Jean and Dinah…Speak Their Mind Publicly Excerpt 1

Miss Miles Woman of the World

Video footage courtesy Lord Street Theatre.
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Playwright / Director / Actor / Educator

Born Michael Anthony Hall on Friday July 16th, 1948, Tony Hall functioned as a playwright, screenwriter, actor and director from the city of San Fernando on the twin-island Republic of Trinidad & Tobago. In his early years, Tony grew as a protege (1973-81) of Poet Laureate & Nobel Prize winner in Literature, Derek Walcott.

Having worked at home and abroad, Mr. Hall wrote and directed productions for the street, stage and the big screen. He also collaborated closely with world renowned Carnival designer Peter Minshall.

Mr. Hall is an alumnus of the University of Alberta and the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (both in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada), and has presented the Jouvay Popular Theatre Process [JPTP], implemented worldwide as a performance model for actor ‘training’ and play-making as well as for personal and community ‘development’.

Tony worked as a lecturer and arts facilitator at colleges and universities stretched between the Caribbean and Europe. At Trinity College, Hartford, Connecticut, he lectured Festival and Drama, at AIndiana State University, Terre Haute, he directed two World Premieres, ‘The Brand New Lucky Diamond Horseshoe Club’ (2004) with David Rudder and Arthur Feinsod’s ‘Table 17’ (2007). His works were also featured in the Caribbean at the University of Trinidad and Tobago, Port of Spain and the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad. In the UK, the University of Winchester, the University of Bradford and The Carnival Learning Centre, Ryde, Isle of Wight.

In 1990 he confounded The Lordstreet Theatre with Errol Fabien, where he composed and produced landmark award-winning plays including: ‘Jean and Dinah . . . Speak Their Minds Publicly’ (1994), winner of five Cacique Awards for theatre in 1994-5; ‘Twilight Cafe’ (2001), also winner of five Cacique Awards for theatre in 2002-3; ‘The Brand New Lucky Diamond Horseshoe Club’ (2006) with lyrics and music by David Rudder, awarded Most Outstanding Original Music in 2006; and ‘MISS MILES the Woman of the World’ (2011)

Tony Hall also co-wrote and co-directed a number of heritage and social works for street theatre such as; ‘Butler Labour Riots’ (1985-88/2012) with the Oilfield Workers Trade Union in Fyzabad, Trinidad; the 1881 ‘Camboulay Riots’ (2000-12) with cultural and community drama groups, a re-enactment of the famous riots in Trinidad which initiated the distinct Trinidad Carnival as we know it today; ‘Red House [Fire! Fire!]’ (1999) an outdoor production on the Water Riots of 1903 in Trinidad’s capital city, Port of Spain.

In film and video, Tony created award winning works as a screenwriter, director, producer and performer with a collective of artists at Banyan Video Studio, Port of Spain. These projects include: ‘And the Dish Ran Away with the Spoon’ (1992/USA release 1994) an award-winning BBC/TVE/Banyan documentary and ‘Gayelle’ (1985-1990) a ground-breaking, internationally acclaimed, cultural magazine for Television.

In 2002, Bruce Paddington, Christopher Laird and Tony Hall, together as BANYAN, received the Vanguard Award from the National Drama Association of Trinidad and Tobago (NDATT) for innovative ground-breaking television. In 2013,also from NDATT, Tony received a Life Time Achievement Award.

Article Courtesy Jouvay Institute:
http://jouvayinstitute.blogspot.com/2014/09/tony-hall-bio.html

Tony Hall’s Full CV:
http://jouvayinstitute.blogspot.com/2013/09/1-curriculum-vitae-tony-hall-playwright.html?q=CV

Further Reading:
https://globalvoices.org/2020/04/29/trinidadian-tony-hall-visionary-of-play-and-performance-leaves-behind-a-precious-legacy/

Messages from Lutalo

TUCO Mini Concert 2019

Brother Resistance and the Network Riddim Band 1982

Rapso Artist / Poet / Story Teller

By Janine Mendes-Franco

To Trinidad and Tobago, Rapso poet Brother Resistance was much more than an artistic icon — he was a fountain of cultural knowledge. Born Roy Lewis in east Port of Spain, Trinidad, in 1954, Brother Resistance, as he would most popularly come to be called, eventually changed his name to Lutalo Masimba to better reflect his African heritage. He received his secondary education at the prestigious Queen’s Royal College, in Port of Spain, famous for producing figures such as Eric Williams, a notable historian and the country’s first prime minister who led the country to independence from Britain, and writers C.L.R. James and V.S. Naipaul. The school inducted Brother Resistance into its Hall of Honour in 2017 in recognition of his contribution to culture and the arts.

Part poetry, part scintillating backbeat, “Rapso” is defined as “the power of the word in the rhythm of the word,” having grown out of the West African griot or storyteller tradition. In the Caribbean, these musical poets have been traditionally referred to as “chantwells”, champions of call-and-response.

Rapso music was pioneered by the late Lancelot Layne, evolving as a brand of protest music out of the Black Power movement of the late 1960s, during which the country experienced a period of social unrest. This culminated in 1970’s Black Power Revolution which sought to bring about socio-political change. Brother Resistance, along with the Network Riddum Band, took up the Rapso mantle and carried the art form into the 1980s and beyond, spearheading its revival and bringing it into the mainstream of World Music.

The band’s 1981 debut offering “Busting Out” contained two tracks, one written by Brother Resistance, and became a hit. The following year the group released “Roots of de Rapso Riddum”, but their message, deeply rooted in social commentary, was deemed subversive. Police raided and destroyed their band room in June 1983, which only served to fuel their sense of purpose. They continued to release music, always putting the genre front and centre: “Rapso Explosion” (1984), “Rapso Takeover” (1986), and “Rapso Uprising” (1989).

Brother Resistance continued to be prolific as a solo artist well into the 1990s and 2000s, singing on themes of love, unity, spirituality, and respect for “Mother Earth”, a song that demonstrated just the depth of his perception and vision. Long before the term “climate change” was coined, Brother Resistance was asking, “Is it too late to save the earth?”

Perhaps his most beloved song, however, is “Ring De Bell”, in which he symbolically advocates for ringing the bell — part of Spiritual Baptist, Orisha and other religious traditions — for culture, justice, freedom and, of course, for Rapso: “It’s a long, long time now we fighting for freedom, victory bound to come, I come with my bell just to second the motion, rock the Rapso Riddum.”

Masimba completed his tertiary education at The University of the West Indies (UWI), and was awarded a Master’s degree in Carnival Studies from The University of Trinidad and Tobago in 2012. He was in the process of completing his PhD. During the period 1974-1976, he was employed at the Central Bank of Trinidad and Tobago.

As Brother Resistance, Masimba may have brought Rapso music to the world, having toured throughout the Americas, Asia and Europe, but he was at heart a poet, authoring “Rapso Explosion”, a collection of Rapso poetry that was published in the United Kingdom. In 1992, he received a national award, the Hummingbird Medal (Silver), for his contribution to the culture and community development.

Lutalo “Brother Resisitance” Masimba died on July 13, 2021 at the age of 67, after being diagnosed with cancer. At the time of his passing he was president of The Trinbago Unified Calypsonian Organisation (TUCO).

Read the Full Article at:
https://globalvoices.org/2021/07/14/ring-de-bell-brother-resistance-who-mainstreamed-trinidad-tobagos-rapso-music-has-died/

Chris Smith Show Reel 2018

Actor / Designer / Production Manager

Renowned local and international actor Michael Cherrie described Christopher Smith as a “theatre and film actor who was front and center among the promised generation of theatre and film in this country.” Smith made his stage debut in Raymond Choo Kong Production’s “Why Am I Married” and won recognition in several roles including as “Bud” alongside soca superstar, Machel Montano in the 2015 movie “Bazodee” and as Detective Mason in “The Cutlass”. Smith also appeared in numerous TV commercials, music videos, theatre and other film and television roles “The Apartment” and “This Love”.

On stage, Smith demonstrated his artistic range in productions such as, MCS Production’s “West Side Story” (2018), Narad Mahabir’s “The Ford” (2018), and LP Entertainment Theatre’s “Diana”, but he is probably best remembered for his formidable performance as Pontius Pilate in JCS Entertainment’s 2014 production of “Jesus Christ Superstar”, a role he described as his lifelong dream.

Smith wore many hats, as a director at JCS Entertainment, graphic artist and sound designer at Raymond Choo Kong Productions, Production Manager at First Instinct Productions and CEO of the ENT Factor, a production company he formed.

A past student of Hillview College and the College of Science, Technology and Applied Arts of Trinidad and Tobago (COSTAAT), he also performed with the University of the West Indies Arts Chorale. According to the Vice-President of the National Drama Association (NDATT), Marvin Ishmael “Chris Smith was one of our bright stars whose passion for his craft was exhibited through his work. He took every role with the same zeal and enthusiasm.” Many credited him with introducing them to theatre, encouraging their work and teaching and mentoring many in the industry. He is remembered as an amazing human being, someone who was caring, generous, professional, punctual and a pleasure to work with.

His personal motto was “Work Hard, Play Hard” and as fellow actor, Penelope Spencer, said, he saw every performance as an opportunity to grow as an actor, and as a person in real life.

Christopher Smith died of leukemia on January 5, 2019.

Credits
https://ttpanetwork.com/2019/01/08/workhard-playhard-celebrating-the-life-of-chris-smith/
https://tt.loopnews.com/content/heartfelt-tributes-pour-actor-chris-smith

Video courtesy Louis Nurse.
To see more please subscribe to the YouTube Channel here. 

Pianist / Composer / Extempo Kaiso Jazz Pioneer

by Peter Ray Blood

Clive “Zanda” Alexander, pioneer of extempo/kaiso jazz music was a largely self-taught composer/improvisor/pianist who gained wide recognition at home, in the Caribbean and internationally. Born in Siparia, south Trinidad, Zanda can be considered a music prodigy. He started making music on self-made miniature cardboard bongos at the age of 10, beating out calypso rhythms, and scatting and composing lines on top of the rhythms. At 15, Zanda began classical piano lessons with Sybil Joseph in Siparia. After a few lessons, up to grade one, he started extemporising on the piano, incorporating some of what he learnt with his own tunes. Joseph gave up on teaching him and left him  to do his own music.

At the age of 20, he emigrated to England primarily to pursue studies in architecture because music was not considered to be a lucrative career. But music was always in his head and because of the nature of architecture, being considered “frozen music,” he was able to study and combine both disciplines successfully.

It was during his stay in England that Zanda had his earliest encounters with jazz music, live and direct. Impressed by how much music a jazz trio could generate, he immersed himself seriously into the genre of jazz and subsequently began intense private lessons with well-known British composer, Michael Grant.

Soon after this, he formed his own combo experimenting with fusing calypso elements with jazz. which in Zanda’s perception were musical siblings. He successfully pursued his academic studies while playing music at nights. The Dez Alex Combo, as his group was called, performed regularly at the London’s Pigalle night club doing curtain calls for such acts as Shirley Bassey, Matt Monroe and Sammy Davis Jnr.

On his return to Trinidad, the Zanda Gayap Extempo/Kaiso Jazz Workshop was formed, in association with the Queen’s Royal College (QRC) Jazz Workshop under the direction of school teacher and notedmusician Scofield Pilgrim, researching and experimenting with the concept of extempo/kaiso jazz which he continued to pioneer throughout his career. . This marriage was the nucleus for this unique genre of music spawning outstanding musicians like Michael Georges, Michael “Toby” Tobas, Beverly “Muthadi” Thomas, Luther Francois, Michael Boothman, Rafael Robertson, Ron Reid, Etienne Charles and Wayne “Barney” Bonaparte.

On Pilgrim’s passing Zanda said: “I was saddened not just by Scofield’s death but also when he died there was no music created by him to be played either on the radio or at his funeral. At the time, I thought we must begin to document the music we create. It is why I decided to document all my music for the benefit of future generations.” He explained: “I have been documenting my Kaiso Jazz compositions for the purpose of leaving behind a legacy for my children and the community at large. When I pass on I hope to also control the music from my grave. The classical composers did this and that is why they are still alive through their music.”

There is no question that Zanda is a national treasure and musical ambassador for the Caribbean. When asked what exactly is Kaiso Jazz, Zanda replied, “For me Kaiso Jazz is the creative hybrid product deep rooted in our ancestral consciousness of the drum, the riddim of life, and our multi cultural heritage.”

Clive “Zanda” Alexander passed away on January 6, 2022 at the Port of Spain General Hospital from complications of diabetes. He was 82.

Read full Article at:
https://www.guardian.co.tt/article-6.2.359946.f0fbff5f51

Stage Manager / Producer / Production Manager

For over 30 years, Gregory Adam Singh worked tirelessly as a member of the local theatre fraternity, serving as stage manager, set designer, producer, make-up artist, costumer, production manager, as well as performer.

His skills as a stage manager afforded Singh the opportunity to work with most of the highly rated local theatre companies, such as, The Baggasse Company, JCS Entertainment, Ha Ha Ha Theatre Company, and RR/RS Productions. His expertise led to him stage manage the Dimanche Gras show on two occasions and soca artiste and actress Nikki Crosby at the International Soca Monarch competition.

Singh began his stage management career at fashion shows, from which he progressed to the performing arts, working regularly with Raymond Choo Kong Productions on many theatrical productions. A long-standing friend, Raymond Choo Kong stated that Singh worked with him as a costume designer, stage manager and production manager. “He was quite an unusual manager and it took time to get to know him, but everyone had the same assessment, which was that to know him was to love him. He didn’t mince words and said it like he saw it, but he was also very kind, considerate and caring. He was the good cop to my bad cop and vice versa.”

Regionally, Singh stage-managed productions in Grenada and the U.S. Virgin Islands. He also worked on corporate events with First Citizens Bank and other companies.

Gregory Singh mentored and pioneered the careers of several young stage managers, a legacy of which he was very proud. He died on September 12, 2018, at the age of 52.

Reference :
https://ttpanetwork.com/2018/09/12/in-tribute-to-gregory-singh/
https://newsday.co.tt/2018/09/17/theatre-fraternity-remember-gregory-singh-as-a-friend/

Actor / Director / Playwright / Producer / Activist

Born on July 3, 1959, in Port of Spain, Trinidad, Godfrey Sealey grew up in St James where he was exposed to the many cultures of our twin islands. A student of Fatima College, at an early age Sealy mentored famous Trinidadian dancer Ms. Beryl Mc Bernie. He developed his talents as an actor at the Trinidad Tent Theatre under the stewardship and direction of Helen Camps.

Sealy got involved in the Prime Minister’s Best Village Competition where he gained a better understanding of the socio-political aspects of local theatre while working with groups throughout Trinidad and Tobago. In 1984, he founded the Playhouse Company, producing several dramatic performances such as The Rocky Horror Show by Richard O’Brian, Dwight Arthurs’ Strangers and Limin’, which he wrote.

The majority of Sealy’s productions focused on social issues affecting the LGBTQI+ community. Very open about his lifestyle, Godfrey Sealy spoke publicly about being homosexual. According to his sister Ann Marie Sealy, “He was brutally honest about his sexuality and worked tirelessly to bring the community together to restore dignity and pride.” In 1988, after being diagnosed HIV-positive, he became a spokesperson for the cause, writing and campaigning throughout the country educating about the dreadful disease. In 1989, during an interview Godfrey stated, “AIDS is about sex!” and pleaded with Caribbean policy-makers and the general public not to relegate sex issues to the back burner.

Sealy used the stage as the platform to bring about an awareness to the illness, in 1988, he wrote and produced the play One of Our Sons is Missing. According to M. Helquist of the Semantic Scholar Website “One of Our Sons is Missing is the first play written and produced in the Caribbean about Aids.” It tells the story of a young bisexual man who contracts HIV, develops Aids and subsequently dies, leaving behind distraught parents, girlfriend and friends.”

In early February 1989, Sealy and members of his team developed and video recorded a Carnival AIDS project with the support of AIDSCOM, the video was subsequently used as a training tool on the subject. Godfrey Sealy also hosted workshops at the University of the West Indies (UWI) to promote HIV awareness among youths and, subsequently,co-founded CARE (Community Action Resource) with Bishop Clyde Harvey. Commenting on his passing, Bishop Harvey noted that Sealy was a true prophet whose message challenged the status quo.

Sealy worked with UNAIDS and other international organisations to encourage research into HIV/AIDS with the hope of finding a cure. Over the years significant breakthroughs have been made in treating the disease and though still not curable, AIDS is no longer the death sentence it used to be.

Godfrey Sealy’s contributions to AIDS awareness and research extended beyond Trinidad and Tobago, reaching the Caribbean region, North America and Europe. Wendell Manwarren of 3Canal described Sealy as a go-getter, the life of the party, and a man who was not afraid to put himself on the line to deal publicly with what was a touchy subject in those days.

In 1981 Sealy staged the play Home Sweet Home, at the Central Bank Auditorium, Port of Spain. The performance proved controversial as actors Heathcliff West, Mavis John and John Isaacs were arrested for using obscene language in a public space.

In 1990, Manwarren portrayed the Pierrot Grenade in Godfrey Sealy’s production of To Hell Wid Dat, utilizing traditional Carnival characters to convey safe-sex messages. In 1993, Sealy led a Caribbean contingent to the Berlin World Aids Conference to perform To Hell Wid Dat.

Through the medium of theatre Godfrey Sealy played a major role in bringing awareness to the mental and emotional battle individuals experience when suffering from HIV/AIDS. His home at # 33 Murray Street, Woodbrook was a shelter for several persons affected by the disease. Today, The Big Black Box theatre owned and operated by 3Canal is based at this location. Band member Wendell Manwarren understood fully Sealy’s aims and objectives and as such 3Canal makes the space available to all of society especially those in the LGBTQI+ community.

Playwright, Actor, Producer and HIV/AIDS activist Godfrey Sealy died in Trinidad on April 26, 2006.

VAT 19 Fonclaire Panorama 1990
performance of Pan By Storm

Brief break in the performance at 2:20 (for tape change)

Pan by Storm: The Storm Continues
by Sherwin Thwaites and Friends

Arranger / Composer / Lecturer / Pannist

Ken ‘Professor’ Philmore’s romance with the steel pan began at the age nine (9), when he received the gift of a tenor pan from his cousins, Barry and Ferdinand Brathwaite. After years of picking the notes and teaching himself to play music, the late Steve Achaiba, former Captain of Hatters, asked Ken’s father, the late Cyril Philmore, to allow him to come to the pan yard.  There was great resistance from Ken’s father, who did not want his son becoming a panman, he therefore sent him for guitar lessons instead, but Ken would often run away to the panyard.  His father recognizing Ken’s talent ultimately gave in and began taking him to Hatters pan yard in 1974 when he was fourteen years old.

Steve Achaiba recognized Ken’s gift for perfect pitch and promoted him to Tenor Section Leader. Seniors at Hatters pan yard often wondered who the boy with the big round glasses was, saying that he looked like a ‘professor’.  They began calling him Ken “Professor” and many of his friends would also refer to him ‘Pro’.

Ken’s career as a pan soloist emerged when Calypsonian Squibby invited him to perform at the late Aldwyn Roberts aka ‘Lord Kitchener’ Kitchener’s  Calypso Revue Tent. He was so impressed with Ken’s exciting performance that he invited Ken to play with him at the Calypso Revue every Carnival. This partnership launched Ken’s career as a pan soloist with unique speed, skill and dexterity and by 1985 he became musical director/arranger for one of the nation’s prestigious steel orchestras, Fonclaire.

Locally, Ken collaborated with a number of well-known performing artists such as, Alvin Daniel, Dr. Len Boogsie Sharpe, Dr. Pelham Goddard, Anthony Prescott ‘Designer’ (Vocalist for Pan By Storm) and the late Dr. Pat Bishop, and Clive Zanda to name a few.

Ken arranged for several local steel orchestras, some of which include – Fonclaire, Skiffle Bunch, Hatters, Kalamo Kings, Invaders, Casablanca, Power Stars, Potential Symphony, Sangre Grande Cordettes, Pamberi, Courts Laventille Sound Specialists, Gay Hoytonians, Solo Harmonities, Metro Stars, T&TEC New East Side Dimension, Invaders, Our Boys and many more.

Ken’s crowning glory at Panorama finals came in 1990 when he took the world by storm with his own composition titled ‘Pan by Storm’ with lyrics penned by Andrea Phillip and sung by Anthony Prescott (Designer). Ken’s arrangement of Pan by Storm performed by Fonclaire was indeed magical and sensational to become one of Panorama’s signature arrangement. However, to the shock and dismay of supporters both locally and internationally, Fonclaire was placed second by half (.5) of a point. To this day, many still discuss, debate, and lament that decision. Fonclaire is the only band in history to lose a Panorama competition by half of a point (.5).

Ken Philmore was the first Trinidadian artiste to be featured at B.E.T. Jazz Central where he was interviewed by Vanessa Rubin and the late Lou Rawls.

Internationally, Ken brought the music of our national instrument to Nigeria, Japan, Canada, the Caribbean, London arranging for the Metronomes and within the USA on Broadway, BET and Apollo Theatre stages. He performed alongside international, regional and local artistes such as Tito Puente, Tina Turner, Phyllis Hyman, Bob James, Arturo Tappin, Ralph Mc Donald, Andy Narell, the late Ella Fitzgerald, Lou Rawls, and the Duke Ellington Orchestra.

Ken ‘Professor’ Philmore loved his country of birth Trinidad and Tobago, and ultimately happily achieved and fulfilled, his true Purpose in life. On September 30^th 2018, Ken ‘Professor’ Philmore passed after sustaining injuries in a vehicular accident.

Click for Full Biography

Dr. Pat Alison Bishop

Pat with Desperadoes 1989

Pat in her Studio

Photo by Derek Gay

Video clip from Koanga (Delius) 1995

Musician / Musical Director / Artist / Lecturer

Dr. Patricia Alison Bishop, commonly called Pat, was the first child of Ena and Sonny Bishop, born on the 7th May 1941, a few years before her sister and only sibling Gillian. Her both parents were heavily involved in the arts, her mother in the needle and culinary arts designing Carnival queen gowns and costumes, whereas her father was involved in all things Trinidadian, music and sport.

Pat’s education began at Tranquility Girls Government School in 1947. In 1954 she won a Government Exhibition to Bishop Anstey High School. At Bishop Anstey High School, she was garlanded and given a silver trophy for work exhibited in the Shankar’s Children’s Art Competition, held in India in 1958. Pat exhibited with Peter Minshall and Jackie Hinkson at the Old Market, Port of Spain in I960 and was awarded a Trinidad and Tobago Additional Island Scholarship to the University of Durham, King’s College in the United Kingdom in 1961 where she graduated with an Honours Degree in Fine Art, having offered a thesis on English Neo-Classical Sculpture.

While in the United Kingdom Pat privately pursued studies in voice, piano, orchestra and History of Music. In 1968, on her return from Durham she received a UWI Post Graduate Award and completed an M.A in West Indian History based on her thesis ‘Runaway Slaves in Jamaica 1807-1823. In 1994 the University of the West Indies awarded her the Honorary Doctor of Letters Degree.

Pat worked extensively with choirs, steelbands and folk groups, she was the first to sing accompanied by a steel orchestra (Esso Tripoli in 1967, based on a bet ‘that steelbands could play softly enough to accompany an unamplified female voice’).  She arranged for a few of the country’s top steel orchestras, such as, Fonclaire, Birdsong, Skiffle Bunch, Pandemonium and Desperadoes Steel Orchestras. She also conducted Exodus, All Stars, Phase II, Renegades among many others.

Pat did eight major tours with Desperadoes, including two at the world-famous Carnegie Hall. She also worked extensively with the Southernaires Choir, directed music for the Morne Diablo Folk Performing Company, Daisy Voisin’s La Davina Pastora Parang Group, the Mwasi Experience, Malick Folk Performers and a host of Best Village groups.

Her signature contribution in music and legacy has been her work directing the Lydian Singers beginning in 1987 when director Joyce Spence became ill. She developed a steel orchestra, known as the Lydian Steel, to accompany performances of The Lydians, which included traditional instruments, Tassa and African drums. The Lydians performed at least thirty productions annually and have in their repertoire, the Koanga (Delius) 1995 and L’Elisir D’Amore 1996, both held at the Central Bank Auditorium.

Following a brief hiatus in the nineteen-eighties, Pat returned to full time painting in 1993, producing a collection of miniatures that explored the secret flaws in gemstones, ‘The Verborgenheit Miniatures’. Later that year she produced a series of wooden bas reliefs and objects on the subject of the Journey of the Maji. Her paintings are held by many corporations, including the Central Bank and Republic Bank in Trinidad and Tobago; the National Art Galleries of Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago, and can also be viewed in private collections locally and internationally.

In the final months of her life, Pat Bishop delivered the most consequential body of paintings in her oeuvre. Her Stations of the Cross for the St Michael’s Church in Diego Martin followed by ‘She Sells, Sea Shells at the Sea Shore’ created from a diverse range of things brought together in unifying gestures of paintings, explicit in the carnival processes of making art from various pieces of nothing.

Pat Bishop died on 20 August 2011, after suffering a stroke during a meeting with officials to discuss national cultural presentations. Posthumously, the Music Literacy Trust developed the Pat Bishop Scholarship Programme to assist music students and arrangers in furthering their education.

Listen to interviews on the life and works of Pat Bishop as told by her peers. Courtesy Trini Good Media
https://trinigoodmedia.com/2020/09/01/pat-bishop-life

Visit The Lydians Website at:
https://thelydians.org/

Video courtesy OMG Digital Magazine.
To see more please subscribe to the YouTube Channel here.

Playwright / Director / Actor / Educator / Mentor

Raymond Choo Kong is often referred to as the “father of comedy theatre” in Trinidad and Tobago. The holder of numerous Cacique Awards ranging from Best Actor to Best Director, he forged a successful career as a comic actor, director and producer.

Early in his career as an actor, Raymond Choo Kong became an integral part of the rise of professional theatre in Trinidad and Tobago. His first influences were centered around the Little Carib Theatre alongside major personalities such as Helen Camps and the dominant drama of the time.

In 1989, he founded Raymond Choo Kong Productions which became a major company in the 1990s, progressing steadily to become the most prolific theatre company in Trinidad. Choo Kong’s main genre was comedy, and he produced many satirical pieces, often with political innuendos such as “The Naughty Minister”, “Diary of a Bad Red Woman”, “Everybody Loves Raymond” and “What Happens in Toco stays in Toco”, to name a few.

Choo Kong also ventured into the field of directing, with one of his most famous directorial accomplishments being “Mary Could Dance”. He also directed blockbuster musicals such as “The Sound of Music”, “The King and I”, and “Mahalia: A Gospel Musical”. His talents and knowledge were also sought after for the hosting of the Prime Minister’s Best Village Trophy Competition, and by Derek Walcott at the Trinidad Theatre Workshop, as well as for films, commercials, Carnival band launches and many other productions.

At the time of his passing on July 15, 2015, Choo Kong was a mentor to participants in the area of self-development through the theatre arts as part of the Ministry of Community Development Culture and the Arts’ Mentoring by the Masters Programme. He was also involved in Pride TT 2019 celebrations as part of Generation Gap, an ongoing series between elders and youth in the LGBTQ+ community.

Raymond Choo Kong Productions played an integral role in the growth of the performing arts in Trinidad and Tobago, satisfying the ever-increasing demand for satire with his extremely popular shows that gave audiences a touch of sex, sensational intrigue, bacchanal and comedy.

References:
https://ttpanetwork.com/tag/raymond-choo-kong/
https://www.stabroeknews.com/2019/07/21/sunday/arts-on-sunday/raymond-choo-kong-important-contributions-to-trinidadian-and-caribbean-theatre/
https://rachaeljames770808050.wordpress.com/contributions/