A collaboration of GEMS Theatre Productions and Diplomatic Spouses Association (DSA) will see the staging of “Round About Midnight” - a joyous, pensive, dreaming celebration of the senses - a river of music, art, poetry and film meandering through the indigo nigh – at the end of May.
According to Gem-Madhoo Nascimento of GEMS, creative projects always grow and change in unexpected ways during the process of bringing an idea to fruition and so each venue creates its own particular ambience making the production flexible in the way it is organized.
The first show will be on staged on the lawns of the residence of the British High Commissioner on May 24. Tickets are $3,000, by invitation only and includes hors d’ouvres.
On May 25, the performance would be at the Umana Yana. Tickets for this event are $2,000, obtainable at Oasis Café, Nigel’s Supermarket. All performances start at 8.30p.m. The main artists work with the talents of different musicians and actors in each country.
The Music
In line with their manifesto of trans-Atlantic collaboration, TQ POLYPHONY includes the Trinidad invented instrument, the steel pan, in the combo, (piano, pan & percussion).
In Guyana, John will be performing with a Guyanese Bass player, George Reid plus one other and Trinidad musician on double pan, Clifton Allen from Pamberi Steel Orchestra.
Vanneste’s 2007 musical program is anchored around the music of Miles Davis, (Kind of Blue, Sketches of Spain) fanning out to include pieces by Dave Brubeck, some French and Brazilian music and of course a West Indian piece, ‘Atlantic Love’, the theme song specifically composed for TQ POLYPHONY by the West Indian composer and musician Gene Lawrence. In his own work Vanneste straddles both the classical and jazz genres so the programme will include jazzy classics as well as the more pensive ’classically’ oriented pieces by Brubeck.
The Poetry
The Poetry weaves a golden bridge of words to link the music and the art. The music is entwined with readings of the poems & prose. The contemporary British poet Maldonado is writing pieces around Miles Davis’s music specifically for this event, poems by European, Latin American and Guyanese poets would be included in the programme.
The Actors
Actor, Nigel Scott of Trinidad will be the reader.
The Art
The art grows out of the music, the silence which surrounds music and the poetry. In effect, Beckett has created an exhibition of silent music which reflects – through colour, tone and composition - the poems and heart-moods of the music.
The work is an exploration of the ways that painted imagery can become the visual analogue to music and poetry through translating sound and words in either figurative or lyrical abstract form. Beckett’s paintings will be on sale.
The Film
TQ POLYPHONY with Pearl & Dean (Trinidad and in liaison with Handstand Productions (UK) are making an ongoing film of TQ POLYPHONY’s productions.
For this “Round About Midnight” tour, a film of Beckett’s exhibition “Like an Angels Wing” (the line taken from one of Maldonado’s poems) will be projected simultaneously with the musical and poetry performance so that the audience can fully participate in the aural and visual connection between the arts.
Workshop
Alongside the performance aspect of the production, TQ POLYPHONY’s workshops on music, art & poetry with schools will take place on Friday, May 25 from 10:00 h at the Umana Yana.
Interested participants must register by calling 624-8694 /226-2040 or collecting forms from Nigels Supermarket or Oasis Café.