– A performance for children by children

THE seventh edition of the show ‘EMERGE’, dubbed “a performance for children by children” will be on at the Theatre Guild Playhouse tomorrow, Director and owner of Purple Arts Production Simone Dowding has related.

In an interview with The Buzz, Dowding disclosed that the show, promising a night of excitement and fun for the kids, will begin promptly at 18:00 hrs.

It represents the culmination of a drama workshop that commenced shortly after school was closed in July. During this time, the children were taught six disciplines of drama- acting, directing, playwright, costume management, stage management and property management.

The workshop also taught children ranging from ages 9 to 16 the art of listening; stage breathing and stage geography.

This year’s workshop saw 20 new students who have never been on stage before and five more from last year who attended classes.

For tomorrow’s show, Dowding said the children have written and directed their own plays. It will feature four plays, two spoken word performances and four dances.

One of the plays entitled, “Aunty Leila cleans the City” will seek to address the issues surrounding garbage in Georgetown. The second, “The Fish Pond” is a market scene encouraging agriculture. The third play, “Man Whipped” addresses the problems of domestic violence and focuses on how men, too, are victims who tend to suffer in silence. The fourth play is based on the issues surrounding suicide.

Dowding has observed that with each passing year, people are becoming more and more interested in children’s drama and are coming out to support them. In fact, the sitting First Lady has always been in attendance from the very beginning of the show, seven years ago.
According to Dowding, First Lady Sandra Granger, Minister of Public Health Volda Lawrence and Georgetown Mayor Patricia Chase-Green are expected to be in attendance tomorrow night.

Purpleheart or Purple Arts?

Explaining how it all got started, Dowding recalled wanting to do something in theatre after being trained for many years. She decided to form a company and was in search of a name that would help promote Guyana at the same time.

“I thought of all the fruits and then got to the different types of wood we have. I chose Purpleheart because it is a beautiful wood with a beautiful fragrance and it is also durable. So I said I can name my company ‘Purple Arts’ instead of Purpleheart.” The company began with the children’s workshop which has continued to this day.

Children pay a small tuition fee but even those who cannot afford the money are taken in by Dowding, who has a fondness for children.

Having graduated from the Burrowes School of Art and other institutions, Dowding ended up with a total of 13 certificates and won Theatre Guild’s Best Actress Award in 2012 for the play “Old Story Times.”

Through her company, she works primarily with children and seeks to provide them with the opportunities that she never enjoyed as a child.

Having worked on the popular Link Show over the years, Simone has also done “House of Pressure”, “Miriamy”, “Eleventh Finger” and “Jezebel”, just to name a few.

Dowding finds pleasure in giving of herself to others. “I like to see others live. I love to give without expecting anything in return. I give because I know how it feels to live without certain things. If I can do something for you and you smile and you’re happy about it, that’s what makes me happy. I give my heart and don’t mind if I get very little in return. My happiness comes from seeing other people happy,” she said.

Tomorrow’s show is receiving help from Courts Guyana Limited and NALICO/NAFICO. Tickets cost $1,000 at the door of Theatre Guild located on Parade Street, Kingston.