12 students awarded Diplomas in Theatre Arts and Drama - at inaugural convocation ceremony
By Shirley Thomas, Wednesday, 30 October 2013, Source
President Donald Ramotar poses with the first batch of graduates of the National School of Theatre Arts and Drama at the National Cultural Centre.
THE National School of Theatre Arts and Drama on Monday evening held its inaugural convocation ceremony when 12 students were awarded Diplomas in Theatre Arts and Drama.
President Donald Ramotar congratulates Valedictorian Taneka Caldeira.
The ceremony was held at the National Cultural Centre and President Donald Ramotar performed the honours of presenting the diplomas and affixing medals on the lapels of the two best graduating students – Valedictorian Taneka Caldeira and runner-up Mark Luke-Edwards.
Graduates passing with credit were Lisa Adams, Natasha Azeez, Nirmala Narine and Melinda Primo-Solomon. Other graduates were Mikel Andrews, Keron Bruce, Latoya Kellman, Nickose Layne, Marissa Prima and Rae Wiltshire.
Special prizes were awarded for Best Performance in Acting – Marissa Primo, Best Student in Playwriting – Melinda Primo Solomon, Best Student in Production – Nirmala Narine, Best Student in Design – Natasha Azeez, Best Performance in Directing – Keron Duke.
Meanwhile, others among the distinguished gathering were Guest Speaker Dr. Hilary Browne, Programme Manager, Culture and Community Development, CARICOM Secretariat, who delivered the feature address; Mexican Ambassador to Guyana, His Excellency Francisco Olguin who also assisted in the presentation of diplomas; Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport, Mr. Alfred King, and Director of Culture, Dr. James Rose.
President Donald Ramotar congratulates second best performing student Mark Luke-Edwards
The National School of Theatre Arts and Drams was established in 2012 and officially launched on January 29, 2013. It was formally opened for classes on February 13, 2013, on the premises of the National Cultural Centre, under the management of Collette Jones-Chin with an initial enrolment of 26 students, reading for the diploma in Theatre Arts and Drama.
The school offers a two-year programme with certification at two levels: The Certificate in Theatre Arts and at the higher level, the Diploma in Theatre Arts and Drama, from which the 12 students graduated on Monday.
Administrator Margaret Lawrence outlined that the programme of studies includes academic courses, technical courses in theatre and practical experience. Tuition, she said, takes place over two academic terms (semesters) per year. The crowning achievements of the period of study are the stage productions, mounted by the students of the school, which are performed in public. Last August, students travelled to Paramaribo, Suriname to participate in Carifesta XI.
Additionally, five new plays were written by students in the Playwriting Course. Those are now in rehearsal for a public performance, directed by other students who studied the discipline of directing.
Students of the school were also tasked with going out to different secondary schools and communities to give advice and guidance to beginners seeking to produce plays for the upcoming National Drama Festival, slated for later this year.
Al Creighton, Director of Studies, who gave the 2013 report, noted that it is the first time that a formal academic institution has been established to train persons in the performing arts at the tertiary level – in Theatre Arts and Drama, in Guyana, following other regional countries such as Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and the Errol Barrow Centre at the University of the West Indies in Barbados.
The next step, he said, is to pursue a formal articulation for the students to have formal training in drama at the University of Guyana, first at the Associate Degree level, then a Bachelors Degree.
Creighton noted that the initial intake of students reading for the Diploma in Theatre Arts and Drama was 26, and the aim was to produce a cadre of graduates both academically and technically sound. However, some major difficulties were faced by students who were, in effect, pursuing a ‘full-time’ programme of studies, while being ‘part-time’ students. The programme proved to be rather intense and demanding. Classes were conducted in the evenings and at weekends, and the result was that the programme stretched the time available for other commitments.
This resulted in a high rate of failure, and a high drop-out rate, so that by the middle of the semester, there was more than a 50 percent dropout rate, since many students found it very exacting and opted out. The second semester, Creighton said, was intended to gear the participants for actual production in the theatre.
Against this backdrop, it was difficult to complete the 28 or 34 credits in order to qualify for the diploma. It was an extremely demanding experience, Creighton noted.
“Albeit, the end product … What we see here is a corps of theatre practitioners with competence in a range of things. It must be pointed out that what the students have been pursuing and have just completed was a ‘full-time’ programme of studies, while being ‘part-time’ students,” he said.
Meanwhile, Dr. Hilary Brown, in her feature address, congratulated the graduating class, while also congratulating the Government of Guyana on establishing the school and setting in motion a process that can help to increase the number of persons qualified in Theatre Arts and Drama in Guyana, while expanding the available educational options in this area.
Dr. Browne saw this move as evidence of delivering at the national level on the commitment made by many CARICOM Governments to put more emphasis on the development of cultural and creative industries in the region.
“But while we applaud this important step, we recognise that there is a lot more work to be done,” she said. Dr. Browne pointed out that the “Regional Development Strategy for Development of the Cultural Industries in CARICOM, now in place and which was approved by Ministers of Culture in 2012, is calling for a number of important actions, including:
* The establishment of arts education as part of the core curriculum in primary and secondary schools and not as ‘extra-curricular’.
* Establishing a pilot Performing Arts High School in every member state.
* Addressing the specialized training needs of persons in the cultural industries, by placing emphasis on training in cultural entrepreneurship in the business of the arts, and not only on the artistic and the technical, where traditionally there has been the most emphasis.
* Offering more short term professional development programmes and facilitates exchanges, artistic in residence and other such capacity-building programmes.
* Developing a Regional Registry of Arts to provide the basis on which artists will receive incentives such as duty exemptions on inputs for their work; and better facilitating access to benefits under the CARICOM Single Market and Economy and the Economic Partnership Agreement.
* Improving and expanding infrastructure within training institutions for arts education and for commercial presentation of the arts.
Dr. Browne urged that there is need to take up the charge to establish sustainable national and regional associations of artists to lobby governments and the private sector to support establishing the enabling environment and creation of the necessary infrastructure to ensure the continued growth and development of the arts.
Against this backdrop, she assured the graduates that there is recognition by all governments in the region that the culture sector, of which they are an important part, presents real possibilities for sustained growth and development of Caribbean economies.
On a positive note of encouragement, she concluded, “Guyana and her Caribbean neighbours have produced many world renowned actors, playwrights, directors, writers, musicians, singers and other artists, and have inspired the global imagination with the richness of our cultural expressions.”
And Colonel Linden Ross, in his charge to the graduates, urged them to see their success as a road under construction. He called on them to be determined and focused while setting achievable goals, even as they continue the process.