By Jairo Rodrigues
For the past 45 years Ron Bobb-Semple has been acting and promoting the arts on national and international stages. He is a shining light for all those who aspire to be dramatists. He lives for theatre and has spent most of his life working with some of the most influential actors in the region.
Ron lives by his own motto, “It takes a long time to be an overnight success,” and has had the opportunity over the years to work with some notable actors in the United States such as the late, great Ossie Davis; Esther Rolle (Good Times); and Avery Brooks (A Man Called Hawk). He acted in Nobel Prize Winner Derek Walcott’s play Steel at the American Repertory Theater, at Harvard University, one of the country’s most celebrated theatres.
When he moved to the United States in 1972, Ron was discriminated against just for his accent and his “Caribbean way of thinking”, but this never discouraged him as he always pushed himself towards his goals.
“I consider myself a good actor and still continue to sharpen my craft,” he said. Ron has had the opportunity to film seven national commercials including one he shot in Sydney, Australia. Ron also played a client in Tyler Perry’s upcoming movie, The Marriage Counsellor.
His interest in dramatic arts started at Central High School when he was around the age of 15. His English teacher, Miss Lucille Hall, frequently picked on him to read aloud in front of the class. “This gave me the confidence speaking before an audience,” he told The Scene in an email interview.
Ron attended Trinity Methodist School (where his mother was the principal); St Mary’s RC, Central High and Government Technical Institute (GTI). He said collectively, they all prepared him for his advancement in theatrical arts.
Ron’s love for the theatre may be hereditary, his father the late John Stephen Bobb-Semple, was also an actor in addition to being a court reporter and employee of the Chronicle newspaper. Ron described his father as the motivational figure behind him as well as a great mentor. “I always loved expressing myself and my voice won me over many times. My dad always instilled in us to speak properly, so when on stage; I could switch from the Creolese to the ‘proper’ English on a dime,” he said.
He also drew inspiration from Marc Matthews, who was a great influence. Ron said he was inspired to continue with drama after performing with Marc, “His expressiveness inspired me to continue.” Ron has also worked with the likes of Maurice Braithwaite, Francis Quamina Farrier and Henry Muttoo; men he also describes as being instrumental in him continuing his career.
Ron has done four of August Wilson’s ten plays in the Century Cycle – a dramatic celebration of the works and life of August Wilson held in the United States. When asked about his works and commitment around this world famous playwright, Ron replied, “August Wilson is the type of playwright whose work any actor should have the opportunity to perform. His characters are deep and challenging. I love his work. I was introduced to his work while living in New York when I was cast to play opposite Avery Brooks in Fences.” The show ran about five weeks in St Louis. Since then he has performed in The Piano Lesson, Seven Guitars and Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.
His most accomplished piece of work was his one-man cultural and educational presentation: The Spirit of Marcus Garvey, which he has presented in Jamaica, Barbados, Senegal, Ghana, Bermuda, the Virgin Islands and throughout the United States, since 1988. He also considers his most accomplished roles as the characters Hedley in Seven Guitars and Durbin Freeman in Joyce Sylvester’s A Freeman’s Hope for which he won the Audelco ‘Lead Actor’ Award 2005 in New York.
Along with the Audelco, Ron has been accredited with a surplus of awards including Caribbean Media Award – Excellence in Media 1995; the Guyana Cultural Association Award; Humanitarian Award – Guyana Missions, Consulates and Tri-State Alliance 2004; Timehri Award – In Recognition and Appreciation of Contribution to Guyanese Art and Culture 2010; Marcus Garvey Awards (1988 & 1991) for The Spirit of Marcus Garvey.
Asked how it feels to be a prolific prize winner, he said “I’m never one to seek awards. I just continue to do my best in this life, and if someone feels I deserve recognition for what I do, I will gladly accept it.”
Ron Bobb-Semple currently resides in Tampa, Florida. He continues to work on his craft and hosts Internet Radio broadcasts: Caribbean Forum, on a Radio Network Saturdays from 9 -11 EST, and Golden Sunday Sounds on Sundays from 7 – 10 pm EST.
He is married and has two children; Omar, his son, resides in Los Angeles and J’nelle, his daughter lives in New York and will be getting married later on this year.
Ron loves gardening. “One of the reasons I moved to Florida was to be able maintain my vegetable garden most of the year, as the weather here is the closest thing to ‘back home,’” he said.
In a month’s time, Ron starts rehearsals for Athol Fugard’s play, A Lesson from Aloes, which is set in South Africa. Many years ago, he had the good fortune to play the character of Mr M in another Fugard play – My Children, My Africa!!
Noting that “the only place ‘success’ comes before ‘work’ is in the dictionary,” Ron said he would like to have his own theatre and to be able share with others his experiences and techniques as he continues “growing as a conscious citizen of this world”.
