FREEPORT, Grand Bahama -- The Freeport Players' Guild High School Playwriting Competition was held at the Regency Theatre on Saturday, October 17, 2009.  High School students from across the island of Grand Bahama submitted plays during the summer for perusal by the Guild's Executive Board.

Students were required to write a one-act play with no more than eight (8) characters. Play structure, realistic dialogue, staging, and characterization were components of the competition.

Three finalists were seleted by the judges who were members of the Executive Board of the Freeport Players' Guild. The announcement was made at the re-opening of the re-designed Regency Theatre foyer on September 19, 2009 which was opened by Sir Jack Hayward, benefactor of the theatre.

The three exceptional students who received the opportunity to stage and direct their award winning plays were: Rebecca Harris, 12th Grade St. Paul's Methodist College Senior Prefect and Debating Team Member; Antonio Russell, 12th Grade St. George's High School, Head Boy, acclaimed poet, and  studying a course of science; and Gabrielle Russell, 12th Grade St. George's High School, award winning Junior Achiever and first-time playwright.

The Freeport Players' Guild is pleased and honoured to foster the talent of these young writers. All resources of the theatre were placed at their disposal and all members contributed to make the plays as professional as possible.
 
The High School Playwriting Competition was instituted by the Freeport Players' Guild in 1993 to promote the art of writing and literature and encourage Bahamian students to discover their talents for writing.  During this competition high school students will hone their writing skills and learn the rudiments of directing a production. A nation's deeds and achievements are recorded by its writers and it is important that we foster in our teenagers and young adults an appreciation for the presentation of our culture "in our own words".

FREEPORT, Grand Bahama -- The Freeport Players’ Guild is pleased to announce the finalists in the Annual High School Playwriting Competition.

This competition was open to students of grades 10- 12 enrolled in any high school in Grand Bahama. Announcements were sent to all high schools and news agencies during the month of June. The deadline for submissions was September 5, 2009. The announcement of the finalists was made at the re-opening of the Regency Theatre foyer at the President’s Cocktail Party on September 19, 2009.

The finalists are Rebecca Harris, St. Paul’s Methodist School, Antonio Russell, St. George’s High School and Gabrielle Russell, St. George’s High School.

These three exceptional students will receive the opportunity to stage and direct their award winning plays at the Regency Theatre on Saturday, October 17th, 2009. Each new director/playwright is mentored by a veteran Freeport Players’ Guild director/producer. The mentors are respectively, Angela Hackman, Paulette Russell, and Delores Kellman-Jones.

The Freeport Players’ Guild is pleased and honoured to foster these talented young writers of Grand Bahama. On Saturday, October 17th, 2009 My Reality by Rebecca Harris, When Two Worlds Collide by Gabrielle Russell, and Dying for Love  by Antonio Russell will premiere at the Regency Theatre.  

NASSAU, Bahamas -- RepBahamas, The College Repertory Theatre Co. will be debuting their inaugural production 'The Devil and Jacinta' Oct. 29-31.  The College Repertory Theatre Company or RepBahamas is the official theatre company of The College of The Bahamas. This production, adapted and directed by Dr. Ian Strachan, will feature a cast of 22 College of the Bahamas students and alumni.  The Company was established in July 2009.

The tickets are $15 for students and $20 general admission.  Call 302-4381.

The play stars among others, current English Majors,  Gerren Bethel and Cherilyn Rahming as well as COB alum and former English Major, Emille Hunt.

Visit: http://repbahamas.yolasite.com

Ngugi wrote this powerful condemnation of politics and society in postcolonial Kenya while he was detained in prison in 1977.  He was jailed by then Vice President of Kenya Daniel arap Moi because of the hard hitting message of his play Ngaahika Ndeenda (I Will Marry When I Want). While detained he wrote Devil on the Cross on prison-issued toilet paper.

Synopsis of the Play
Jacinta Warringa is an unemployed single mother fleeing Nairobi after a failed relationship and after being fired by her boss because she would not accept his sexual advances.  Riding through the countryside at night by bus on her way to her hometown, she meets a peculiar band of strangers, all of whom are headed to a feast in a cave of all places; a feast being held in honour of the greatest Thieves and Robbers in the town.  Jacinta, despite her fears, attends this feast and there meets a fate some would find hard to believe.

NASSAU, Bahamas -- Kim Brockington, stage and film actress, is excited to present her one-woman show Zora to Bahamian audiences. Fresh from a critically-acclaimed performance at the National Black Theatre Festival in Winston-Salem North Carolina, Kim looks forward to bringing the play to Nassau. As she says, “I am coming to tell a story of a great woman who loved Bahamians!  

ZORA !….  who also studied and did lots of anthropology work in The Bahamas, so I know she would love this and I believe the Bahamian people will as well. Zora wanted to preserve cultures and the ways of our people and never lost sight of what made us as wonderful and great as we are. She used Bahamian songs and dances in some of her work. So it is most appropriate for her story to be included in this wonderful festival. Also as an African American woman, I feel honoured to tell the story of this great woman of history who wanted to preserve our history by studying anthropology and writing about all people of colour.”

She is always especially happy to perform before audiences who share Zora’s African heritage, and the ninety-minute production includes forty minutes of interaction with her audiences, where Kim engages with patrons and enables them truly to meet Zora herself. As Jerome Preston Bates, fellow actor and director, observes, “Kim literally lives and breathes this character. Kim has captured the spirit of this woman. This is not an actress acting. This is someone speaking about their life.”