “They had no TV,” he quips, and launches one of his trademark, boisterous laughs. Barry states that though his parents were very strict about education, they were always supportive of their children’s aspirations. “They allowed us to dream.” Barry’s dream was to become a tennis star; his boyhood fantasies were of Wimbledon courts and not Broadway stages. His adolescent life consisted of classes and after school tennis lessons, and soon young Barry began to show a natural aptitude for the game. After he completed secondary school his mother asked him if he wanted to study tennis but he told her, “Woman, save yuh money.” So how did this ex-tennis hopeful end up entertaining eager theatre goers for over a decade and appearing in over 100 plays? Young Eric Barry was in love with cinema. Every Saturday a five-dollar bill was his passport to action, adventure and high drama to spark his imagination. He could not imagine, however,  someone from this “little dot” of a country being involved in film and he never seriously considered it. His dormant film dreams would re-awaken many years later in 1987. A newspaper advertisement declaring open auditions for the Chaguanas Senior Comprehensive National Theatre sparked Barry’s interest. He viewed theatre as a stepping-stone to film, his ultimate quest. He was a bit hesitant though, as he thought he would financially catch his posterior doing theatre professionally in Trinidad and Tobago.

Nevertheless, for every Saturday for two months Barry participated in drama workshops and became a part of his first major production, I-Lawah. Still a bit cautious about plunging into the uncertain waters of the acting world, Barry decided to work backstage so he could better appraise the “machine” that is drama and decide whether or not it was for him. “I always remember being amazed by how (the) actors transformed themselves and (going) ‘WOW’,” he sighs nostalgically. Barry had to admit it. He was hooked. Two years later Barry would become a part of the San Fernando City Theatre Movement, a relatively new group at the time, under the guidance of local playwright and dramatist Shane Bickram. There he was exposed to both West Indian writers and European greats like Chekhov and Shakespeare. Though Barry played mainly minor roles he always got favourable reviews from newspaper critics. Barry fondly remembers one of the troupe’s earlier productions, a variety concert of song, dance, opera and drama called A Cultural Cook-up. On one of the nights at the Naparima Bowl a gentleman promptly presented his ticket to collect his food. Big bacchanal laugh again.

Nowadays Barry is no longer relegated to minor roles. In The Golden Masquerade, the drama offering for Carifesta VIII, he plays the wise, old Papa Nizah who attempts to broach peace between the warring villages of Iere and Rampanalgas. He does not know whether he got the role because he’s “wise” or “old.” The piece was written by Ronald John and Davlin Thomas, with the latter serving double duty as director. One of Barry’s co-stars in Masquerade is Kurtis Gross of Westwood Park fame, whom he met many years before at the University of the West Indies Centre for Creative and Festival Arts (CAC). Feeling a lack of momentum Barry left the Movement and began a certificate course in Theatre Arts at CAC to enhance his acting and writing talents. “(The course) opened my eyes,” Barry declares. The comprehensive course covered every area of theatre. “As a result now I can jump almost anywhere or at least communicate well with a specialist.” The only area Barry felt should have been included was the business aspect of local theatre. One class he found especially helpful was a Friday session called “Caribbean Lab,” taught by artist Leroy Clarke. “The purpose of the class was for us, as students of art, to see ourselves as Caribbean artists, and to look at our Caribbean elements to do our work,” he intones. He was also taught not to “be blind to the richness around (him)” and to never be mediocre.

Another didactic experience Barry believes had a great influence upon him was a 1988 UWI vacation school in the arts. He found it to be a “great formal introduction to theatre.” Two statements made by Ms Sonya Moze, the drama tutor, that remained with Barry for the rest of his life and influenced many of his choices were: “The only way you learn is to be humble” and, on the final day of class,  “Trinidad too small to do any shoddy plays.” The cultural awakening he underwent at the Centre and from Ms Moze’s tutelage may have influenced later decisions in his life. He felt he was getting too comfortable in his job as an advertising copywriter and losing grasp of his dream to change theatre and the landscape. So he resigned in 2002. “And I said ‘no’, let me pursue this dream” and “satisfy this passion.” Barry’s desire to professionally do film is still a bit elusive, as he is as yet unable to raise the funds to study film in England, though he has received numerous offers of acceptance. Barry scoffs. “People don’t like to support people in the arts,” his rich baritone voice booms with disgust. Though his film dreams may be in temporary stasis, his theatre dreams show evidence of progression. With the help of his three theatre-affiliated friends Michelle Campbell, Carlos Alexander and Forsyth, Barry gave birth to the drama company Tete’ a’ Tete’ Theatre in 2002. He felt a pressing need “to do (his) own thing.” The mission of the group is to do local work and to provide an outlet for the myriad of talented Trinidadian writers. The first production, Five Foolish Friends in Shh...It Happens, was a series of comedic sketches of Trinidad life written by Barry. He admitted that he was a bit wary of the audience reception of his locally flavoured comedy. “It was scary.” To his pleasant surprise the patrons loved it, calling it “so local” and “so original” and stating, “you saw us.” The play was nominated for a National Drama Association of Trinidad and Tobago (NDATT) Cacique Award for Most Outstanding Comedic Production but did not win.

Tete’ a’ Tete’‘s second production, Five Foolish Friends in Shh...It’s Christmas in 2002, unlike its predecessor, was a bride and not a bridesmaid at the Caciques. One of the more interesting and amusing sketches was a ballet of Charlotte Street at Christmas time set to War of the Valkyries. A member of the NDATT secretariat, Barry was working backstage at the 2003 Cacique awards. To his utter amazement Shh..It’s Christmas was announced as the winner of the Most Outstanding Comedic Production. Greasy, soiled, and under-dressed, he was screamed on stage by shouts of “Where Eric Barry?” He was especially surprised because all the showings were at The Rudrinath Capildeo Learning Resource Centre (LRC) in Couva and not at the more popular Central Bank Auditorium. Still in shock, he reluctantly made his way to the lectern in his dirty jeans and sneakers. “Fourteen years of Cacique Awards, I never miss one. I always came dressed up. This is the year I look to win.” Receiving the Cacique award is one of the highest honours available to a Trinidadian playwright. But what acting role is Barry most proud of? The 1995 production of Temple in the Sea by CAC. Barry played the lead, historical figure and holy man Siewdass Sadhu. The cast visited the actual temple site and met villagers who knew Sadhu personally. Initial fears that a mainly Afro-Trinidadian cast (only two actors were of East Indian descent) performing a play with solely East Indian roles would not be readily accepted were found to be unwarranted. “At the end of the production — because (of the) work done with such respect for the man and the people — it didn’t matter the race.”  Some of the villagers they had met cried after seeing the play. A neighbour said, “(he) was seeing the Sadhu.” He received a nomination for Best Actor at the Caciques for his portrayal of the famed holy man. Barry displays a content, reminiscent smile. “That production stayed with me for a long, long time.”