Winners of the 2013 National Drama Festival Achievement Awards

Last Updated on Saturday, 26 December 2015, 21:00 by GxMedia

The curtains came down on the 2013 National Drama Festival on Saturday evening with the hosting of the award ceremony at the National Cultural Centre, amidst call by Minister of Culture Youth and Sports Dr. Frank Anthony for the holding of village and regional drama festivals. This would allow winners to advance to the National Festival, and encourage the emergence of more groups and more plays.

Minister Anthony posited that by restricting the number of plays one person can be in would encourage others to participate. He stressed that the Ministry was pleased with the success of this year’s festival, noting that the success would not have been possible without the support and participation of the performers. The Minister emphasised the need to look at what was done whether correctly or not, and for participants to work on further improving those elements.

The Minister expressed his satisfaction with the fact that some of the students who recently graduated from the Drama School were involved in the festival as playwrights, actors/actresses, technical personnel, producers and directors.

He highlighted the Ministry’s focus on the development of drama in Guyana which is evident in the amount of money being invested in the festival. In this regard, he said the Ministry would like to employ several from the drama school to be trained in various areas such as lights and sound. The spin-off of this would boost the investments being made into the National Cultural Centre (NCC) to enhance the lighting and sound systems.

He observed that the way business is done at the centre has to be changed, and threw out an invitation to the performers to meet with him to discuss what could be done to improve the festival.

Chief Judge, Al Creighton in his report emphasised that this year’s festival was better than last year’s in terms of production and creativity, and while the festival is a contest, it is also a training tool that encourages the production of new plays of which there were many this time around.

While he recognized that there is great value in plays that have already been written, Creighton noted that one of the challenges was time, and suggested that time limits be set for the junior and debutant plays. He also noted that the panel of judges observed that too many performers were cast in too many plays. In this regard, he stated that a limit should also be applied here since this would allow for more persons to become involved.

Overall, the judges found that the drama festival attracted a wide cross section of performers; however the reputable secondary schools are still not participating in the festival.

Director of the Festival, Godfrey Naughton noted that the festival was a product of hard work, and at the same time it offers a glimpse of the resources that are available, and where those resources can take the theatre industry. He noted that over the years the enthusiasm of the artistes has been noticeable, and the need for them to go into the field was even more noticeable. This realisation saw several training sessions being held around the country. Naughton explained that teachers were targeted to be instructors and mentors. The just concluded festival saw better productions in terms of the technical aspects.

1.      OPEN CATEGORY FULL LENGTH PLAYS

BEST PRODUCTION

1)      WATCH DE RIDE 2-JUSTICE – H & T Theatre Arts Group

BEST PRODUCTIONFIRST RUNNER UP

2)      ANYBODY SEE BRENDA – The Theatre Guild of Guyana

BEST PRODUCTION SECOND RUNNER UP

3)      WHENCHOCOLATE MELTS – Indian Arrival Committee

 BEST DIRECTOR

Ronald Hollingsworth & Sheron Cadogan-Taylor – WATCH DE RIDE 2-JUSTICE

BEST COSTUMING

            BERBICE UPRISING

BEST SET

WATCH DE RIDE 2- JUSTICE

BEST USE OF LIGHTS

WATCH DE RIDE 2-JUSTICE

 BEST USE OF SOUND

BERBICE UPRISING

 BEST NEW GUYANESE STAGEPLAY

“WHEN CHOCOLATE MELTS” written by Neaz Subhan

  BEST PERFORMING CAST

ANYBODY SEE BRENDA

BEST ACTOR

Mahadeo Shivraj – Watch de Ride 2-Justice

Mark Luke Edwards –Anybody See Brenda

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Sean Thompson– Watch de Ride 2-Justice

BEST ACTRESS

Melissa King – Watch de ride 2-Justice

 
 BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Sonia Yarde– Watch de ride 2-Justice

2.      OPEN CATEGORY SHORT PLAYS

  BEST PRODUCTION

1)      BEFORE HER PARTING – The Theatre Guild of Guyana

BEST PRODUCTION FIRST RUNNER UP

2)      MOMMY – Queen of Arts Productions

BEST PRODUCTION SECOND RUNNER UP

3)      FAREPICKER – The Theatre Guild of Guyana

BEST SET

MOMMY

 BEST USE OF LIGHTS

BEFORE HER PARTING

BEST USE OF SOUND

BEFORE HER PARTING

BEST NEW GUYANESE STAGEPLAY

MOMMY written by Sonia Yarde

BEST PERFORMING CAST

FAREPICKER

BEST DIRECTOR

Tivia Collins –“ Before Her Parting “

BEST ACTOR

Kijana Lewis– Before Her Parting

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Paul Budnah – Farepicker

BEST ACTRESS

Colleen Humphrey – “Farepicker “

Nicola Moonsammy – “Mommy “

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Sonia Yarde – “Before Her Parting “

BEST COSTUMING

FAREPICKER

3.      DEBUTANTES CATEGORY

BEST PRODUCTION

1)      MARA’S FAITH – Bethel Gospel Hall Youth Group (Jesus People)

BEST PRODUCTION FIRST RUNNER UP

2)      THIRD DEGREE GRADUATE – The Surmounting Thespians

BEST PRODUCTION SECOND RUNNER UP

BAMBOO ALLEY – Emeralds Drama Group

BEST NEW GUYANESE STAGEPLAY

MARA’S FAITH – Bethel Gospel Hall Youth Group (Jesus People)

BEST DIRECTOR

Roseanna Taitt – Mara’s Faith

BEST SET

UNEQUAL YOKE

BEST USE OF LIGHTS

MARA’S FAITH

 BEST COSTUMING

BAMBOO ALLEY

BEST USE OF SOUND SOUND

Mara’s Faith

 BEST PERFORMING CAST

Bamboo Alley

 BEST ACTOR

Joshua Griffith – Mara’s Faith

 BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Colin Primus – Bamboo Alley

BEST ACTRESS

Shantel McLean – 3^rd Degree Graduate

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Stacy Semple – Third Degree Graduate

4.      JUNIOR CATEGORY

BEST PRODUCTION

1)      CREATIVE BURIAL GROUND – Cast of Creative Burial Ground

BEST PRODUCTION FIRST RUNNER UP

2)      DEEP WOUNDS – Cast of Deep Wounds

BEST PRODUCTION SECOND RUNNER

3)      PLANNED TO PERFECTION – Cast of Planned to Perfection

BEST DIRECTOR

Nickose Layne – Creative Burial Ground

BEST COSTUMING

CREATIVE BURIAL GROUND

 BEST SET

CREATIVE BURIAL GROUND

BEST USE OF LIGHTS

CREATIVE BURIAL GROUND

BEST USE OF SOUND

PLANNED TO PERFECTION

 BEST NEW GUYANESE STAGEPLAY

DEEP WOUNDS written – Melinda Primo-Solomon

 BEST PERFORMING CAST

DEEP WOUNDS

 BEST ACTOR

Sean Budnah – Deep Wounds

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Keon Heywood – Creative Burial Ground

BEST ACTRESS

Candacy Baveghems – Creative Burial Ground

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Leslyn Fraser – Planned to Perfection

5.      SECONDARY SCHOOLS CATEGORY

BEST PRODUCTION

1)      THE LOST HOPE – West Demerara Secondary School

BEST PRODUCTION FIRST RUNNER UP

2)      MASSACURAMAN – Berbice High School

BEST PRODUCTION SECOND RUNNER UP

3)      A FLOWER WITHOUT PETALS – Ascension Secondary School

BEST DIRECTOR

Taneka CALDEIRA – The Lost Hope

BEST COSTUMING

I SHOULD HAVE KNOWN – Dora Secondary School

BEST SET

MASSACURAMAN

BEST USE OF LIGHTS

MASSACURAMAN

BEST USE OF SOUND

THE LOST HOPE

BEST NEW GUYANESE STAGEPLAY

THE LOST HOPE – Taneka Caldeira

 
 BEST PERFORMING CAST

THE LOST HOPE

BEST ACTOR

Ezekiel Fraser – A Flower Without Petals

 BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Shemroy Reynolds – A Flower Without Petals

BEST ACTRESS

Hebron Edwards – The Lost Hope

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Jelena Dos Santos – I Should Have Known