Dear Editor,
As an avid and ardent fan of all things dramatic and/or comedic, I feel compelled to shed some much deserved praise on a noteworthy event in the local entertainment industry in recent days.
My last sojourn at the Theatre Guild was in the early ’80s (a performance by Ras Leon Saul) when it was a sad and derelict place. Last evening, I stepped into the foyer (for the final of Mr Dave Martins’ three performances) with some degree of trepidation which was rapidly dispelled by the welcoming sight of the fully refurbished, intimately cozy, all encompassing space that is now ‘our’ Theatre Guild. Kudos to the Organizing/Fundraising Committee – Job well done, indeed!
Young Miss Tiffany Hytmiah – the dramatic flair with which you presented your award-winning piece was deliciously entertaining and absolutely refreshing, especially in today’s culture of rank materialism and overpowering commercialism, where the public is inundated with the excessive and rampant vulgarity that passes for culture in the visual media. A ‘Drama Queen’ is born! Keep up the wonderful work, Tiffany, and I sincerely hope your amazing talent is carefully nurtured.
Now, to the highlight of the show – Mr Dave Martins – ‘salt of the earth’/’son of the soil’/entertainer extraordinaire! Mr Martins, Sir, you make me proud to be Guyanese. Your brand of relatable comedy engenders such heart-wrenching, nostalgic emotions in us Guyanese, at home and in the diaspora! Last evening, I sat enraptured by your reminiscences and comedic references to the simplistic, identifiable incidences of ‘things and instances’ Guyanese. Like the rest of your audience, I tapped my toes, mouthed the lyrics and ‘jived’ to the melody of your guitar strings. It was wonderfully interactive. “Laughter,” some wise man once said, “is great for the soul” and you, Sir, are a past master at making an audience erupt into uncontrollable, stress-relieving mirth! Personally, I’d pay just to hear you perform ‘Cricket in the Jungle’ – an all-time, classic favourite! And you did not disappoint!
Your Orlando speech a few months ago was enlightening and highly entertaining and, as an acquaintance later remarked, “Listening to Dave Martins, makes me highly ashamed that I am not more of a patriotic son of the soil.” Such is the your influence on the audience that it makes one want to step up to the plate and do one’s utmost to transform this abundantly wonderful land of ours with its tremendous natural and human resources into the paradise it could and should become!
Kudos, Mr Martins – Guyana and indeed, the world at large, is a better place because of sons of your inimitable ilk! Keep on coming home. Guyana needs you.
Yours faithfully,
Diana Shields
