The Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport joins with the Caribbean cultural community in mourning the passing of Guyanese playwright Sir Ian Michael Valz, according to a press release. Sir Valz, who was based in St.Maarten for the past 26 years, achieved local fame with his radio serial “The House of Pressure,” a dramatic tour de force that played before the advent of television in Guyana.
He was knighted in the Order of Orange Nassau by Queen Beatrix of Holland in 2006.
Sir Valz has produced numerous plays since 1985, but it was the television movie version of his 1999 “The Peacock Dance” and the 2004 “Pan Man- Rhythm of the Palms”, which secured Valz’s position as one of the Region’s leading playwrights.
The Culture Ministry regards Sir Valz as the consummate Caribbean professional who was also blessed with abundant creative energy. “He was a truly creative artist with the whole Caribbean as his stage,” the release stated.
At an interview with the BBC Caribbean, he was quoted as saying “it’s important for me to continue to promote Caribbean culture and to have it appreciated and understood by the rest of the world”.
The Ministry offers its condolences to his family and colleagues in the Caribbean theatre.