Dear Editor,
We have a great opportunity before us to recapture the spirit shared during the movement towards Independence. China has done a beautiful rendition of their national drive for independence as expressed in opera. Guyana’s National School of Dance, the Theater Guild, the National Cultural Centre and our traditional schools of dance in the Amerindian, African, Portuguese, Chinese and Indian cultures should come together to create our own national legacy that recounts the events leading to the movement of the 1950’s.
Our national independence opera could be comprised of the following: An overview of the feeling in British Guiana in 1945; Introduction to Jung Bahadur Singh, J.A. Nicholson, Hubert Nathaniel Critchlow and Ashton Chase. Formation of the British Guiana Labour Party. Introduction to Cheddi Jagan, Janet Jagan, Jocelyn Hubbard, Ashton Chase and the formation of the Political Affairs Committee. The 1947 elections and introduction to Forbes Burnham, the merger of the Political Affairs Committee and the British Guiana Labour Party to form the People’s Progressive Party. Then a re-enactment of first Congress of the PPP, the third Congress of the PPP and the 1953 elections.
We have been blessed as a Nation to still have in our midst Senior Counsel Ashton Chase who is a living National Treasure. His guidance for historical accuracy and scene development would bring to life an opera capturing the spirit and history that he had been a part of over the years. China’s opera, The Red Detachment of Women, is a beautiful artistic form that showcases their history. Our talented dancers in the various cultures that make our Guyana beautiful should benchmark their work, and work together, under the guidance of a skilled and experienced director to create a national tribute to the spirit of unity in the pursuit of our independence as a nation. The current and future generations will thank you, and visitors will gain a better appreciation for the multiethnic beauty that Guyana possesses, that is second to none.
Sincerely,
Jamil Changlee
Chairman
The Cooperative Republicans of
Guyana