The Tribune

By LAMECH JOHNSON

Tribune Staff Reporter

ljohnson@tribunemedia.net

KIM ARANHA wants to show the nation and the world the prowess of Bahamian theatre, another aspect of Bahamian culture, other than Junkanoo, and the positive impact theatre can have in curbing juvenile delinquency.

The producer of the Yellowtale Theatre Company revealed these goals to The Tribune at the week-long premiere of Hibiscus Hotel, by playwright Robin Belfield, which concludes on Saturday at the Jacaranda House on Parliament Street.

The play, which took 18 months to produce, takes a comic look at the family-run hotel on a fictional family island. At its heart is Eli, the owner of what once was the most glamorous hotel in the Bahamas, with his head stuck in the “good ol’ days”, questioning whether he can hold his business, family and himself together.

At Sunday’s screening of the play, the performance was well received by the scores of theatre lovers and Mrs Aranha said she couldn’t be more proud to be a Bahamian.

“I am so proud of being a Bahamian when I see the incredible talent,” she said with a smile.

“It’s (Hibiscus Hotel) written by a Bahamian. It’s directed by a Bahamian, produced by a Bahamian with four Bahamian actors in it. I think that I would like to prove to the world that, as much as I admire and respect Junkanoo, Junkanoo is not our only culture,” she added.

“We have a lot of other cultures needed to be showcased and I would like to take this play to England,” she said.

Deputy Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis, was among the theatregoers and had nothing but praise for Mrs Aranha, the cast and the rest of the production team.

“I give kudos to the producer, Kim Aranha and her team,” he said. “You have Bahamians who are abroad doing well, came home and put on a totally-Bahamian show and the lines in the show are so reflective of where we are and where we come from.”

“I can tell you every Bahamian, from every corner of our society, can identify with a line or some lines within this whole play and that was what was so amazing about the whole story.”

Mr Davis is of the view that Hibiscus Hotel “can become a Broadway production.”

“I think this is a Broadway production and hope that we can see more performances like these being produced on a regular basis,” he said.

Mrs Aranha said theatre, “a very important way of self-expression”, could be very impactful “if we had theatre workshops in all the government schools.”

“We would have less gangs because I feel that children join gangs because they have no family support or sense of belonging. In some cases, the children don’t know who their father is and then there are some with mothers having to find ways to support multiple children on a small amount of income or none at all,” she said.

“If we had theatre workshops in every one of our government schools, they could be expressing themselves through plays and playwriting.

“They could be building sets, they could be doing the sound production, they could be doing the lightening, they could do costumes, they could be writing the play.”

Mrs Aranha concluded that she and the company were dedicated to “do whatever we can to make it happen” because theatre “is extremely important to this country.”

• Hibiscus Hotel reviewed, see Arts and Entertainment.