Purple Arts Production’s nine-week children’s workshop, which commenced on July 2, culminates on stage at the Theatre Guild, Kingston, Georgetown tonight with a grand performance by the 22 attendees.
The event, Emerge 9, begins at 18:00hrs and will see performances of various dramas which were scripted and directed by children between the ages of nine and 16 years old.
According to Founder of Purple Arts Production Simone Dowding, the disciplines of drama which were taught to the children during the workshop guided them into creating their own scenarios and as such, they were also able to direct most of the plays on their own.
Tonight’s programme includes a signature play, spoken words and free plays. The signature play is basically the main play which will evoke the strongest and the main message of the entire night, spoken words are unrhymed poems which give exact details of a story and the free plays are a series of skits.
“The plays are short skits which the children themselves have written. One of the signature plays was written by the class of 2014 and it is also called the sliding floor [which has] different issues the children cover. It has social issues like peer pressure, the minibus culture, and much more,” Simone explained.
Some of the dramas will also address garbage and littering, slavery and freedom, drugs as well as other issues. One poem, “See no Evil Hear no Evil”, Simone said, brings awareness to the children about the slipping of illegal drugs into one’s bag, or drinks, an issue which continues to affect the school system. It teaches them to always be aware of their environment, especially when they are out.
She said part of the workshop content differed this year as she aimed at teaching the children to perform with only one module.
“They’re using modules. I have introduced to them modules that they can use anywhere, meaning that if their prop is supposed to be a bed, they can take that same bed and turn it into a sofa. They can take one of the modules and turn it into a table, they can turn it into anything they want to. I’m preparing them to do street theatre, so that they can perform anywhere,” she expounded.
Every year, the workshop seeks an intern from the University of Guyana, and this year has been no different. The intern who was also taught the exact disciplines as the children will also be performing various pieces at the event.
The disciplines taught at the workshop were costume and stage management, playwriting, directing, acting, property or props management and building self-esteem.
Purple Arts Production is an award winning group, which designs a drama workshop every year for two months, creating a safe space for children to channel their energies and talents and keep them off the streets.
