The Guyana Hindu Dharmic Sabha had the distinction of performing its 22nd production of Naya Zamana at the National Cultural Centre on August 25 last. This was a very impressive presentation of Naya Zamana 22 – Tere Bin, written, choreographed and directed by Dr Vindhya Vasini Persaud. It was described as “A Theatrical Spec-tacular”, a thoroughly designed and executed dance drama that merited such a description. It was generally of a high technical quality.
The production benefited from vibrant costuming and set design by Trishala Simantini Persaud. What was very significant for the cultural centre stage, was that the sound quality was consistent and clear, provided by Varun Samlall. Of similar relevance to the NCC stage, lighting was equally outstanding, provided by Travelling Sound and Lighting. The high quality of both was well above the norm and the capabilities of the cultural centre facilities in their usual state of disrepair.
Another significant factor of Naya Zamana was its acknowledgement of assistance given by a number of private sector agencies and individuals who most likely provided various levels of sponsorship. It was good to see that level of response to the arts from a sector that does not show such interest on a large scale and whose contribution is usually described as hard to obtain by theatre producers.