THE GENESIS OF THE STROLLING PLAYERS

The story begins on Friday June 14, 1957 when I won a recitation contest at the San Juan Commercial School. My selection was the “No thank you” speech from the play Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostant. The organisation I represented was The Strolling Players which I made up especially to enter the contest. The competition was the first annual recitation contest sponsored by the San Juan Commercial, Literary and Sports Club. The challenge cup was donated by Donald Granado, then Minister of Labour in the first PNM government.

The president of the club, Mr George Rennie spoke to the capacity audience and introduced the chief judge Mr AC Farrell, principal of St George’s College and two other adjudicators Mr E Lewis, probation officer and Miss Eileen Armstrong of the education extension office. Second place was Miss Eunice Bruno (now Eunice Alleyne still well-known in the theatre) of San Juan CYO and third was Mr Roy Charles of Barajuan Literary. Fourth place went to Miss Belinda Mohan of Himalaya Fraternity. On Saturday June 16, 1957 the Trinidad Chronicle newspaper reported the event with a big picture of Mrs Goodman presenting me with the silver cup.

The competition organisers insisted that every contestant must be a member of a club or group in east St George and residing in the area. I lived in Barataria at that time and was qualified but the groups to which I belonged were not in the East. I was already in drama for a little more than six years and was a member of the White Hall Players, Nelsonians and the Government Teachers’ Training College Drama Society which I started in 1956 but they were all based in Port-of-Spain. Con-sequently, I formed a one-man group, if that is possible, and called it The Strolling Players. My thinking at that time was that I would not confine the group to Port-of-Spain but would take plays by the people to the people in every town and village at a price to suit their pockets.

The membership grew in a strange way. Fellow teachers from the training college and several friends told me that whenever I was ready to start something to include them. The truth was that I did not take the group seriously, was terribly afraid of leadership and had no desire to run the company. Furthermore, I was crazy about acting. Sadly, the Strolling Players went into hibernation for about four years. Its resurrection is another story by itself. Meanwhile I acted as “Ram” in Drums and Colours by Derek Walcott, directed by Noel Vaz; the title role in Ti Jean and his Brothers — written and directed by Derek Walcott; “Judas” in The Story of the Passion; lead role of “Arjune” in Chitra by Rabindranath Tagore; “The Persian” in Caesar and Cleopatra by Bernard Shaw and many other plays.

Now after 48 years, the membership is 137 adults — 86 women and 51 men. We have staged 114 plays, 2223 times. Members have appeared in 78 television plays, six tv series including two by yours truly — Calabash Alley and Beulah Darling, 11 locally made movies and numerous radio and television commercials. We have performed in Port-of-Spain proper 832 times and have criss-crossed Trinidad and Tobago from Laventille to Charlotteville and from Chacachacare to Guayaguayare. We have also been to Guyana (twice), Grenada (three times), St Vincent (three times), St Lucia (three times), St Kitts (twice), Dominica (once), Barbados (twice), Toronto — Canada (once), Curacao (once), Tobago (13 times) and Miami — USA (twice). Talking about travelling, reminds me of an ace I got from Ralph Waldo Emerson — “Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us or we find it not.”