Now that it has reopened its doors the Theatre Guild faces new challenges in garnering sufficient funds to keep going. Nevertheless, it has already begun to fulfil its mandate and will this month stage a children’s play, Eenie Meenie Miney Mo, the culmination of a workshop which started in October.
Vice Chairman of the Executive Board of the Theatre Guild, Dr Paloma Mohamed told Stabroek News in an interview that come January, there will be regular activities at the playhouse. A regular poetry night, a film night and a month-end lime are among the ideas for fundraising events. Meanwhile, a number of workshops will also be reintroduced.
Jennifer Causway, who manages the day-to-day running of the playhouse, noted that there were several workshops during Carifesta X and added that the guild will re-institutionalize them. These include costume designing, set designing, make-up application, drama, stage management and set construction among several others.
Come next year, it hopes to put on a ‘Guild Production’ every two months; with two children’s productions in the mix, Mohamed said. She explained that this arrangement will allow other persons and playwrights a chance to put on productions at the playhouse as well as other activities. “We don’t want to shut anybody out… everyone must be given a chance,” Mohamed said, alluding to the fact that the $80M rebuilding of the playhouse was a community-based project. “This [the new theatre] is a real testament to what community can do…”
Therefore it is the hope that the same zeal and hard work that put up a new building would be channelled into making the Theatre Guild not only a place where persons go to watch a play for entertainment but a “vibrant centre for the arts in Guyana,” Mohamed said.
Causway added, “We want to target young people and make this a community-based institution.” Causway, who was a member of the guild back in the 90s said she was extremely proud and honoured to see the theatre up and running again and to be making a contribution in terms of taking care of the every-day management responsibilities.
Reminiscing, Causway said the guild was like a finishing school for her. “They taught me how to walk, good posture… I remember going onstage and reading poetry I had written and nobody laughed at me… They thought it was wonderful… I had a family here,” she said, admitting though that the facilities back then were nothing like what is now available. “Doing this service is great,” she said.
Causway explained that she spends her days mostly answering phones, dealing with bookings, handling the bills and explaining rules and regulations to persons who wish to use the theatre. She oversees general work when there is a production or other event going on, ensuring the rules are kept and everyone sticks with the programme.
Chairman of the Board Russell Lancaster said in a separate interview that there are three major things to be done in the near future: producing plays, training people and to go into communities outside the capital city to introduce theatre and get people involved in the art. Lancaster said the work of the Board of Trustees is invaluable and he hopes to soon set up another board but with a different mandate. Instead of raising funds, this new board will be responsible for oversight and other areas.
Lancaster added that it is wonderful that a new building and equipment are available after the hard work. However he stressed that a building is just a building and that what “goes on inside the building will be theatre.”
Mohamed, who also serves as Director of Business Development on the board explained that the money derived from plays at the theatre can by no means adequately cover all the bills–present ones and several that were inherited–even though everyone associated with the place volunteers their services. The other members of the executive are Aileen Hintzen, Secretary; Pat Liverpool, Treasurer; Desiree Wyles-Ogle, Assistant Secretary/Treasurer; Ron Robinson, Enrico Woolford, Beverly Hinds, Norman Dos Ramos and Malcolm DeFreitas, Committee Members.
The Theatre Guild is a non-profit, non-governmental organisation which depends solely on donations, grants, and the money it makes from fundraisers. “One hundred per cent of that money is channelled back into theatre,” Mohamed said. But it is still not enough to cover the bills the biggest of which is the electricity bill.
In the same vein Lancaster said the number of bookings the theatre requires to pay its bills would depend on the operational cost, of which a huge part is the electricity bill.
If this bill can be monitored and minimized then the overhead cost will be manageable, since other bills are not as large.
Meanwhile, there are still several things which remain to be done such as landscaping, the construction of a signboard and the building of a bar.
In an effort to have a steady income, the playhouse is not only open to theatrical productions, various other events can be held there. Although no one must be denied access to the facility, Mohamed stressed that standards must be maintained. The foyer area of the theatre is available for conferences, lunches, dinners. There are two areas that can be rented for rehearsals. The theatre itself is available for not only plays but graduations or fashion shows; its lawns will also soon be available for weddings or other outdoor events.
And in order to help pay maintenance costs, a small fee may be attached to the membership for the workshops.
In the meantime, Mohamed said that in her opinion the theatre is doing excellently given that it was rushed into Carifesta shortly after its opening, which took up around a month and a half.
The guild has been on its own ‘two feet’ officially for about four months and has had two in-house productions, Seawall Moon and Moon on a Rainbow Shawl, which all things considered, is not bad at all, Mohamed said.
By July of next year, the theatre hopes to have “a power cartel of volunteers and members”, Mohamed said. Not only performers, she explained, since there are many facets such as administration or teaching, that are open to volunteers.
