Shakespeare in Paradise,
designed to be an annual international theatre festival that will place
The Bahamas on a global level, will soon be making its way to the stage.
Based on similar festivals such as Scotland’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe
and this region’s Caribbean Festival of Arts (CARIFESTA), this event
will take place in Nassau
October 5th-12th, 2009 at various local venues
including The College of The Bahamas, the National Art Gallery of The
Bahamas, The Hub, Graycliff and The Marley Resort.
Although the event is about
two months away, it has already received positive feedback from individuals
in the Bahamian cultural foreground. As poet and musician Patrick Rahming
has written,[NB1] <#_msocom_1> "We must commit resources
to create an environment rich with opportunities to share the uniqueness
of the Bahamas through the development of attractions.”
With a focus on making this
event the perfect opportunity to help boost the Bahamian cultural scene
as well as the economy, the weeklong extravaganza will not only increase
the appreciation and awareness of local and international theatre, but
also provide school visits, workshops, readings, seminars, student matinees,
and much more to the Bahamian community.
The festival will feature
three Bahamian productions and three international productions, all
of which have received critical acclaim in their hometowns. Plays will
be represented not only from The Bahamas, but from the United States,
Cayman, and Guyana.
Shakespeare’s
The Tempest
is the festival’s signature work. It was adapted for a Bahamian audience
by students of The College of The Bahamas under the guidance of Nicolette
Bethel, and will be co-directed by Trinidadian native Patti-Anne Ali,
known for her role of “Soomintra” in The Mystic Masseur, a Merchant-Ivory
Film, and Bahamian stage actor and acting coach Craig Pinder, who has
had major roles in such West End productions as Les Miserables and
Mamma Mia. Kim Brockington, known for her recurring TV roles in
Guiding Light and the West Wing, will perform her one-woman show
Zora, about the African-American folklorist Zora Neale Hurston.
Other productions include
One White One Black from Cayman, selected
shows by Ken Corsbie, a Guyanese-American performer and storyteller,
and Track Road Theatre’s productions of
Love in Two Acts and
Light.
The Shakespeare in Paradise
team openly welcomes the public to attend this event.
Special invitations
are sent out to students who are passionate about pursuing theatre as
a career to take full advantage of this one-week experience.
For more information about this
event visit:
www.shakespeareinparadise.org
YOU TUBE - Shakespeare In Paradise
Facebook: Bahamian Shakespeare
Facebook Fan Group: Shakespeare In
Paradise
Myspace:
www.myspace.com/
shakespeareinparadise
Twitter:
www.twitter.com/
shakespeareinparadise
W
ritten
by: Kencovia Ingraham B.A.
Ken Corsbie.The authentic
and complete Caribbean Storyteller, standup comic, poetry performer,
workshop leader... teller of folk tales, literary and personal stories.
He brings the sound, the sun and
the songs of the islands; he brings the rivers of the rainforest; he
brings the rhymes and rhythms; he brings thevoices and variety of the
Caribbean...
“
A
word to describe Ken
’
s work and its influence needs to be invented:
I suggest 'Caribbeanismo' - a mixture of Caribbean bloods and charisma.
”