It is generally not easy to get reliable information about cultural performances early in the previous century in order to reconstruct historical records. We are therefore very pleased to be able to reprint reviews and first-hand accounts of dramatic performances and cultural events during the period 1946 – 1947 in Georgetown, British Guiana. These are precious documents with priceless information about the theatre, especially, and about the several cultural clubs that mushroomed in the colony between the 1920s and 1940s. Among them is the British Guiana Dramatic Society (BGDS), led by Alice Bhagwandai Singh.
The accounts are taken from Kyk-Over-Al Vol 1 Issues 4 – 5, June to December, 1947, edited by A J Seymour. We are indebted to the Guyana Classics Library Series edited by David Dabydeen and Lynne Macedo and published by the Caribbean Press in 2013 for their reprint of the early volumes of Kyk-Over-Al. These were among several Guyana Classics, important publications most of which had gone out of print.
Among the invaluable pieces is a review by Eric Roberts of the play Jamaica Joe by Norman E Cameron. It is of historic interest because of what it tells us about the period of the 1940s in terms of Guyanese theatre. Cameron founded modern Guyanese drama after 1931 when he set about writing plays to show black people in a positive or heroic light in order to counter negative and pejorative notions. He produced a series of plays set in Africa, but one significant drama, Jamaica Joe, was based on the annual seasonal migration of Jamaican workers to Florida and Panama. Very interesting is the mention that Cameron donated $48.59 to the Union of Cultural Clubs out of the proceeds from performances of the play.
Of historic interest as well, is the note on the performance of the play Savitri by the BGDS. According to the records, Savitri might be the only local play done by the BGDS despite their prolific activities and performances. The play is attributed to playwright Basil Balgobin during a period when few outstanding local Guyanese plays can be found.
Among the important references in these accounts are the reports of the work of dancer Helen Taitt, who was an outstanding Guyanese ballerina, choreographer, playwright, director and the lone woman poet of note whose work appeared in Kyk-Over-Al. Her family was famous for Woodbine House as a virtual cultural centre.
Concert Notes
Europe in the Seventeenth Century
By Eric Roberts
On June 2, 1947 at YMCA Hall the ‘Evening with the Seventeenth Century in Europe’ made an effort to present history as it should be taught in one rounded whole. . . . a presentation by the BG Union of Cultural Clubs.
Mr H V Taitt lectured on the musical trends of the century – the development of opera, the work of Lully, Monteverdi and Scarlatti, the English songwriters Orlando Gibbons and Dowland and that great composer, Purcell. There was then played a piano solo by Scarlatti, ‘Sonata in F Major’.
Mr E N Burrowes lectured next on the art of the century. He used the epidiascope lent by the British Council to show illustrations on his talk from Rembrandt to Jan Steen, which stressed the domination in art of the Dutch school.
The French playwrights at the Court of the Grand Monarch Louis XIV dominated the latter half of the century but the other years had been in Europe the glorious flower of Shakespearean tragedy and such works as Bacon’s Advancement of Learning and Cervantes’ Don Quixote.
The great books written and read in the seventeenth century included works by Hobbes, Grotius, Descartes, Galileo, Spinoza and Locke.
The Georgetown Dramatic Club Choir sang two choruses, Lully’s ‘Lonely Woods’ and Purcell’s ‘Nymphs and Shepherds’.
A lecture on the Drama of the Century prepared by Mr D A Smooth of Queen’s College introduced a scene in English from Moliere’s Comedy ‘The Tradesman Turned Gentleman’.
Miss Margaret Lee of Bishops’ High School brought the evening to a close with a 5-minute summary of the century’s trends.
‘Jamaica Joe’: A critique
By Eric Roberts
On Saturday evening, September 7, 1946 the final curtains descended on ‘Jamaica Joe’ at Queen’s College, where an appreciative audience showed satisfaction with a continuous round of applause.
The play, written and produced by Mr N E Cameron, portrayed some interesting aspects of Caribbean life, the main theme centreing around Jamaica and the USA. It was well-written, the author distinguishing himself, with the inclusion of not only West Indian humour, but touching other prominent features, mainly cultural and political. The dialogue throughout commanded attention from the audience. The author has added to his library a truly vivid and inspiring drama, dedicated to Caribbean unity, between the two leading nations of this hemisphere. Mr Cameron has indeed exemplified himself as a playwright of distinction.
The acting ability of the players was of a good standard, and any attempt to distinguish an individual’s performance would be a difficult task. Each displayed complete mastery of his parts, an achievement brought about only through painstaking efforts during rehearsals. It is to be hoped that this cast of really good actors and actresses, will be brought more frequently to the public.
The scenery by young Neville Pestano formed the background of the play, and showed a combination of both seriousness and pride in the vocation of his choice. There is no doubt that should he receive encouragement within and without his home, his accomplishments may laurel British Guiana in the near future.
The stage manager apparently did his best, but there is one matter that I presume escaped his attention, and that was the occasional noise that occurred between scenes. In a play, the stage manager has the same importance as the author, and players; and in order to get the best results, smooth teamwork among those under his charge is an essential factor. The audience should at no time be distracted either during or after a scene, by such foreign agents as noise while removing furniture, or frequent trouble with the curtains.
The presentation of ‘Jamaica Joe’ is a success, and it is regrettable that its run was only three performances. Drama of this type can go a long way to foment the cultural life of this community, once it is brought within easy range of all those interested in pursuits leading to a more elevated status of Guianese culture.
Dance recitals (author unknown)
April and May saw two dance recitals within the same week in Georgetown, a concert-goer’s miracle.
Tanza Goyaz in her recital at the Metropole Theatre on April 24, interpreted with the aid of a truly impressive technique, the dance rituals and ceremonies of archaic peoples in South America. No one who saw the dance “The Serpent in the Temple” is likely to forget the supple glittering arm used as a herald, as the serpent rose out of the urn to report abundant crops to the sun-worshippers. In this, and other dances, notably “Mummy on a Spree”, Tanza used her unusual height to advantage to express the emotions of the characters.
That evening, every conceivable mishap occurred. The curtain went wrong, the seating, the lighting and it is a tribute to Tanza’s art and Jo Trent’s showmanship that the evening did not become a catastrophe.
Miss Goyaz is an artist and she was ably assisted by the young Trinidadian dancer Fay Mitchell. Jo Trent’s music based on the tone-patterns of the Aztec and other peoples, was specially composed for the dances.
At the Town Hall on May 1, 2, and 4, Helen Taitt presented ‘Dance Magic’.
Helen, an extremely talented young Guianese, composed her own choreography for the dances which ranged from the gently classical, to Tchaikovsky’s music, through Spanish and eastern modes to the savagely intense Javanese dances.
That dance caught the imagination of most. In ‘West Indian Rhythm’ Helen Taitt played rather than danced, so spontaneous it seemed.
Her brother, Horace Taitt, deserves a special mention for his poise and effortlessness. Cora Roberts also performed well.
British Guiana Union of Cultural Clubs
The union’s convention concluded with the dramatic evening held at Christ Church School Hall on Saturday, August 31 at 8.30 pm under the chairmanship of the President N E Cameron. This meeting was fairly well attended and the programme consisted of an anthology of dramatic scenes and monologues presented by member clubs of the union.
A one-act play, ‘The Red Owl’, was presented by the Georgetown Dramatic Club. Malvolio’s Monologue from ‘Twelfth Night’ by a member of Clubland, two monologues – ‘How Tom Sawyer Got His Fence Painted’, ‘How The Elephant Got His Trunk’ by a member of the Bishops’ High School Old Girls Guild; and scenes from ‘Savitri’ by the B G Dramatic Society.
