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Arts & Culture Last Updated: Feb 13, 2017 - 1:45:37 AM


Free performance of moving play, "Gun Boys Rhapsody" in Freeport Jan 14th
By Ian Strachan
Jan 13, 2017 - 11:06:55 AM

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Freeport, Grand Bahama - A dynamic blend of pathos, humor and satire, G un Boys Rhapsody is a work of theatre that centers around the murder of a high school teenager named TK and the domino effect this one act of violence has on the lives of several other individuals connected to him.  The piece explores the roots of delinquency, gang culture and violent crime in Bahamian society.  

Writer/Director Ian Strachan created Gun Boys to explore the price of violence in Caribbean societies. The impact is huge but the public conversation about crime focuses narrowly on policing and on punishment.  Gun Boys Rhapsody looks at the impact violence has on the lives of victims and on the breeding ground of violent crime: inequality, neglect, and abuse.

With a talented cast, audiences are compelled to consider their own roles in creating communities where so many feel marginalized, alienated, disempowered and unloved.

Audiences have been deeply moved by the production, which features stand out performances by Valene Rolle, Jonico Pratt, Esther Louis and others.

Emille Hunt, who plays the mortician Lucius Dean in the play, has seen violence in our public schools up close. He taught English at CV Bethel for many years and vividly remembers when a boy was stabbed on campus and he had to take him to the clinic next door before his lung collapsed. “We live in a society where people just lash out when they don't have the tools to deal with all the pressures they face,” he says.  Hunt says “Gun Boys” starts the conversation we need to have.

After each performance the cast and audience participate in a discussion about the show and the issues it raises.  These conversations have proven just as transformative as the show itself.  In fact, thanks to the dialogue after the show one attendee helped the theatre company win an anonymous $50,000 grant to hold free performances so that more people in New Providence and Grand Bahama can experience the show.

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“In all my years as an artist, I have never experienced such an amazing act of generosity,” says playwright/director, Ian Strachan.  “It is a huge vote of confidence in what art can really do for our people, to heal us, to inspire us and to bring us together. This grant has done a lot to restore my faith in my gifts and the life path I've chosen. And it has inspired the younger artists in this show to dream big.”

A free performance of Gun Boys Rhapsody will be held at the Regency Theatre on Saturday night, January 14th at 8pm.  

If you'd like to learn more about Gun Boys Rhapsody and about future performances you can contact Ceiba Arts at 427-4464 or email ceibalearning@gmail.com.


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