Now Streaming – Central Bank Auditorium

Welcome to ‘NOW STREAMING’—the Central Bank Auditorium’s online portal where we showcase our rich multicultural art forms. We offer you the opportunity to view snippets of past performances held at the Auditorium, that you may have missed. Join us as we promote and support our local performing artistes and their many talents.

Midnight Robber

Black Indians

Minstrels

Pierrot Grenade

Featured Stream

Midnight Robber

One of the most beloved and well-known of the traditional carnival characters line-up, the Midnight Robber graces stages and audiences with his colourful exaggerated costumes, based on the American Wild West, inclusive of an oversize cowboy hat with fringed brim. The hat’s crown comes in different shapes and colours, such as a, coffin. The Robber usually has a flowing cape adorned with symbols of death, a black satin shirt, black pantaloons, and black shoes/boots. However, modern interpretations can see the Robber in a variety of colours outside of the traditional black.

His unique speeches, called “Robber Talk”, are haughty invocations with origins from a variety of sources, including the Bible and other pieces of classical literature, like Shakespeare. The Robber is also known for his trademark whistle that he blows before he addresses his audience. Often the Robber will have a prop gun, sword or dagger and a wooden money box in the shape of a coffin with which he will “threaten” his audience.

Article Courtesy The National Carnival Commission of Trinidad and Tobago:
https://www.ncctt.org/new/index.php/about-ncc/departments/regional/trad-carnival-characters/340-traditional-mas-characters-midnight-robber.html

Black Indians

Black Indians – Combines certain elements of the Red Indian with some African derived elements. They dress predominantly in black with other colours. Their faces are also painted black. They have their own distinctive speech.

Indians are one of the most colourful and interesting of the traditional mas characters; containing elaborate feathered headpieces sometimes built over bamboo or wire frames. The headpiece is supported by a structure that covers the masquerader’s entire body. Indian Mas may incorporate any number of effects including papier-mâché masks, canoes, ostrich plumes, mirrors, beads, feather work, totem poles, and ribbons.

Indian Mas falls into two categories – Indians Fancy and Indians Authentic. Indians Fancy can be described as any imaginative or fanciful portrayal of American Indians. Indians Authentic is any authentic portrayal of the Wild Indians of the American continent, including Black Indians.

There are five types of Indians: Black Indians, Blue Indians, Fancy Indians, Authentic Indians and Guarahoon/Wild Indians/Red Indians

Minstrels

Minstrels are a roving band of singing entertainers.

Minstrels seem to derive from the minstrel shows that were popular in the United States at the turn of the century, and were probably introduced into Trinidad by traveling troupes or by Trinidadians returning from the States. The original minstrels were Negroes, but many of the most popular were whites who wore “blackface” and followed a set of conventions in representing Negroes. The Trinidad masquer, though nearly always Negro himself imitates these conventions including the “blackface”’

Exaggerated white “lips” painted around his mouth, red spots on cheeks or their faces could be painted white with red spots on the cheeks.Their costume is usually red and white in colour and consists of a double-breasted jacket with a scissors tailcoat, tie, striped trousers, a tall hat and white gloves.All parts of the costume are usually decorated including their instruments. The group usually consists of four members of which one or two will play the guitar, mouth organ, chac-chac or banjos. Minstrels may sometimes have a dance routine.

Pierrot Grenade

The Pierrot Grenade is the satirical descendant of the Pierrot – a finely dressed masquerader and deeply learned scholar. Pierrot Grenade falls under the category of Old Time Carnival and is the supreme jester in Trinidad Carnival. His name shows his strong connection to Grenada.

His costume is made by attaching multi-coloured pieces of cloth to his gown-like outfit. In the old days, he wore a wire mesh mask over his face, and old hat with shrubbery attached, or simply tied his head with a handkerchief. Nowadays, however, the face is painted instead of the mask and a hood worn over the head. The Pierrot Grenade delights in displaying his knowledge and ability to spell any word. He prances and twirls about carrying a whip made of guava or hibiscus.