Nassau, Bahamas - The Bahamas Historical Society will be hosting both Nicolette Bethel and Philip Burrows to speak on the History of Theatre in Bahamas at their next meeting on Thursday, 27^th May at 6pm.

The talk will take place at our museum corner of Shirley Street and Elizabeth Avenue Parking at the ex Psilinakis car park north of the museum on Elizabeth Ave.  Entrance via First Caribbean Bank on Shirley Street.

Part I – A historical account of theatre in The Bahamas to 1981 – delivered by Nicolette Bethel

N icolette Bethel was born and raised in Nassau, Bahamas, where she currently resides. She has lived, studied and worked in the UK and Canada. She served as Director of Culture for five years, and left to become a cultural activist. She is a playwright, poet, fiction writer and anthropologist. She holds a PhD and an MPhil in Social Anthropology from the University of Cambridge and a BA from the University of Toronto, and is a researcher in the fields of Bahamian national identity and of Junkanoo.  She is the editor of Junkanoo: Festival of The Bahamas (Macmillan Caribbean, 1991), excerpted from E. Clement Bethel's M.A. thesis on Bahamian music.  Her 1990 play Powercut was made into an independent film and released by Plantation Pictures in 2001; in 2008, her second play, The Children's Teeth, was produced in Nassau to critical acclaim. 

Her essays, poetry, and plays have been widely published. In 2008, she self-published Essays on Life, Vol I:  the first fifty and the script of The Children's Teeth through Lulu.com, and in 2009, she began tongues of the ocean, an online journal of Bahamian and Caribbean literature, established the Day of Absence observance in honour of artists and cultural workers, and, with Ringplay Productions, founded Shakespeare in Paradise, an annual festival of theatre in Nassau.

Philip A. Burrows (Director/Teacher/Actor). Is a graduate of the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and the National Theater Institute at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center. He was the Artistic and Resident Director of the Dundas Repertory Season from its beginning in 1981 through 1997. Mr. Burrows left The Bahamas in 1997, for three years, to introduce and teach a Theatre Arts program at Lester B. Pearson College in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. Some of his directing credits include "Sweeney Todd", "The Rimers of Eldritch", "The Good Doctor", "The Foreigner", "Agnes of God" and "Six Degrees of Separation". In addition, he brought a number of original works to the Bahamian stage, most notably "You Can Lead A Horse to Water", "No Seeds in Babylon", "Powercut", "Father's Day", and "I, Nehemiah, Remember When...," Chapters One, Two and Three. In August 1991, he headed the contingent, of some thirty performers, which took part in the Edinburgh Festival Fringe where, under his direction, the first production of "Music of the Bahamas" was staged. That production was co-written, for the stage, by Mr. Burrows and his wife, Nicolette Bethel.

As an actor, he has appeared in Edward Albee's "Zoo Story" Neil Simon’s "The Odd Couple" and Lyle Kessler's "Orphans" in Nassau; and in New York, he played, among others, the role of 'Alton' in Lorraine Hansberry's "The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window". His first appearance at the Dundas was in 1976 as a member of the Nassau Amateur Operatic Society in "Hello Dolly" and then in 1977 he appeared in their production of "Finian's Rainbow". He later put his musical ability to work as co-director of E. Clement Bethel’s " Sammie Swain" and of the first Bahamian opera, "Our Boys"; of the latter he was also responsible, with Winston Saunders, for the libretto. For the Ministry of Tourism, he has directed five Cacique Award Ceremonies and wrote and directed "Bahamian Rhapsody" which was performed at The Apollo Theatre in New York.

He was responsible for the co-direction of the 20^th and 25^th "Anniversary of Bahamian Independence " productions staged on Clifford Park and he directed the 30^th, 32^nd and 34^th anniversary productions. Mr. Burrows also directed productions of "You Can Lead A Horse to Water" , in 1984, in San Francisco with the Eureka Theatre Company and co-director Richard Seyd, and again in 2005 at Grand Valley State University, in Michigan, with students from that institution. His television credits include "Quincentennial Update"; the Bahamian game show "Brainstorm", of which he was creator and executive producer; the television program "Guess Who’s Cooking" of which he was director, co-producer and editor; he served as producer for the video productions of "Music of The Bahamas", "The National Art Gallery ...  A Work of Art" and "The Bahamian Macbeth", and he has directed several commercials. Mr. Burrows has held numerous acting workshops, both in Nassau and in Freeport and in October of 2001 he made his film-directing debut with Plantation Pictures’ production of the Bahamian film "Powercut". Mr. Burrows has been responsible for the direction of over ninety productions, sixty-two of which are plays.

Our June talk:

Thursday 24^th June at 6pm – Alpheus Finlayson – From Vancouver to Athens: 50 years of Track and Field