THE Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport is set to host its National Drama Festival by the end of this month.
At a press conference in the Ministry’S Boardroom Friday, Minister Dr. Frank Anthony, said that the festival comes after months of planning and will be a highpoint on Guyana’s creative calendar.
He noted the festival, which is currently enlisting the services of a Policy Steering Committee and a Technical Committee, is benefiting from the best drama minds in the country.
Envisaging many spin-offs from the venture, the minister said one of the major upcoming projects in the area of drama is a Theatre Art school which will operate out of the National Cultural Centre. Also, he noted that as the project catches on, it will attract the interest of persons overseas who will visit to be part of the festival.
Coordinator of the festival, actor and theatre director Godfrey Naughton, lauded the initiative noting that a drama festival has not been held since the 60s. He noted that the festival will show how far we have come and where we are going as Guyanese, as transitions and things that happen in society are recorded by artists.
Committee member, actor and director Ron Robinson said that the aim of the elected committees was to ensure that the plays presented during the festival would attain a certain quality. He noted that the committees would guide and provide input, but would not be directing the plays. “Basically what we’re doing is being big brothers and sisters”, he noted.
Marketing Director at Digicel Guyana Jacqueline James lauded the venture, noting that the telecommunications giant, who is contributing over a million dollars in prizes for the festival, will be continuing the partnership in years to come. Also making up the package will be guest performances by a Jamaican drama company on the final two nights of the festival. The company will also conduct a workshop.
The ministry said that over$2M in cash and prizes will be awarded to deserving productions countrywide. That means that performers and plays who do not make it to the National Cultural Centre for the finals will still have a chance to walk away with an award. There will be several technical prizes, and the usual Best Play, Best Actor, Best Director and other prizes.
The preliminaries will be judged by a panel of five local judges, at Llchas Hall at Linden, the New Amsterdam Multilateral School in Berbice, the Theatre Guild Playhouse in Kingston, and the National Cultural Centre between May 14 and 22. The finals will be judged by three local and two foreign judges who will come together to form an awards panel.
The event is open to any group of Guyanese persons who may wish to participate, inclusive of religious-based and school groups. There are no limitations with reference to age, gender or size of groups. Plays presented may include other art forms, like dance and music, but must not be enough to compromise the drama characterization and integrity. All dramatic works of less than thirty minutes will be disqualified. A group can only enter one play and any group that subdivides to avoid the rule can be banned from the finals. Finally each group is responsible for their own costume, “props” and make-up.
All types of plays are eligible for presentation to the ministry’s representatives, who will be visiting the outlying rehearsal venues, at mutually pre-arranged times. The groups can also receive technical help from the ministry.
Preliminaries are being held until May 22, to arrive at the best plays in the open category, and six plays in the School and Youth Group category.
The finals will be staged at the National Cultural Centre from May 31 to June 5.