Last week’s 1823 Bi-Centennial Cultural Festival and Concert, one of a series of theatrical events staged by the Government of Guyana to commemorate the 185th Anniversary of Emancipation and the 200th Anniversary of the 1823 Demerara Slave Rebellion, stimulated a brief analysis of African-derived performance traditions and venues in the Caribbean. These included traditional enactments of the street with folk performances reflecting the fear factor and devil mas influenced by customs brought from Africa or evolved in the Caribbean after emancipation.
Several of these are based on a varied and complex range of belief systems and mythical associations that are rich and fascinating. Today’s continuation pays a little attention to some beliefs and myths, noting this is a wide cultural field in the Caribbean, and in honour of the August emancipation theme, mostly restricting focus to African derivations.