By Rae Wiltshire
Latiefa Agard was 11 years old when she became interested in acting. She recalled that her mother was combing her hair when they heard a promo for Simone Dowding’s Purple Arts Production’s annual Children’s Drama Workshop and her mom asked if that was something she would be interested in. “Yes,” was her reply. She then attended the workshop every year until she turned 17 and no longer qualified due to her age.
The world of acting was Agard’s to explore. “I was no longer Latiefa, I was somebody else and you get to bring to life a whole new character and I think that is what just kept me going. It was fun for me,” the now 20-year-old Agard said. “And then it was a great exposure because people who came to shows began to ask me to appear in many advertisements and that was also part of the motivation.”
She realised that she had a talent for drama and the confidence to be on stage. She explained that theatre is an amalgamation of artforms and they all help in the illusion for her to disappear into a role. There are the lights, sets, costumes and of course the audience which give her the energy to transform on stage.
Agard’s peers have also played an instrumental part in her development. She recalled her first performance at the National Cultural Centre was in Ronald Hollingsworth’s “Til Ah find Ah Place Part II”, which was directed by Sheron Cadogan-Taylor. Agard was 15 and a student at St Rose’s High School. She was cast alongside veteran actors like Mark Luke-Edwards, Sonia Yarde and Michael Ignatius. It was a memorable and transformative play for Agard. She said the cast was generous in imparting their knowledge and she gained a new respect and appreciation for the craft of acting.
Agard played an 11-year-old who was caught in the middle of parental fighting and the play explored how such an event affected a young child. In his review, literary critic Al Creighton said, “Truly impressive was the part of the daughter played by Latiefa Agard.”
Agard said that during her stint the actors helped her to dive deeper into her characterisation and helped her to become the character and fully inhabit the child’s feelings by internalising the role she was playing.
Another notable role for Agard was playing an unborn child in Professor Paloma Mohamed’s Guyana Prize winning play “Duenne” and being directed by Henry Muttoo. Agard explained that she learnt the importance of research when inhabiting a role and so for this role she did a lot of research on the folklore character ‘douen’, which is a young child who died and tries to lure children into the forest until they are lost. Her character in the play was witty and inquisitive, and was trying to form a relationship with her mother, who was trying to abort her. She said that during her process Muttoo would often ask probing questions and challenge her to think about what she was doing. She recalled him saying that the actors are important vessels because they are telling life stories and this is an important and valued task.
Agard explained that Muttoo imparted a wealth of experience and knowledge and that she will cherish the time spent working on “Duenne”. It was the first time Muttoo had returned to Guyana and directed a play since leaving in 1976.
“… I think Latiefa is a talent and Guyana must nurture her and get her a scholarship,” Muttoo said at the Theatre Guild’s Creative Spirit Awards on April 1st 2023.
“I was beyond honoured because for Mr Muttoo to say something like that… It shows that I have potential and that people are seeing potential in me and therefore I as a person need to push. I need to continue and you know, do better and take every opportunity that I have,” Agard said, when Stabroek News asked her about Muttoo’s comments.
Agard had also played a young Letitia Wright who was telling her parents that she wanted to become an actress. She admits that it is very close to her own life because she has aspirations of becoming an internationally recognised actress but the difficulty was playing the role in front of the subject. Nevertheless, it was an experience that she enjoyed.
Currently, Agard is starring in three plays for the Theatre Guild’s One Act Festival. She sees this as an opportunity to hone her craft because the plays are all different and her roles are different from any other she has played before, which were children being affected by parental domestic fighting.
The plays are “Fashion Cuts” which is written and directed by Frederick Minty. “Before Her Parting” which is written by Mosa Telford and directed by Colleen Humphrey. And “Keeping Up”, written by Brandon Singh and directed by Anastacia Shako Van-Tull.
Agard is still young in her acting journey. “I just really hope that the opportunities are there for me to perform my craft to the best of my ability and then give back because a lot of people have been giving to me and I have been receiving a lot of things with my arms open,” she said.
