Kambule carries on at Queen's Park Savannah

“We want people to see Kambule as a gateway to self-discovery, to doing more research, finding out more about the panmen and stickfighters in their families, says Atillah Springer of the Idakeda Group. -
“We want people to see Kambule as a gateway to self-discovery, to doing more research, finding out more about the panmen and stickfighters in their families, says Atillah Springer of the Idakeda Group. -

Idakeda Group, the producers of Kambule – the annual re-enactment of the Canboulay riots of 1881 – said the production will be held on Carnival Friday, February 25, at 5 am, with other performances as well on that night and also on February 27.

Idakeda has partnered with the National Carnival Commission (NCC) for the Carnival Friday morning performance at 5 am, as part of the Taste of Carnival at the Queen’s Park Savannah, Port of Spain. Performances will also take place on Friday night at 7.30 pm, and at 11.30 pm on Carnival Sunday night at the north-eastern end of the NAPA car park, Frederick Street, Port of Spain.

The ritual re-enactment of the 1881 Canboulay Riots, will move to a smaller, more controlled venue and will be staged according to safe-zone regulations, the organisers said.

Co-producer Atillah Springer said planning and research for the 2022 production began in September 2021. She said while the film produced in 2021 was good for the historical record, the cast was eager to be back on stage. She said many of the people the company works with are students of theatre and performance who have had a hard time of the past two years during the pandemic.

Atillah Springer of the Idakeda Group, producers of Kambule – the annual re-enactment of the Canboulay riots of 1881. -

“We met with the cast to find out what they wanted to do, and they said they liked to perform, that there’s an intimacy and electricity that goes into staging a production that doesn’t translate onto film, and it was that immediacy the cast wanted. People are hungry to get back on stage and into the ritual of performance.”

As part of the planning process the producers spoke to people in theatres in the UK and the US, who had returned to the stage, to learn more about their processes.

“I spoke to Nicolai La Barrie, who is the assistant executive director at the Lyric Theatre in London, about their protocols, testing, putting on daily productions, their rehearsal processes, the need for understudies, and all these things.”

She said the group also reached out to corporate sponsors in Trinidad and Tobago (UTT) and others to access resources. One such sponsor is the University of TT, and the Idakeda Group has partnered with UTT to offer theory and practical elements to its performance and production students.

Springer said a large part of the process was talking with the cast about why the group felt putting on the work is necessary.

“The information is not known to a lot of people. Many don’t see the connection between poor people speaking out against policy brutality in 1881 and what is happening to people of African descent worldwide now. It’s part of the history of Carnival. There’s a huge chunk of the evolution of Carnival that came out of struggle and people sacrificing, and it’s important that the participants understand that so they can embody it.”

Kambule: The ritual re-enactment of the 1881 Canboulay Riots, will move to a smaller, more controlled venue and will be staged according to safe-zone regulations at the Queen's Park Savannah, Port of Spain and at NAPA. - JEFF K MAYERS

She said rehearsals began in January, long before there was any sort of announcement about Carnival, as the group decided it would go ahead with the production regardless of what else happened.

“We were pretty sure something would happen, and we decided to go through hard. It was also part of the respect we needed to pay to the Carnival jumbie because we knew there would come a point where people would be scrambling for resources and time, so we started rehearsals in January, meditating on how to keep the cast and crew safe, and building a cogent argument as to why Carnival should take place.”

She said the cast would be smaller as some people would be involved behind the scenes while others had opted out because of the uncertainty posed by covid19.

Poet laureate Eintou Springer, who wrote the play, said the Kambule production is a ritual which is carried out every year.

Kambule play writer Eintou Springer: “We intend to keep ritual in the mas, to remind ourselves of those from whose belly the mas came and give them reverence, recognition and visibility.”
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“The Kambule is a ritual. It is an ancestral tribute, so we will always do it. Last year we did a film. We intend to keep ritual in the mas, to remind ourselves of those from whose belly the mas came and give them reverence, recognition and visibility.

She said the pandemic provides TT with an opportunity to look anew at the mas, as it was more than bikini, wine, and jam.

“We call my production Kambule, the Kikongo word that means procession and pays respect to the carnival rooted in African masquing traditions and spirituality. It was originally a celebration of Emancipation. It would be great if the Carnival were to be postponed, to put it back to where it was originally, on Emancipation Day.”

The Canboulay re-enactment was last on the road early Carnival Friday morning, February 21, 2020 Picaddily Streets, Port of Spain. -

Atillah said excerpts of the production will be featured in the Friday and Sunday nights shows in the NAPA car park. She said the group would also be offering workshops in various elements and rituals used in the production

“The young people in the cast are talented and they will facilitate workshops in drumming, fire breathing, and the songs of the gayelle. We want to embed people in what they see in the production, as while some people might come and understand what they’re seeing, others might not understand some of the elements they see and why they are important. “

She said this also plays into the group’s overall goal of education and encouraging people to discover things about their families and their places in history.

“We want people to see Kambule as a gateway to self-discovery, to doing more research, finding out more about the panmen and stickfighters in their families. The stories are there but because of shame and forgetfulness they are not told and are being lost, and so people don’t see themselves as part of the history of TT.

Atillah said all shows will be carried out as safe-zone events, in line with the Government’s stipulations. She said she knows this might not find favour with many.

- JEFF K MAYERS

“It was a difficult decision to make but we are making difficult decisions at a time when society needs intervention. Art is necessary and essential and it has to find a way. Artists have to survive in this time. I know people who are creatives who are genuinely suffering and wondering where their next meal is coming from.

“This group of people is looking to us to provide support and a space for them to perform. This is as much about the artists and the energy of Carnival as it is about what the audience needs. There will be people who will condemn our decision but it’s better to be able to do the production in a safe zone than not do it at all.”

Atillah said she made the decision to take the vaccine to protect her mother and the other elders with whom she is in contact regularly.

“We don’t know how many years Eintou has on this earth and it is important for us to continue doing her work in different ways as much as possible so she can see the possibility of her work. I took it for the elders so we can continue having elders, people have lost their entire family.

“I’m deeply uncomfortable when I hear people saying that taking the vaccine is the same as enslavement, because in 1881 the people would have been facing a different type of unsafety and uncertainty. My ancestors went through too much for me to say this is enslaving me.”

Atillah said she was encouraging people to be vaccinated so that TT could begin to move beyond the pandemic.

For updates and more info on Kambule, behind the scenes at rehearsals, interviews with the cast and more, visit @kambulett on Facebook, @kambule1881 on Instagram and www.idakedagroup.com or e-mail: idakedaconnect@gmail.com

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"Kambule carries on at Queen’s Park Savannah"

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