BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – THE importance of proper and timely parental guidance in molding the lives of youths was one of the issues brought to the fore during the first presentation of Nubian Arts Production’s “Crossroads”.
The event, which was organised in conjunction with the Kiwanis Club Liamuiga, was held at the Sir Cecil Jacobs Auditorium at the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank.
Before dozens of patrons, the cast, by use of an intricate blend of humour, dance and theatrics, explained how situations and circumstances, though varied, can have parallel outcomes which are dependent upon the choices one makes.
The play featured two families, both headed by a single, maternal parent with the main difference being one family was wealthy while the other was not. Each family had one daughter and, in the case of the wealthy family, the daughter suffered through having a mother who paid absolutely no attention to her emotional needs and allowed her no leeway in making life’s decisions.
The daughter of the other family was forced to have sexual relations with a man for her mother’s monetary gain. She too was subjected to the demands of her mother with not even a scintilla of support for the things she wished to involve herself in.
Besides cast members, a special guest made appearances in all but a couple of scenes and silently made its presence known and its effects felt; alcohol.
One of the upsides of the screen play was that the matriarchs came to their senses and decided to play a more positive role in their daughter’s lives. However, the axiom “too little too late” proved true when both girls, who befriended each other, were caught in the wrong place at the wrong time and were shot dead.
Author, Director and Founder of Nubian Arts Productions, Kesha Isaac, told SKNVibes that her main aim was to make persons more aware of the social ills, some of which take place right under our noses.
“We act as though we know absolutely nothing about some of the things which are going on in society and it was my intention to open people’s eyes to the harsh realities and encourage them to address these issues openly. The people in St. Kitts and Nevis seem sheltered and it hinders us from expressing certain things. Because of that, it seems that we are emotionally detached from each other and we need this to change especially between parents and children.”
When asked why she chose to marry dance, acting and humour, Isaac indicated that the first two are two of her favourite art forms and as for the other, “I did not intentionally use humour. I just sat down and wrote the play. Whatever came to my mind I wrote and it just so happens that some of it is funny. I think this lightened the blow because I could sense that some of them were shocked by some of the things which brought to the fore.”
Isaac rated the first ever Crossroads production “a success” not only from an attendance point of view but in terms of transmission of ideas.
“It was a success. From what I gather from the other members and the students and the members of the audience, it was a success. We prepared for about two months to put on this show and they were grueling because I had to with exam schedules for both students and teachers, time constraints in terms of rehearsals and funding.
“Notwithstanding all of this, from what I have heard so far, people seem to get it and they say they have never seen anyone put it like that. I think I shocked some of the people because they say they didn’t expect some of the things which we did. I believe they understood what we were trying to portray.”
Isaac, a Performing Arts Teacher at the Basseterre Senior High School, said it is quite likely that other productions would be staged during the upcoming months so as to sensitise more persons.
