I have been around the block and done a few things before. Some have told me I’m a ‘culture man’.
It’s a simple statement from simple people which I simply accept as an honour without the baggage of neither arrogance nor ego. If I had been personally asked I would have replied that I am an artist. That’s who I am. Theatre, Literature, and Poetry are the canvasses I stretch and prime and paint upon. Discipline is the chisel I used to carve myself out of strong mohagany and purple heart trunks of humanity so that some may hear my voice and a few behold my presence for creation is the voice of God.
I have been writing columns again in the Chronicle for almost two weeks now. I enjoy writing columns for it affords me the independence to create and to employ numberless resources, the most highly prized of which are human resources. Respect and a spiritual intuition made me after two weeks go to seek out Rashid Osman in his office. The Mr Osman I know is a wonderful person.
He is one of the few persons in media who helped to promote theatrical arts and its practitioners. We sat down and after pleasantries and preambles he offered me reasons proving the relevance, especially for present times of writing columns that would promote and ensure a return to the more acceptable standards of theatre that prevailed in Guyana during its most active years of the early sixties to mid nineteen nineties (my interpretation of his intention).
I had heard that before, not in the same words but with the same concern for what we had become artistically today. Fifteen or so minutes after landing in Georgetown for the first time in about two decades I had met my old friend Russel.
It didn’t take him long to make his point. He was happy I was back. It was time he felt for plays and performances of a higher standard. There were others too. I can truthfully say that I have embraced all reasonings and have begun to add my shoulders to the wheel.
The Theatre of the nineteen sixties was at the highest level ever experienced in Guyana. The Theatre Guild was the focal point for dramatical presentations and there were quite a few. At this point it is quite appropriate to say that in my conversation with Mr Osman, his primary concern was with the writing of the Script. And that is what we should address.
The Script is important. It is the vehicle that transports the drama. The Actor is the driver of the action. Truth is, the concern is about poor scripts. Scripts are poor for various reasons, all can be corrected. However, I have learnt from members of society that I interact with that some scripts are bordering on indecency and degeneracy, sheer lawlessness. We had very good scripts written in the past by Guyanese writers at home. I know too that a number of one act scripts were published by the University of The West Indies. The problem I have come to recognise is that the poor quality of writing is directly related to the dominant culture of the time. Fear! Fear has strangled the voices and conscience has died from asphyxia. It is time for re-addressing the passing on of the tools of writing to new, younger and less fearful aspirants.
We have had great local productions during the sixties. One play comes immediately to mind and that is a play written and directed by a mentor of mine, Slade Hopkinson. Slade was the most knowledgeable theatre personality of those times. It was a play entitled ‘Spawning of Eels’. It was an excellent theatrical vehicle. I also recall the ‘University of Hunger’ and unless mistaken, that was written by Jan Carew and was highlighted by sterling performances from Clairmont Taitt and Robert Naraine.
Those plays took place in the sixties. However, there was a similar initiative being undertaken at the local radio station and it was spearheaded by Ray Robinson who trained us for voice in theatre, on the radio, which requires some technique since it depended almost entirely on the power of the voice to convey the drama in all its nuances to a listening audience.
I wrote for this ‘Radio Repertory Theatre’ and one of the plays I wrote was ‘How Love Must Die’; another was entitled ‘The Cat’. Francis Farrier had, during that time, captured the imagination of the Guyanese listening public with his ‘Tides of Susanburg’.

Then there was Winslow Fraser who specialised in ‘Mock Court Dramas’ one of his plays was entitled, ‘Body in the Lamaha’. Meanwhile over at the Guild there were independent productions by Bertram Charles and Francis Farrier’s Dramatic Core.

At that time Guyana had many fine actors both male and female. It would be correct to also mention a few of them, Elizabeth Wells was one of them so was Sita Singh, Clairmont Taitt, Robert Naraine, Frank Pilgrim a writer, Director and actor of talent, Mark Matthews was there, Diane Chin was there and so was Patty Gomes and many others.

I could exhaust these pages by mentioning just the talent that was available but we should not forget Ken Corsbie, one of the best there was.

My intention is to develop several columns on this theme so there is time and space to discuss more in detail for there is the work of Ron Robinson and Frank Pilgrim to discuss. Later down in the eighties/nineties Harold Bascom, Dr Paloma Mohammed, Ken Danns, Ronald Hollingsworth, Vivian Williams and others wrote fine plays and offered them for public consumption. I spanned this era and so am ably qualified to discuss it.
At the present stage, the theatre is in disgrace compared to what it was before. There is much more to be said and written in the next few weeks for the re-opening of workshops and for re-training of actors and writers as well as directors will soon commence. The theatre is not dead, just presently dormant.

By Ras Michael