–for annual children’s workshop @ Theatre Guild

LOCAL entertainer Simone Dowding, who has enjoyed being in theatre for decades, looks forward to the July/August summer period when she can be able to pass on her knowledge through her children’s workshop.

This year is no different, and Dowding has already started gearing up for the drama workshop to be held at the Theatre Guild Playhouse from July 6 to August 31.
Her company, Purple Arts Productions, is collaborating with the Ministry of Social Protection to present the eighth children’s workshop, which will take in kids between the ages of nine and 16.

Every Saturday from 10h00 to 12 noon, the children will have an opportunity to learn six different disciplines of drama, which will culminate in a grand performance to end the programme. The six disciplines of drama are: Acting, directing, playwriting, costume management, stage management, and property management. It also teaches the art of listening, stage breathing and stage geography.

Last year’s workshop saw 20 new students who had never been on stage before, and five more who’d attended the previous year.

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 eight years ago.
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, she 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 shows.

Dowding says she finds pleasure in giving of herself to others. “I like to see others live,” she said, “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.”