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2nd theatrical production of ‘From Whence We Came’ series set for Cultural Centre this weekend
(Kaieteur News) – In celebration of Guyana’s rich ethnic tapestry, GEMS Theatre Productions will be staging the 2nd installment in the ‘FROM WHENCE WE CAME’ series.
In for 2nd production, GEMS is teaming up with NRITYAGEET Dance Theatre for the ‘FROM WHENCE WE CAME- the Indian Experience’ slated to happen on March 14, and 15, 2026 at the National Cultural Centre. Their first production was held on January 11-13, 2025 depicting the Chinese Experience.
GEMS Theatre Productions’ Gem Madhoo
This year’s performance is based on the book written by Dr. Seeta Shah Roath entitled ‘Kisna-From whence we came, British India to British Guiana.’ Shah Roath did the historical research for the play which paints a vivid tapestry of the challenges met, sorrows endured, and fleeting joys through cultural and religious retentions, bringing to life the indomitable spirit of those who lived through this chapter of history.
It’s a story of survival, resilience, and the unyielding human spirit. At the same time, this play provides an educational journey through the whys, where, when, and how of the Indian Indentured System from British India to British Guiana and highlights important cultural retention patterns that led to becoming Indo-Guyanese and making important strides in building a strong multicultural Guyana.
The performance centers around young Indian men and women were brought into the Demerara Depot in Garden Reach, Calcutta of 1856, from whence they shared the arduous journey across two oceans to reach a strange land, strange people, and challenges never envisaged kidnapped, lured by high-paying jobs, and seeking refuge.
A full-length historical drama, it captures the geographical and human elements of the Indian Indentured System from British India to British Guiana.
It focuses on the accounts of circumstances surrounding deaths, beatings, conflicts, uprisings, and cultural retentions are real and not imagined. These accounts are woven within the story and become a part of the characters’ lives, challenges met, sorrows, and joys experienced.
A scene from rehearsal for the ‘From Whence We Came’ play set for the National Cultural Centre.
Set in the 1800s, events, places, people’s attitudes, and behaviours are as described by governors’ reports, newspapers, court records, other archival records, oral history, and transcripts of interviews with survivors and descendants of the system.
The protagonists are recruited in multiple ways and experience the long agonising wait at the depot in Calcutta. This is the place where the long arm of the law sometimes reaches, where marriages of convenience are common, medical examinations are not always as thorough as regulations require, and an attempt is made to acclimatise recruits to the kinds of food most often used on sailing ships carrying Indian labourers.
The protagonists’ lives show the composite experiences of the Indian indentured labourers.
Antagonists are the officers and agents of the East India Company, the exploitative planter class in British Guiana, the Creole police who were once slaves, and Indian drivers or field supervisors who, over years of acculturation, carried out the wishes of the planters and estate managers.
Often these drivers give way to greed and opportunistic endeavors that were not always in the best interest of their fellow Indians. Bullying and intimidation are not uncommon.
The play culminates with the storyteller recounting to students’ prominent figures in Business – Banking, Manufacturing, Agriculture; Politics; Education, Public and Civic, and other areas. The Grand finale includes Nadira Shah, M.S. of Nrityageet fame and popular international Guyanese chutney singer with the song – ‘Desi from Guyana’ backed by Berbice Delight chutney dancers.
Tickets to the play written by Dr. Seeta Shah Roath and directed by Sonia Yarde are available at$3,000 & $2000 at the Box Office of the National Cultural Centre.
There will be five school shows from 9.00a.m from Monday 16th to Friday 20th. All schools attending will be coordinated through the Ministry of Education.
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