Drama is among the most misunderstood and most abused subjects in secondary schools in Guyana. At one end of the spectrum is the real progress made in the increasing number of schools offering the subject at CXC – at both levels, CSEC (Theatre Arts) and CAPE (Performing Arts). But at the other end is the misconception: the lack of understanding what it is, leading to its relegation in the curriculum as purely decorative at best, but at worst as inferior, as an ennui in the school’s administration, a trifling obsession that gets in the way of real learning, a mere past-time and unnecessary.
There is no end of pride when sparkling talent is discovered, when the performing arts are called upon to provide entertainment – what is called “cultural items”, for some important occasion; when a school does excellently in the Drama Festival; or when dancers or singers bring glory to the school and enhance its image. But within the institution, Drama is not even accorded a place on the regular time-table. It is not perceived as a subject of choice by school administrations, teachers and parents alike. It is something you do when you can find the time, something you avoid in order to get on with your serious school work, and something you do not allow to interfere with your studies in other subjects.
In some schools, there is a public performance, or an audience is invited when the Theatre Arts class is performing their pieces for examination, and when that happens it is highly commendable. Sometimes the head of the school or some senior administrator will attend, and that, too, is to be lauded. The visiting Examiner may lavish praise on the school, particularly when the students do well, and the Head soaks it up with returning gracious platitudes. But when the stage is cleared and the administrators return to their serious work, the drama teachers return to the frustration of finding time and space for classes and rehearsals outside of the regular time-table, and having to seek permission and manage students on week ends or after hours because they are given no time or place on the school’s week-day time-table and use of classrooms.
The first point to be made is that Drama is an academic subject. It is an area of intellectual pursuit requiring as much academic ability and application as any other subject. Yet, that is not the perception that most people have. In fact, one may go further to say it has extra demands above other subjects because it requires skills, and students will do better when they have talent. That last is, however, one of the factors that leads to a misunderstanding of the subject. Talent is the face of the theatre, and it is therefore easy to believe talent is all you need to succeed. It is seen as a hobby or a gift, and at the level of secondary school, something you do when you cannot manage chemistry or literature.
But Drama and Theatre have been academic studies from deep into antiquity. It was very much so among the ancient Greeks, who had to know the craft to construct a tragedy and a comedy before they could compete among the best and create their plays in accordance with the specific demands of the Greek society. Plays were used to teach the population. One needs look no further than Aristotle to appreciate the high and complex levels of philosophy, of creativity and literary skills that went into a play. Even Plato, who is most valued by the political scientists and philosophers, is valued in the complex and theoretical study of drama. In Elizabethan England the evidence is there of what was put into the art by the “university wits”, what it takes to truly appreciate Shakespeare studies, and the fact that we owe the best and most trusted collection of Shakespeare’s plays to two of his leading actors. John Hemminge and James Condell were professional actors in Shakespeare’s Company who were sufficiently trained through the practice of theatre to be able to carry out the collection and publication of the first complete set of his plays in 1623. A study of Miguel de Cervantes will reveal his intellectual knowledge of the drama of his day.
The traditional theatre never depended on mere talent in a performer. In African societies, where theatrical traditions have been tied to spiritual belief and practice, it took years of training and intellectual understanding before the society would trust a theatrical practitioner. To go further, in non-western societies, an excellent example of the academic inputs into classical performance is the kathak dance and the drumming that accompanies it. This art has to be studied along with the spiritual underpinnings involved in the performance, requiring years of learning.
It is quite alright to dabble in drama at school as an “extra curricular” activity; that has its great value in human development. But it is much more to study it as an academic subject. More than two decades ago, CXC decided to introduce Drama among its options at the CSEC level, and some years after that, add it as a subject at CAPE. Even a casual perusal of its syllabus and stated objectives will reveal that it requires substantial theoretical knowledge, the acquisition of skills as well as the application of creativity, articulation and performance talent. It demands as much, if not more, than other subjects. It is not something into which to channel weak students. A weak student will get low grades in Drama just as he will in Maths or Spanish. The real evidence coming out of these subjects in Guyana is that the same students who are considered bright and who excel in 12, 15 or more CSEC subjects are the same persons who do well in Drama.
When CXC introduced the subject Guyanese schools first took it up in New Amsterdam. It was a very promising development when the number of schools slowly increased to where it is today. More teachers developed the programme in their schools and this has been more pronounced among teachers who graduated from the National School of Theatre Arts and Drama (NSTAD). Training has played as important a role as interest in the subject.
Going along with this has been the work of the Unit of Allied Arts in the Ministry of Education, which has been given responsibility for Theatre Arts and Performing Arts. The Unit has taken steps to ensure that teachers are trained and keep up with proficiency in theatre practice. They have worked along with the NSTAD in annual summer workshops which soon transformed into giving teachers access to courses and certificates offered by NSTAD. This has helped in the increase of schools doing the subject.
However, progress within a number of schools has not been promising. Drama teachers have consistently complained about discouraging attitudes. Opposition comes from parents. They do not regard Drama as a subject of importance or one that serves any useful purpose. They do not see it as a career or as an income earner or a subject with the same prestige as physics. To them it is inferior, they fail to see it beyond an extracurricular past-time and do not approve of their children wasting time on it.
Opposition also comes from other teachers. Some of them are parents themselves with the views summarised above. They carry the attitudes over into their role as teachers and do not encourage students at the schools where they work to take Drama. Of course, the perceptions trickle down to students themselves, some of whom share those misconceptions.
Resistance comes from principals and Heads. Those who allowed the schools to enter students for Drama still disregard it and have difficulty seeing it as a normal subject. What is given with one hand is taken back by the other. The most common repeated complaint from drama teachers is that Drama is left entirely out of the regular time-table. In a few cases, it is included, but only for one session or two for the week, which is far from adequate. Teachers have to find time outside of regular school hours to teach Drama. Added to the inconvenience and the negative repercussions, is the burden of having to seek permission for late hours and weekends.
A closer examination of the drama syllabus will exhibit its strengths as a subject of study. One of the things that set it apart from other subjects is that grades can be improved where the student is talented in performance, in acting, or in voice. There is room for a creative person to excel. But there are still skills in these areas that will only be acquired through training and practice. Creativity has to be applied to specific tasks and still requires the intellectual ability to interpret. A student still has to learn something. There are several skills of stage craft that have to be learnt.
Added to those, is the very important and demanding area of research. At all levels research is demanded. In Theatre Arts, students have to research cultural forms, for example. This will involve going to communities, the high task of primary field research or otherwise gleaning information that the student will only get by seeking it. They have to research theatre personalities or practitioners, interview them and create biographical studies. They are called upon to see performances/productions and write critical reviews of them. All of these are very high intellectual skills that students do not gain from several other subjects.
These students have to participate in playmaking, turning a situation into a plot to be rendered on stage, which requires obtaining knowledge of the stage. The plays developed are often designed to express a cultural form, so students have the difficult academic task of making a play out of material researched about a cultural tradition.
In Performing Arts, students may chose to do management and are called upon to earn to manage and execute a production on stage. Or they may learn to research and design a business project. Depending on their chosen options, they may have to conceptualise a project, in business, on stage or on film, advertise it, or use cinematographic techniques to articulate a problem and educate an audience. None of these demanding tasks can be deemed subjects for weak students, and all of them teach the students things that they will not learn in other more highly regarded subjects.
Another issue in some schools is that there appears to be the feeling that anyone can teach drama, which calls for no studied skills. Drama classes are, therefore, sometimes foisted upon persons with no competence in the area. Today in Guyana there should be no shortage of competent drama teachers because of the NSTAD, where there are relevant programmes.
A large part of the problem is already addressed in the recognition that drama is a subject worth doing in schools and worth training teachers for. But the more difficult impediment is that it will take much more to change the attitudes towards the subject that still prevail.
