The 7th Nature Island Literary Festival and Bookfair entertained patrons over the weekend with a wide variety of theatre presentations and workshops on the grounds of the UWI Dominica Open Campus.
On opening night, under the patronage of His Excellency the President of Dominica and Mrs. Savarin, the large crowd at the Arawak House of Culture showed much appreciation for Alwin Bully’s 1976 hit classic The Ruler which featured cast made up of some members of the original People’s Action Theatre, along with a cadre of young dynamic actors some coming from other theatre groups.
The festival weekend offerings included David Edgecombe’s Lady of Parham; Dobrene O’Marde’s This World Spin One Way; and a surprise crowd pleaser in Athol Furgard’s Sizwe Bansi is Dead by the Sunshine Theatre of Anguilla which gained a standing ovation from the enthusiastic audience.
The Festival continues this week with a screenwriting workshop at UWI Open Campus; the Dominican Premiere of Poetry is an Island a new film on Derek Walcott by Surinamese filmmaker Ida Does on Tuesday night at Alliance Francaise; performances by local theatre companies on Wednesday night (Alliance Francaise); the Caribbean DVD launch of Russel Watson’s seminal film A Handfull of Dirt on Thursday night at Alliance Francaise; two repeat performances of The Ruler on Friday and Saturday night at the Arawak House of Culture; and a commemorative walk from Hillsborough to Roseau on Sunday.
Saw the play when I was a teenager at the RBdee movie house still remember that. People like Noreen Joseph was there then. Please folks please make the effort to see the plays. P A T was great. Thank you Alwin and crew.
“Storytelling to Change the Heart and to Change the World”
The National Youth Council of Dominica send me an invitation to attend the 2014 Literary Festival. At the moment I am on Sabbatical, and I was privileged to participate in a storytelling workshop hosted by the Redemptorists of New Jersey, U.S.A. The presenters were internationally know storytellers Dr. Megan McKenna and Dr. Robert Wilhelm. In her book “Keepers of the Story”, Dr. Megan says in the Preface: “In every culture, in every geographical place, among every people, there are individuals who are entrusted with the words that belong to that place and group. They hold the heritage, the experiences, and the stories that express who they are and how they stand in the universe. These are the keepers of the Story. Their lives are dedicated to preserving, to keeping true, to guarding and protecting what is not theirs alone, but what has been given into their care by others. It is a vocation, a calling, a responsibility and a work that defines them in relation to their people and relation to other groups and their stories. They live on the words but they never make their living from the words. The tales tell them. The stories use their flesh, their voices and minds, to remain alive and to keep the people alive. The keepers are given words, and are held in sway and bondage by the lifelines of hope, suffering, exaltation, births and deaths, resurrections, and visions: by the Story.”……
Keepers of the Story of Dominica and the Caribbean as you present the 7th. Literary Festival (7 – 11 – August, 2014) I pray that many will listen and be inspired. May we all be keepers of the Story and all come true. Merci beaucoup!
Fr. Franklyn