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.