The Caribbean, and Guyana, has lost one of its most distinguished theatrical voices. Ken Corsbie, the beloved Guyana-born actor, storyteller, director, and broadcaster, passed away on February 3, 2025, at the age of 94, at his home in the United States, where he had been residing for several years with his wife, Elizabeth— known to close friends as Beth.
Speaking with Stabroek News, theatre producer and longtime colleague, Gem Madhoo-Nascimento recalled Corsbie’s contributions to the arts. She noted that Corsbie had been in declining health in recent years following a stroke that affected his speech. While he recovered to some extent, it impacted his ability to communicate, and in recent years, he had largely stepped away from the stage. “He was no longer active, no longer performing,” Madhoo-Nascimento said. “The last time he performed in Guyana was just after Carifesta 2009, when I brought him back for a one-man show at the Theatre Guild. That would have been the last time he was on stage here.”
Corsbie, a man of immense talent and charisma, leaves an indelible mark on Caribbean theatre. His name will be synonymous with the golden era of Caribbean stage performance, particularly the 1970s, when ‘Dem Two’, consisting of him and longtime collaborator Marc Matthews, took the region by storm with their groundbreaking spoken-word and performance. Together, they redefined Caribbean storytelling, blending humour, satire, and sharp social commentary in a way that resonated deeply with audiences. Though Corsbie had been absent from the local theatre scene for some time, his influence remains deeply felt.
Corsbie’s career spans decades, and his work helped shaped a distinctly Caribbean voice in performance. Beyond ‘Dem Two’, he was director, producer, and mentor, involved in various theatrical initiatives across the region. He worked with Banyan Productions in Trinidad, directed plays in Barbados, and was a key figure in the Theatre Information Exchange (TIE), a groundbreaking institution that aimed to connect and document Caribbean theatre movements. Before he became a Caribbean theatre giant, Corsbie made his mark in Guyana as a broadcaster, journalist, and radio personality.
His early career saw him behind the microphone at the Guyana Broadcasting Corporation, where his voice became a familiar presence to many. He was also known for his one-man performances, appearing on stage at the Theatre Guild Playhouse under the moniker ‘He One’, before teaming up with Matthews. His contributions did not go unrecognized.
Corsbie was the recipient of numerous accolades, including the Golden Arrowhead of Achievement, as well as several awards in Barbados, where his work left a lasting impact. Among his many recognitions was the Earl Warner Trust Lifetime Achievement Award in 2016, a testament to his enduring influence in Caribbean theatre and culture. As news of his passing spreads, the local arts community is only beginning to process the loss. When asked if there were any plans for a tribute, Madhoo-Nascimento admitted that it was still too soon to say. “Ken had been out of circulation in Guyana for a long time,” she noted. “But I’m sure many who knew him and worked with him will want to remember and celebrate his legacy.”
In a 2020 tribute to Corsbie, Stabroek News Arts Editor, Al Creighton wrote: “Corsbie is among those whose work helped to advance Caribbean performances, which properly took off on the formal mainstream stage in the 1970s. It is in this area that his most enduring interventions during his long and varied career on stage exist. It is here that his work most meaningfully altered the form and trends of stage performance out of all the roles he has been playing”.
He said that the Corsbie-Matthews combination not only characterised, but helped to concretise, popularise, and demonstrate the rise of most of the factors described above. “Dem Two” was popular.
“They commandeered the imagination of the entire West Indies. They therefore provided popular entertainment without adding to the kind of dichotomy that was developing between popular theatre and what was seen as serious theatre. The rapid rise of comedy and comic performances met fierce disapprobation from some quarters and critics charged them as shallow and cheap laughter.
“One of the achievements of Corsbie and Matthews in “Dem Two” was that they won the acclaim of both camps. They brought together the intellectual strength of performance, put material on stage that contained some depth, and entertained with humour and pieces to which a popular audience could relate. This was not far from the kind of success that a new and rising Paul Keens Douglas had begun to achieve around the same time. “Dem Two” blended the old and the new. They retained a touch of vaudeville and stand-up comedy, while adding folklore. However, they mixed styles and forms, and introduced modernism in a way that could hold the interest of a critical, discerning audience looking for depth. And they reinforced creole language performance.
Corsbie and Matthews demonstrated the newly contending Caribbean performance which mixed and made effective a combination of indigenous traditions. Dance was missing, and they used some recorded music, but they drew famously on story-telling traditions, audience interaction, stand-up comedy, and performance poetry when it was still very young in addition to the promotion of the literary works. A part of their appeal was the way they brought West Indian literature to life”, Creighton said.
