Five-time Best Supporting Actress nominee Melika Edmonds has been an actress for the last five years and recently received accolades for her role as Ismay in the dramedy Crack Jokes.
Though theatre has always been a part of Melika’s life as far as she can remember, prior to five years ago, she never had a role on stage.
“To be honest, I knew nothing of Theatre Arts. I used to go with my parents to see shows at the Cultural Centre but never imagined myself on the stage,” Melika said. “Since I was a baby my parents took the time out to bring us [she and her sisters] to shows. I grew up watching Sonia Yarde and Henry Rodney.”
Melika attended secondary school at the Guyana Education Trust College (GETC) and School of the Nations and was always part of extra-curricular activities. She was head prefect at the GETC and also a part of the choir. Melika played the flute, danced, debated for her school, lead assemblies and was also champion girl three years in a row for track and field. Her champion girl streak was cut short when she had to prepare for the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate exams.
“It doesn’t matter if I’m passionate about it or not; once I have the time, I go looking,” said the actress, speaking about always being engaged in many different activities. And that is how she ended up in Suriname five years ago.
Having heard of the Inter-Guiana Festival, 17-year-old Melika asked permission to go along with friends who were participating in the Art and Craft category at the festival in Suriname. “The Inter Guiana Festival displays our culture through the playing of the steel orchestra, culinary arts and paintings. …I went along with them. It was there that I met another actress and friend of mine, Kimberly Fernandes, who would introduce me to theatre.”
Kimberly, she said, told her that when they got back to Guyana she would take her to one of the workshops. At that time the workshops were being conducted by Malcolm Defreitas.
It was the week after she returned from Suriname and Malcolm was not only conducting a workshop but was holding open auditions for A Midsummer’s Night Dream. He was looking for fresh talent.
“When we finished the workshop, Kimberly was like, ‘Melika you should audition’ and I was like ‘No, I just come here and I don’t know anything auditioning.’ And she said, ‘Just go up there, read the script and dramatize it’. I was like ‘Okay, alright, I’ll give it a try’ and I was really shy at that time. I read for a couple of roles and got the role of a fairy in the play,” she recalled. When one of the other actresses was unable to continue, Melika was asked to read for her part, since she only had a few lines to do as a fairy. “After listening to me, he [Malcolm] said, ‘You’re playing the role of Hippolyta [the warrior queen]’. I must give him recognition because he saw a talent in me and helped me prepare to act in front of the audience,” she said.
Melika is also an actress for the Merundoi Radio Serial Drama. “Having done a few plays there was an opening for a radio serial drama character. I was contacted by Sean Thompson who played ‘Akeem’ on Merundoi at that time to audition for a role. I auditioned to play 16-year-old Nasifa [Akeem’s girlfriend],” she said. “I was always intrigued by Merundoi since I had always listened to it on the radio. When they told me about auditioning for Merundoi, I was so excited. After getting the role I later volunteered for the Merundoi Street Theatre.
“We’re doing a suicide storyline and I play Carol. Carol is Sonia’s friend who has become friends with Debra [Sonia’s husband’s sweet woman].”
Melika is inspired by her mother when it comes to dealing with issues and pushes herself to achieve because of the faith her parents have in her. “My mom is my inspiration because she is strong in faith. She teaches me a lot when it comes to life. In things that they [her parents] haven’t achieved in life they’ve always pushed me to do more.
“In theatre my inspirations would be Margaret Lawrence and Sonia Yarde. Margaret is a very dedicated, respectful and very kind person. I grew up hearing a lot about her from my parents who had seen many of her shows. Sonia on the hand; when she is on stage it doesn’t look like acting. She’s that good. It comes natural to her.”
Asked if she could meet one person in the world who it would be, Melika did not pick a theatre personality. Instead, she said she would be grateful to meet Baroness Valerie Amos, a woman she grew up hearing her father talk about and who she has great admiration for. She noted that Amos was born here in Guyana and became the first black woman to sit in the Cabinet of the United Kingdom and is currently head of the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London. “My dad would always tell us about this Guyanese woman, who has so much passion and determination…,” she said. “One quote [of Amos] that I hold dearly is ‘Everyone can be a humanitarian. All it takes is one act to help someone else.’”
However, Melika said, she fell in love with Aristotle’s drive for excellence and meeting him would have been an honour for her, had he been alive. “The aim of Aristotle’s logic was to develop a universal method of reasoning by means of which it would be possible to learn everything there is to know about reality. One of my favourite [Aristotle] quotes is: ‘Excellence is an art won by training and habituation. We do not act rightly because we have virtue or excellence, but we rather have those because we have acted rightly. We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an act but a habit.’”
Asked to describe herself, she said, “I’m an extremely determined person. No matter what, I will push through limitations and adversity to try to get what I want, and what is best for myself and those around me. Beyond that, I’m extremely compassionate and kind of adventurous. I have good leadership qualities and confidence in myself. I’m able to keep a calm and level head whenever I’m in stressful situations. I would like to consider myself someone who can relate to anyone and any culture and background; it allows me to make personal connections with everyone I meet.”
One of the issues she has faced as an actress was being shy. But having performed time and time again she was able to overcome that and build on her self-esteem.
Coming from a family where domestic violence is unheard of, Melika is often disturbed by plays that portray domestic violence and would often be baffled by the reasons that would lead to it. “It is so prominent in society,” she lamented. “Like every two mornings you’d see something in the papers. I’m a very emotional person so I guess that’s why it gets to me. Coming from a home where I’ve never seen these things happening, it makes me wonder what is lacking that makes these things happen. I want to understand why these things happen and the way humans think. [This is] one of the reasons why I’m currently a Psychology student.”
Apart from being a member and actress of Theatre Guild and an actress for Merundoi, Melika is also the Officer Manager for Merundoi. During her free-time she enjoys shopping, meeting with friends and cooking.
Melika also wanted to express her gratitude to colleagues and friends. “I’m immensely grateful for what theatre has brought to my life; the marvellous friends I have found, the joy of working with those friends and feeling the audience respond. The satisfaction of seeing mature talents at their peak and the excitement of seeing young talents develop. Theatre Guild has also taught me how to focus, think quickly and make do while giving the impression that you’ve got it all under control. I would like to thank all the directors of Theatre Guild especially those like Malcolm Defreitas who consistently dedicates his time and vast knowledge to the future of the craft. The training helps individuals in everyday life in a positive way.
“Where do I see myself in five years? Probably this is the most challenging question… and it scares me a bit that in one short half of a decade, I will be 28 and the years of my youth will officially come to an end…. But one thing I am certain of is that God gives me the opportunity to strive each day for excellence to achieve all that I aim for. I have a few short time goals both personally and professionally which I’m pursuing with great determination. In five years I would complete my Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and start my Master’s in General Psychology. I wish to continue to use my knowledge [to] help others and I wish to fully develop my skills and talent within the arts.”
Melika has completed a Stage and Production Management Workshop course presented by Merundoi in collaboration with IDB and Theatre Guild of Guyana. She also has a diploma in Effective Communications and Human Relations Skills (Dale Carnegie 2015).
Within three years Melika was nominated five times for Best Supporting Actress at the National Drama Festival. She has also acted in Virtue, Love Thou Art 6, Caribbean Love, The Darker Side of Sin, Watch De Ride 2, Till Ah Find a Place 3, What If and To Sir With Love.
Melika staged managed a number of plays including A Midsummer’s Night Dream, Precious Commodity, The Verdict, Till Death, Before Her Parting and The Fair Picker.
