New Play Festival is on

Kearn Samuel
Kearn Samuel

After a successful inauguration in 2016, the much anticipated New Play Festival is back for its second year, showcasing three plays which have never been staged before.

The first run began last Thursday to today and the second leg resumes on November 10 until November 12 at the Big Black Box, Murray Street, Port of Spain.

Saul Ramlal

This year’s festival will feature Tony Hall’s One from Ten Leaves Nought directed by Marcus Waldron with Rawle Gibbons as dramaturge; Toni Lima’s Bedbugs directed by Michailean Taylor, with Dr Helmer Hilwig as dramaturge, and Aryana Mohammed’s Sunrise Love to Sunset Hate directed by Che Rodriguez and with Ronald Amoroso as dramaturge.

One From Ten Leaves Nought is the story of some of the West Indies’ greatest statesmen, leaders, and artists. Hall imagines them in an in-between stagnant afterlife which they cannot leave. They find themselves in conflict and camaraderie, all the while wheeling around in wheelchairs. In this environment, the leadership of Trinidad and Tobago’s first prime minister is evident as time and again he emphasizes his vision for the West Indies and ponders his fate with a few close comrades.

Kevin Humphrey

Using The Mighty Spoiler’s 1953 calypso of the same name as a central theme, in Bedbugs, four street dwellers; Jabbers, Blues, Netty and Dollars, are free from the confines of modern society. Literally living outside the box, they maintain this sense of freedom through the lies they tell themselves and each other. But what will happen when someone dares to speak the truth?

In Sunrise Love To Sunset Hate, Milly, a model on the verge of retiring, is contemplating how to prepare for the new lifestyle change that awaits her. Meanwhile, her boyfriend, Frank, sees this as an opportunity for them to finally start their lives together in marriage.

Leslie-Ann Lavine

What effect will her chronic fear of growing old have on their continuing relationship?

Continuing its legacy of bringing together theatre practitioners of varying generations, the New Play Festival 2017 boasts of a diverse cast of 17 performers, ranging from popular award winning talents such as Cecilia Salazar, Gervon Abraham and Leslie-Ann Lavine, to new comer Saul Ramlal, who will be making his theatre debut.

Ceclia Salazar

The cast also includes Amanda McIntyre, Anjelica Pierre, Arnold Goindham, Errol Blood Roberts, Ifayomi Aluko, Kearn Samuel, Kevin Humphrey, Nicole Carter, Paula Hamilton-Smith, Robert Noel, Simon Wilkes and Tishanna Williams.

Tickets can be booked online. For more information, call 351-6293, find Annual New Play Festival 2017 on Facebook or email newplayfestivaltt@hotmail.com.

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"New Play Festival is on"

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