Sterling contributions to theatre, broadcasting and scouting

Apr 19, 2009 News

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…make Ron Robinson a ‘Special Person’

“When one reaches my age and one can impact the young people and see something coming out of it, it’s a tremendous feeling and money can’t pay me for the satisfaction I get.”

By Nadia Guyadeen

This veteran broadcaster, actor and director is well known for his contributions to theatre, broadcasting and scouting in Guyana, but most know his face from appearances on the popular television show “Stretched Out Magazine” and hilarious performances in the “Link Shows.”
Sixty-three-year-old Ron Robinson, a father of two, grandfather of six and great grandfather of one (I’m sure he’s smiling) believes that he is selfish. Why? Because while he is making a contribution to his country, he gets great satisfaction out of it just because he is doing something that he loves with a passion.

“I think any good citizen’s objective must be their country. I remember (President) Kennedy saying ‘Ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country’ and I feel the same way. There are so many Guyanese that have gone down in the annals of history as having contributed to their country in a meaningful way, so I feel everybody should aspire to give something back,” he said.
That way, he added, one gets two forms of satisfaction, making a contribution to their country and satisfying one of their own personal ideals.

“So in doing it you get the satisfaction of doing something that you love.”
Robinson told this newspaper that the first thing he got into and is known for is theatre, which he became involved in as early as eight years old.
“I used to go to Smith’s Primary School in Hadfield Street and our house was in the next block going east and it overlooked the roadway, and I went home and made up myself like a clown using white yachting tube cleaner, painted my face and used my mother’s lipstick to paint my lips and nose.”
According to him, he stood by his bedroom window as children were passing and he waited until at least one of them spotted him.

Robinson added that when the first child spotted him he ducked. “So everybody was looking for this clown then I came up again and I did that for a while and I had about a couple hundred children outside my home looking for the clown and they didn’t know it was me so that was my first bit of drama that I can remember.”
He then continued to Queen’s College in Theatre and Drama and did some acting and directing and at the same time joined the scouts in 1956, after which he joined the Queen’s College cadets.
He says he was thinking of becoming a cadet officer but went into radio instead.

Robinson believes that many persons would be shocked to find out that in 1964 he was registered to go to Codrington College in Barbados to study priesthood for the Anglican church, but did not go through with it.
“As I keep telling people when the Lord said to me ‘what happen can’t I make a joke’ I turned back, because when the Lord tells you that, you turn back.”
He got into broadcasting and did recorded programmes with the Guyana Information Service in 1964, then started full time radio on August 1, 1965, and has been in the profession ever since.
Robinson also did a small stint at Barclay’s Bank (now GBTI) for a year then realized that it was not the profession for him, as well as another brief period in teaching.

Some of his other activities include scouting, as Robinson is now President of the Scout Association. He is a former president of the Guyana Motor Racing and Sports Club – a position he was elected to for three terms, and he also has an interest in building and flying model planes.
He said that they are about to start the Modelers Association of Guyana.
Robinson is also the project director for the well received Merundoi radio drama. He started the Theatre Company in 1981, and also brought into being Primetime Advertising, which is still in existence.
The Theatre Company only recently produced the 25th Link Show.
Robinson said that theatre and broadcasting has practically been his entire life. He also said that he loves acting so much that he even does it off stage.

“I would say theatre and broadcasting has filled my life over the years.”
He added that he has probably done over 200 productions so far, with the largest in his assessment being ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’ which was held at the National Cultural Centre in the 80s. “I did at the Theatre Guild ‘Pantomime’ a two-person play. I played one of the roles…That was a very memorable production but there have been so many good plays that I’ve been involved with over the years.”
Robinson is an executive member of the Theatre Guild and has directed the full length play since its resuscitation last year.

The Theatre Company has had many tours abroad as far as North America with the Link Show. “We also toured in 1982 with Smile Orange and so Theatre Company has a lot of experience with regard to theatrical productions and we’re the first registered professional theatre company in Guyana.”
“There is nothing more fulfilling than to watch a play you’ve directed and formed and motivated the cast… to see it come to fruition and see an audience appreciate it, for instance Link Show 25, and to get the reaction from the public that we’ve got it’s tremendous. I’ve set a record now, it’s the first time a play at the National Cultural Centre, including the Chinese Acrobats, has been attended by so many people and has done so many performances, because by the time we’re finished we would have done over 20 performances.”
According to him, no other production in the history of the Cultural Centre since 1972 Carifesta has ever done that.

“But I think the other thing that has given me great satisfaction and still does is broadcasting and I’m glad to see, and I’m hoping that I’ll be able to make an input to the careers of young broadcasters and help guide them on the right path, to do the right things, preparing for broadcasting in the right way and improving the standards of broadcasting in the whole, both radio and television.”
Robinson noted that when he started in radio there was no television here and they had a passion for what they did.

He said that he has endeavored over the years to maintain a standard in broadcasting and it is up to the public to say if he has succeeded.
Another first in his life, he added, was that he was the first person to present a television newscast in Guyana, produced by Enrico Woolford.
“The teleprompter was a sheet of newsprint handwritten. It was at the side of the camera and as I was reading the person would run it so that the line I was reading was close to the lens so that my eyes wouldn’t keep going up and down and that was something. I remember one afternoon the person dropped the news item and he was surprised that I finished the item before he could put it back up.”

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