The Tribune

“TO enter a theatre for a performance is to be inducted into a magical space, to be ushered into the sacred arena of the imagination.” – Simon Callow

A FRIEND recalls going to the Dundas Centre for the Performing Arts for the first time decades ago to watch a live performance of a play, returning thereafter over the years for a smorgasbord of productions ranging from dramas to musicals.

There were things he could not grasp at the young age of 12 when he first entered the Centre on Mackey Street, an oasis of sorts for cultural expression featuring Bahamian and international offerings.

But he remembers his overall impressions of the performances. They were luscious, exciting, entertaining. The roaring and stentorian voices of the lead actors filled the theatre and his imagination.

The costumes, the sets and the music transported the audience and the boy beyond The Bahamas. The vibrations of the crowd laughing together at a pratfall or crying at a moment of loss created a shared experience.

This first taste of theatre, encouraged by his mother, led to a lifetime of theatre-going at home and abroad. The Dundas was the spark.

Years later, his delight in and appreciation of theatre were enhanced by a beloved friend who had spent a lifetime in the theatre, directing, producing, crafting and managing a mosaic of performances seen by thousands.

LIFEBLOOD

Theatre is at the heartbeat and lifeblood of a healthy, developing, cosmopolitan society. Every major city in ancient Greece had at least one theatre, akin to a vital organ in the human body. “[Greek] theatre offered an experience which brought together elements of myth, ritual, religion, dance, music and literature.”

Theatre stirs empathy. It mirrors the scars, warts and goodness of a society. The performing arts promote human and cultural development, inducing pleasure and enjoyment as well as discomfort and, sometimes, revolution.

Theatre is a locus where the language of words and emotions may blend into an elixir or alchemy that often exposes souls and consciousness to unexpected revelations and transformation beyond one’s conceits, delusions, prejudices, repressions.

Theatre serves as a dynamic space promoting much more than instrumentality of the arts. There is a broader aesthetic intrigued by truth, goodness and beauty, discoverable and interrogated through comedy, satire, tragedy and other genres of life and the imagination.

Those who have poured their lifeblood into the theatre and performing arts in The Bahamas deserve our collective gratitude and deep appreciation.

But these artists, creatives and cultural entrepreneurs – past and present – deserve more than ritualistic encomiums. The Dundas and the performing arts need a flow of sustainable resources and dedicated civic and intellectual support.

The recent brouhaha over the suggestion of bringing Broadway performances to The Bahamas was a sort of unintentional set piece cum farce showcasing a desperate lack of understanding of the richness of Bahamian talent and the aspirations and needs of the performing arts communities.

In a recent presentation, “Planet Afire: Critical thinkers and literary artists, Climb Down from Olympus and Stop Fiddling While it Burns,” poetess and author Patricia Glinton Meicholas laments the paucity of greater support for the creative commons: “The Orange Economy is the new black in The Bahamas, the faux haute couture of cultural awareness.

“Nowadays, the term features heavily in the sound bites of politicians, mostly mouthed in international forums to engender respect, but not from any action-oriented conviction. Theatre arts sponsor critical but safe modelling of life to foster peace-learning.

“Yet, the National Performing Arts Centre languishes in the style of rot and doubtful utility and the Dundas struggles on chutzpah and shaky funding. The National Library is still in utero awaiting skillful, honest midwifery to breach the light of day.

“Know that the arts, philosophy and rhetoric are incubators of divergent thinkers who can take mental leaps into undiscovered realms and generate innovation. Early exposure in this regard is a gateway to genius and constructive citizenship.”

HISTORY

The history of the Dundas is recounted in part on its website, including in a piece coauthored by Dr Nicolette Bethel and Philip A Burrows.

Their plea is compelling: “All things considered, the Dundas Centre for the Performing Arts is a success. However, much remains to be accomplished… All of these improvements require one commodity which is in short supply at the Dundas — money.

“Dundas productions barely raise enough revenue to keep the theatre running, despite the donation of members’ time and personal resources.”

The website also urges: “The Dundas is entirely self-supporting. It receives no regular contributions from the Bahamian government or from corporate Bahamas. The primary source of revenue is the Winston V Saunders Theatre. Without that revenue, the Dundas may have to close its doors for good.”

The Dundas is in great need of funding for recurrent and production and capital expansion. Theatre is expensive and labour intensive.

In 1992, the annual subvention to the Bahamas National Trust was $25,000. This rose over the years culminating in 2007 to a one million dollar a year subvention by the Government of The Bahamas. The driver behind this was former Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham.

The National Trust has a statutory relationship with the Government but retains its independence in managing the national park system, a unique relationship that dates back to its inception.

The National Centre for the Performing Arts is government-owned, while the Dundas is “a private not-for-profit company set up in trust for the Bahamian people”. How might the Dundas and various performing arts groups secure greater funding?

Such groups should maintain their independence free of state control over what they wish to produce. There is a long history of governments given annual grants to non-profits.

The Dundas and the government may wish to enter into some sort of memorandum of understanding or agreement whereby the Centre is given an annual grant to support various basic recurrent costs and general staff, including a manager.

SUPPORTED

The Bahamas Government has supported the arts in various ways, though there is more that can be done in terms of enlightening officials and getting other creatives and stakeholders to become advocates on one’s behalf.

While it is necessary to hold governments accountable, it is essential to build broader community support for an institution and not mostly continuously scold government officials.

The Dundas is important to our cultural life and deserves and needs government assistance to put it on a path to greater sustainability. The National Art Gallery of The Bahamas, a public institution, may serve as an example, in some ways, for the future sustainability of the Dundas and the groups which utilize the facility.

Similar to the BNT and the NAGB, the Dundas requires greater corporate and foundation support to further dynamise the performing arts in The Bahamas. The Dundas is a “magical space” and a “sacred arena of the imagination”.

As we approach our 50th anniversary year of independence, one substantive goal is to create a medium - to long-term plan for the further development of the creative arts, including the performing and written arts.

The Dundas and the performing arts require myriad capital, including bold and creative ideas and thinking from the board and members of the Dundas on its proposed future and what it may need to do to elicit greater public and other support.

The centre will require several million over the next few years for its development and recurrent needs. There is more than enough capital in The Bahamas to realise the dreams of those who have populated the Dundas with their talents and endless drive since the opening of the Centre.

Supporting the good work of the performing arts is in our national interest. How do we now resource the work with the funds and willpower that is needed? More, in the weeks ahead.