Theatre in the Bahamas has been called the best in the Caribbean region by cultural guru Rex Nettleford. Certainly, during the 1970s, 1980s and the early 1990s, the productions coming out of the Dundas Centre for the Performing Arts, Nassau, under the leadership of Winston Saunders and Philip Burrows, were varied, ambitious and exciting. Bahamian theatre grew as the Dundas produced many original plays by Bahamian writers and provided Bahamian actors and technicians with excellent skills. I had the good fortune to become involved in the Dundas during its heyday, which took place between 1981 and 1995, during which time Dundas productions travelled to Barbados, San Francisco and Edinburgh. During my time at the Dundas, I acted, sang, and (my favorite) worked behind the scenes as stage crew and as a lighting and sound technician. The high points of my involvement at the Dundas came in 1990 when my play Powercut was produced, and in 1994, when I was closely involved in the mounting of the production Four Billion Circles. Sadly, the Dundas closed down the Repertory Season in 1998, and theatre in The Bahamas -- in Nassau, certainly -- has been floundering since.
|