CARIFESTA Secretariat, Georgetown, Guyana) Students who enrolled for the CARIFESTA Technical Theatre Training Programme which commenced in early June  completed phase two of their training by staging three plays at the National Cultural Centre last weekend. It was lights, sound, make-up and action for those who underwent classes in acting, lighting, set designing and construction, sound, directing, make-up and other theatre disciplines.

The trainees, divided into twelve companies, presented the plays  ‘Makantali’, ‘Moon on a Rainbow Shawl’, ‘The Legend of the Silk Cotton Tree’ and ‘For the Love of Aidana Soraya over the period Saturday 9 to Sunday 10 August. At the end of the productions, for which the students were assessed based on the training, Artistic Director of CARIFESTA X, Dr. Paloma Mohamed deemed them a resounding success.

“I was in tears there in the audience as I witnessed what was displayed by each company in such a short period of time. This shows your strength and that you are capable of working in a crisis,” Dr. Mohamed said.

For the next few days as preparations heighten for Guyana’s hosting of CARIFESTA X continues, the technical theatre company members will be working closely with the international contingents as they arrive as well as Guyana’s local theatre members. This will mark the third and final stage of the training programme following which they will all be certified.

In summing up last weekend’s productions, Dr. Mohamed expressed gratitude to the trainers of the technical theatre training. She also thanked the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Inter American Development Bank (IDB) for funding the training exercise. Kudos was also extended to those who worked along with the students especially in the areas of costume management and design.

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Story by Marcey Parker

CONTACT: 

Carolyn Walcott

Media Coordinator-CARIFESTA Secretariat

91 Middle Street

Georgetown

Guyana

Tel :( 592)225-0337; 225-9840, 225-9845

Email: carolyn.walcott@carifesta.net