By Charminae George
Thespians of four drama groups are set to take the stage in tonight’s ‘A Night of Theatre’, which promises to be a showcase of talent at the UWI Five Islands auditorium, free to the general public.
Starting at 8pm, the National Youth Theatre, Sugar Apple Theatre, Dramalites and the Honey Bee Theatre will perform excerpts from plays to be debuted in the future over the course of the event’s two hours.
Owen Jackson, founder of the National Youth Theatre, told Observer yesterday about the theatre group’s piece, ‘Voices and Pain’.
“This piece highlights some of the issues affecting young people in Antigua today that they feel that they don’t have anyone to speak to about…issues like molestation,” he explained.
Jackson mentioned that the piece is expected to invoke feelings of sadness and as a result a decision was made to schedule the performance first, with remaining humorous pieces by the other theatre groups following after.
Additionally, ‘Covid Saga’, directed by Jamian Benta and performed by the Dramalites, will appear third in the line-up after a presentation by the Sunny Dale Dancers and the Sugar Apple Theatre.
“It’s basically a family home…where the father believes in Covid but at the same time is against the vaccine,” Benta shared.
The National Youth Theatre was founded in 2005 by director and playwright, Owen Jackson. It aims to develop and promote talent in young people who have a yearning for theatre, according to Jackson.
Dramalites, a separate theatre group from CHSS Dramalites, was founded in 2021 by Jamian Benta. The group’s motto is ‘Words are meaningless without action’, and its aim is to shed light on social issues teenagers face.
The Honey Bee Theatre and the Sugar Apple Theatre are managed by Zahra Airall. According to Jackson, the Honey Bee Theatre will be performing a historical fiction piece surrounding Indian Town. However, efforts to contact Airall yesterday for more information were unsuccessful.