Award winning local play, ‘Don’t ask me Why’ gets stunning stage production at NCC

Jul 13, 2025 News

Scenes from the award-winning local play, Don’t Ask Me Why (Akeem Powers)

(Picture Credit: Jamie Norville owner of Fusion Creative Studio)

Kaieteur News – The Ministry of Culture Youth and Sport hosted the eighth and final series of the Write to Stage project and the piece to close off this series was ‘Don’t Ask Me Why’ which was written by Guyanese filmmaker, Rae Wiltshire.

The play explores the concept of the Creator, and the piece was produced last Monday at the National Cultural Centre (NCC) where many gathered to witness the wonderful experience of words coming to life. Several top local creatives worked on making the stage production a success.

The play was directed by Wiltshire who also played one of the four main characters, assisting him along was his co-director, Ayanna Waddell. Alongside Wiltshire were costume designer and artist Roberto Teekah, MUA Dahlia Richmond and her team who were responsible for makeup and Randy Fredericks was tasked with set design, Akbar Singh was the Assistant Stage Manager.

Scenes from the award-winning local play, Don’t Ask Me Why (Picture Credit: Jamie Norville owner of Fusion Creative Studio)

(Picture Credit: Jamie Norville owner of Fusion Creative Studio)

Teekah praised the production team in a post via Facebook.

He said, “Working on this project has been incredibly rewarding. It has been a journey filled with new experiences, valuable lessons and the pure thrill of childhood dreams coming to life. Huge thanks to Rae, the Creative, for trusting me with bringing these characters to life.”

During an interview with The Waterfalls, Wiltshire said that the project was selected by the ministry from among plays that won the Guyana Prize.

According to Wiltshire, ‘Don’t Ask Me Why’ was written in 2016 and would have won the Guyana Prize in 2023. He added that the play is an absurdist comedy piece which means that it is not based on real life events, but it only mirrors certain aspects.

“I describe the play as an absurd, existential, tragic comedy…I wanted to explore what happens when someone takes on too much in life and what’s the repercussions of taking on too much,” the writer said.

Wiltshire told The Waterfalls that throughout the preparation, they were faced with minor challenges and because he was working with an experienced cast, they were able to overcome those challenges.

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Ayanna Waddell, Don’t ask me Why, local play, National Cultural Centre, Rae Wiltshire

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