CURRENTLY a leading figure in Guyana’s acting fraternity, Mark Anthony Luke-Edwards never had in mind pursuing any career close to the one he has at the moment. In fact, grappling with life’s challenges from a young age fostered in him a desire to become a successful businessperson.

After his mom died, Mark can still remember the satisfaction he drew from selling fudge in school. Business would eventually become his favourite subject during secondary school, resulting in a Distinction at the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) exams.
Mark, now 37, was born and raised at Wakenaam Island in the Essequibo River where he attended nursery and primary school. It was a big treat for him to visit the city during school holidays and when he heard he was going to be attending Brickdam Secondary, he was elated.
“I always had a dream of coming to town as I was so fascinated by town. When I came to Stabroek Market, it was like wow! I never saw so many people in one spot; it was like Time Square,” he fondly recalled during an interview with Chronicle recently.
After school, Mark went on to obtain a Degree in Accountancy at the University of Guyana and worked briefly with the Guyana & Trinidad Group of Insurance Companies (GTM), Ministry of Finance and the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA).

No particular dream

Mark never nurtured any aspirations of becoming an actor. “Theatre, acting, drama and so forth was never there. It’s not like I grew up thinking ‘Oh God I want to be an actor.’ I just wanted to enjoy life and to survive. I had no particular dream. But ever since I was young, I had a drive to be independent and an entrepreneur,” he recalls.

His childhood days weren’t dandy especially in view of the fact that both his parents died and he was adopted by his mom’s sister. “So basically, grappling with life was what occupied my mind. I hadn’t the time to think about what I wanted to become and all that. I was just trying to survive.”
His ability to act and to entertain, though, has always been with him. In fact, while in school and church, he participated in various skits and so forth. “it still wasn’t a dream of mine at this point though.”
He recalls that on one occasion, a play was being put on by Althea Thomas at church called “In the Midst of it all.” “She didn’t know me but she approached me and gave me a major part in the play and I performed and everyone was blown away. People always knew I had the talent” he said.
His performance resulted in him being included in the cast for several other plays at the church. The first mainstream one he did outside of the church was “Watch the Ride 1” by Ronald Hollingsworth.
Mark went on to perform in so many plays that he simply lost count. Professionally, he has been in acting for seven years. For about three years prior, he performed otherwise.
Mark eventually took up the challenge of teaching Theatre Arts at the Sophia Training Center after attending the National Drama School and graduating as the second best student.
Although at first he was a bit hesitant about this job, later on he could find nothing that he enjoyed doing better. “Coming here was almost an accident. I took the job kind of reluctantly. But then when I started, it was wow! It was awesome,” he related.

Mark said he has always had a fondness for young people and thus his job at the moment gives him an opportunity to spend time with them. “I love young people, and I came here and had the opportunity to teach what I love. This is a dream for any actor to continue to do what you like because most actors do jobs that are unrelated. So I am really teaching what I love. This is the most job satisfaction I’ve ever had. The teaching is not only from text books but from my experience in the field.”
Mark has also had the opportunity to take his performance overseas in countries like Jamaica, Suriname, Haiti and Trinidad.
He is currently in the process of forming a poetry group that would also include singing.

Happy

Acting in Guyana is not financially rewarding and this is the reason Mark believes that someone must truly love the field to succeed in it. “I’m happy that I stumbled on acting.

Now, I love to teach these kids; I love to be with them. I won’t change theatre for anything.”
Mark’s advice to those wanting to join the acting fraternity is: “Try to be disciplined, punctual; take care of your hygiene. Be humble and take directions. You must be a people’s person and not a grouch. You must not have biases and should be able to interact with people of all sorts. Don’t do it because others are doing it or you can go on stage and get popular. You must have a passion for it.”
Mark is married to Carol and they have three kids, Kerese, Keziah, and Jared.