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UWI TODAY
– SUNDAY 1 JULY, 2018
ARTS
The BritishCouncil and the UKNational Portrait Gallery
have developed
the Americas IN Britain arts project and selected UWI’s Marsha Pearce as
Caribbean curator. Pearce will collaborate with two UK-based curators to
showcase images from Caribbean artists through an Instagram residency.
The images will appear on the National Portrait Gallery’s and British
Council’s Instagram platforms from June through October. Pearce is a
Visual Arts lecturer at the Department for Creative and Festival Arts, UWI.
Marsha Pearce curates British Council project
A stirring story of star-crossed young lovers,
warring gangs and
passionate dancing, music and song entertained local theatre-goers
recently at the June 21-24 production of West Side Story at Queen’s
Hall in Port of Spain. Must Come See Productions (MCS) brought
some authentic Broadway to the local theatre world, and co-producer
Jessel Murray said he was delighted to have MCS return to the stage
after four years with this landmark work of music theatre.
West Side Story is a classic of American musical theatre, based on
a story by playwright and screenwriter Arthur Laurents, with original
music by Leonard Bernstein and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. Writer
Laurents was inspired byWilliam Shakespeare’s play Romeo and Juliet
when he penned West Side Story.
The original story was set in the UpperWest Side neighbourhood in
NewYork City in themid-1950s, an ethnic, blue-collar neighbourhood.
The musical explored the rivalry between the Jets and the Sharks, two
teenage street gangs of different ethnic backgrounds. The members of
the Sharks, fromPuerto Rico, are taunted by the Jets, a white gang. The
young protagonist, Tony, a former member of the Jets and best friend
of the gang’s leader, Riff, falls in love withMaria, the sister of Bernardo,
the leader of the Sharks.The dark theme, sophisticatedmusic, extended
dance scenes, and focus on social problems marked a turning point in
American musical theatre.
The recent Trinidad production of West Side Story was a
presentation of MCS Productions in collaborationwith the Department
of Creative and Festival Arts (DCFA), UWI. It was licensed under
Music Theatre International.
The character of Maria was played by Zayna McDonald, and Tony
was played by Kyle Richardson. Other actors included Michailean
Taylor as Riff; newcomer Albert Smith as Bernardo; Syntyche Bishop of
the National Theatre Arts Company as Anita; and Chris Smith as Doc.
TheMCS-producedWest Side Story was directed by LouisMcWilliams,
lecturer and Coordinator of Theatre Arts at the DCFA. Jessel Murray
was music director as well as conductor of the live band. Sally Crawford-
Shepherd, the Coordinator of Dance at the DCFA, choreographed, and
Dara Jordan-Brown was the scenic designer. Donna Bertrand and Asha
Stewart were the stage managers.
Jessel Murray, Chairman of Must Come See Productions,
commented:
“This production is a catharsis of sorts for me. It is the depiction
of two idealistic people who were trying to bridge the artificial divides
that society imposes. The story asks real questions of who owns a
space, and what are our perceived reactions to people who choose to
inhabit our space.”
West Side Story
comes to town
Here are rehearsal scenes from the recent successful West Side Story
musical which lit up the stage at Queen’s Hall from Thursday, June 21
through Sunday, June 24.
PHOTOS: ATIBA CUDJOE
