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Rhythmic Voice: A Night of Poetry
Nov 01, 2009 Features / Columnists, Guyanese Literature
By Petamber Persaud
Plant the poetry of the masters in the lap of consummate performers, place them in an intimate performing venue and the result is an unforgettable evening of poetry.
That was what happened at the Theatre Guild production of ‘Rhythmic Voices; A Night of Poetry’ staged on Thursday October 15, 2009, coinciding with the original date of World Poetry Day.
(World Poetry Day was originally set for the third Saturday in October but by 1951 it was established that October 15 would be the ideal date. This was so for many decades.
However, in 1999, UNECSO declared March 21 as World Poetry Day. The idea for World Poetry Day was birthed in 1936 by Tessa Sweezy Webb.)
The night of poetry started with yours truly performing ‘Sell Me’ by Nicholas Guillen, National Poet of Cuba, and ‘Won’ [One] by the world famous Surinamese poet and elocutionist, R. Dobru. The poetry of both men focused on the fundamental rights of man, equality, unity and nationalism; themes that mirrored their respective societies, but also bore universal relevance.
Guillen stated that no one owns the air, sky, the water, the land, – they are for the benefit of all even if as stated by Dobru we are of many hair types, many skin colours, many tongues, we are one people.
Ron Robinson’s portrayal of Walcott’s ‘A Country Club Romance’, and Victor Questel’s ‘Judge Dreadword’ were entertaining and sobering. ‘Judge Dreadword’ was of special relevance to the evening in that the poem dealt with the murdering of the English language – ‘I wring words by the rough of their necks/I misplace commas and abuse silent W’s. I use folk/lift to get from one idea to the next’ therefore ‘insensitive word merchants like you/must be punished’. Ian McDonald’s ‘The Sun Parrots are late this year’ was ominously executed by Russell Lancaster, a timely and brutal reminder of how we are shooting ourselves in the foot in respect to the dreadful impact of climate change.
The sober pieces were balanced with the performances of pieces like ‘Mout tax’ by Louis Bennett (Jamaica) – Rudo Blair had the audience in stitches; ‘Let dogs delight’ (Anonymous) performed by little Joshua Richmond who travelled from Berbice, did his piece and returned, all in one turn; ‘Bad Mood’ by George Braithwaite; and ‘Pan Rap’ by Paul Keens Douglas (Trinidad & Tobago) performed by Henry Rodney and group was a fitting and audience-engaging end to the evening.
Other sterling performances came from Jonathan Adams (‘It Seems’), Kelton Jennings, Clemencio Goddett, Jennifer Thomas (‘A Guyanese Madwoman’), Isha Shaw (‘Born with style’), Tivia Collins (‘August Rain’), Gerald Gilkes, Lynyus Adams, Kojo McPherson, Kanini Fyfe, Francis Bailey and Charlene Wilkinson (‘To his coy mistress’) among others.
There were varying techniques employed to add flavour and mood. The combination of Gerald Gilkes/Lynyus Adams doing ‘Essequibo is Ours’ was impressive. Costuming also played a major role in pieces like ‘Born with Style’ (Isha Shaw) and ‘Care this life’ (Kelton Jennings).
Special mention must be made of a number of children who took to the stage with aplomb, regurgitating and articulating their pieces (‘Education is Essential’, ‘Substance within’ and ‘You are a star’) with ease.
The Theatre Guild production of ‘Rhythmic Voices; A Night of Poetry’ staged on Thursday October 15, 2009, was an unforgettable evening of great poetry and great performances despite poor audience attendance. But as coordinator of the event, Simone Dowding, said when we had our huddle the show must go on whether it was an audience of one or one hundred and one.
Responses to this author telephone (592) 226-0065 or email: oraltradition2002@ yahoo.com
WHAT’S HAPPENING:
• Casa de las Americas will be hosting ‘The First Encounter of Caribbean Magazines’ in November 2009 to coincide with its 50th anniversary. Presentations on Guyanese magazines with emphasis on The Guyana Annual (formerly The Chronicle Christmas Annual) will be made by yours truly.
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