-to help in their performance in Jamaica
THE twelve cast members of ‘Full Hundred’ yesterday received $3M from Digicel to perform in Montego Bay, Jamaica in a play which tells the story of young people overcoming adversities. The presentation was made during a press conference at Digicel Headquarters, Fort and Barrack Streets, Kingston and the team is expected to leave this week for Jamaica. The cast of, ‘Full Hundred’ the play which copped the winning prize at the National Drama Festival 2011 held at the National Cultural Centre (NCC) earlier this year, will be performing for over 10,000 people in Jamaica this weekend.
The group includes local comedian and actor, Michael Ignatius and reigning former Miss Guyana Universe Tamika Henry. The cast is afforded the opportunity to perform and learn from Stages Production in Jamaica, the company which put on the play “Ova Mi Dead Body” at the NCC in June this year.
‘Full Hundred’ writer and director Althea Thomas noted that the play focuses on current issues affecting Guyanese youths and how they can overcome them. “The play is a combination of plays I composed for my church. Through it I wanted to highlight a lot of the social issues our youths are dealing with, there were so many that were near and dear to me so I decided I was going to put all of them in there.”
Digicel’s Head of Marketing, Jacqueline James said her company is sending the cast as part of the prize for winning the National Drama Festival and also to encourage other young dramatists in Guyana to sign up next year for the Festival so that they too can benefit from such an opportunity.
Digicel, she said, will definitely be on board again next year so that it can continue its streak in developing the performing arts in Guyana. Additionally, the following week after the cast return, Digicel will be sponsoring two theatrical productions here so that they can show off what they learnt in Jamaica.
The opportunity Digicel has afforded the ‘Full Hundred’ cast serves to build a solid foundation in theatre and this has contributed significantly to the resurgent process of theatrical arts in Guyana.