“A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture, is like a tree without roots” – Marcus Garvey
On the weekend of the First and Second of March, the Dr. Michael Gilkes play ‘A Pleasant Career’ about Edgar Mittelholzer, the Caribbean’s first published author, was staged at the National Cultural Centre (NCC). What should have been a magnificent celebration of two sons of the soil who soared in the Arts world unfolded as a bittersweet occasion as relatively few persons – one conservative estimate suggests 300 or thereabouts – attended the two performances, which were held on Saturday evening and on Sunday afternoon, a one o’clock matinee to target school children.
Kudos are due to the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports for underwriting the entire cost of this production where no corners appeared to have been cut. It was the 115th production of GEMS Theatre Productions, which is spearheaded by Gem Madhoo, who has been involved in local theatre for several decades. It was brilliantly directed by Ron Robinson, the current doyen of the local drama scene, with assistance from the energetic Russell Lancaster. The set, which was designed by the renowned theatre stalwart Cayman-based Guyanese Sir Henry Mootoo, was brought to life by a dynamic group of actors, who hurtled the audience back into the epoch of the 1940’s, 1950’s and the 1960’s.
Attendees were greeted in the foyer of the NCC with a comprehensive display of the literary works of Mittelholzer, staged by the National Library, which is probably the only institution in the country with a complete collection of his extensive writings. The theatre guests, who paid a modest entrance fee of $2,000, received a complimentary programme. The eight-page playbill included the standard fare of pen pictures of the cast and the production crew, and programme notes. However, there was also an extensive note from the dramaturg, Mootoo detailing his challenges with the play, and a detailed bio of Dr. Juanita Cox, who is currently the leading authority on the life and work of Mittelholzer. The professionally produced handout, which can be likened more to a historical record than a simple theatre keepsake, also had a very detailed summary of Mittelholzer’s life by Dr. Cox, and a comprehensive list of his works, inclusive of the year of publication, the publisher and their location.
Edgar Austin Mittelholzer (1909 – 1965) overcame numerous obstacles, most notably streams of rejection letters from publishers, “to become the first of the Caribbean literati to make a pioneering and professional career out of writing novels” according to Dr. Cox. “The measure of his literary success can be deduced by the translation of several of his 22 novels into at least six European languages. Other published works include an anti-capitalist novella, a travel journal, an autobiography, numerous articles, short stories and poems. He was known at the height of his career to millions of English-speaking people across the world and viewed as [one of] ‘the hottest sellers in the paperback market’ with his books selling an average of 8,000 copies,” Dr. Cox further noted. Mittelholzer was the first person from the Caribbean to be awarded the esteemed Guggenheim Fellowship. At the time of the writer’s death in May, 1965, then British Guiana Prime Minister L.F.S. Burnham observed, “[Mittelholzer was] a great author who had done much to bring our art to the eyes of the world. [B]y his work the author had put British Guiana on the map,” quoted from Dr. Cox’s profile.
Michael Gilkes (1933 – 2020) was a prominent Caribbean academic, literary critic, playwright, director, poet and filmmaker. He was among the first order of Guyanese dramatists, a prize-winning poet, who made significant contributions to Guyanese literature, to the arts in the Caribbean, and earned a notable place in university circles in the West Indies, Guyana and the UK (Obituary – Michael Gilkes, SN, April 19, 2020). Gilkes’ play ‘A Pleasant Career’ won the 1992 Guyana Prize for Literature,
as a multi-layered piece of drama delves into the turbulent life of the writer. Gilkes, who possessed a lifelong passionate interest in Mittelholzer’s art, explores the amalgam of artistic genius and the human psyche under pressure. The playwright, according to Dr. Mootoo presents his subject, “as a complex, passionate, imaginative, ruthless and highly opinionated man.” Gilkes’ work is more than a simple biographical account of Mittelholzer, “it is a meditation on the burdens and ecstasies of creative life, reflecting broader themes of identity, legacy, and the sometimes cruel demands of artistic excellence,” as Lancaster observed in the Programme Notes. As the play approaches its climax, Gilkes makes several references to characters from Mittelholzer’s writings which could be bewildering to theatre goers unfamiliar with Mittelholzer’s works.
The play was an excellent production with the actors, producing brilliant performances traversing the human spectrum of emotion. Staged against a backdrop of several large photographs (approximately ten feet high and fifteen feet wide), the audience were transported into the past. One of the stunning stills setting the period tone was a shot of Water Street, New Amsterdam, Berbice, where Mittelholzer was born and spent his formative years. As Lancaster noted, “our vision was to evoke the vibrant yet conflicted spirit of the Caribbean. The set and the lighting have been designed to mirror the dual nature of Mittelholzer’s existence: moments of incandescent creativity interspersed with shadows of isolation and despair.” The appropriately costumed cast and the creative production crew certainly succeeded in this priceless performance in bringing Gilkes’ vision of Mittelholzer to life.
A magnificent production honouring the work of two of brightest stars was seen in person by so few is a tragedy in itself. Less than fifty school children seized the opportunity for the free tickets made available by the ministry. One can only wish that this production was captured for posterity by the camera crew in attendance. The apparent feeble excuse proffered that Mittelholzer is not included in the CXC syllabus only adds to the calamity. Literature teachers at high schools should have been promoting this production to such an extent that the Ministry would have been obligated to host another matinee, perhaps even two, on the following weekend. Which leads to the speculation of how many teachers are even aware of the significance of Mittelhozer’s works? Perhaps the time has come for Guyanese Culture to be added to the high school curriculum as a compulsory subject. Here, the creations of the likes of Mittelholzer, Martin Carter, Wilson Harris, Ivan Sertima, Roy Heath, Philip Moore, Stanley Greaves, Bill Rogers, Dave Martins, and Eddy Grant, to mention a few, can be appreciated and passed on to future generations.
In fifteen months’ time, we will be celebrating our Diamond anniversary as an independent nation. Culture wise, apparently, we have very limited interest or appreciation for our origins. Have we, as a nation, opted to stand on the precipice of a cultural abyss?
