Tobago Heritage Festival: From Oral Performances To Modern Theatre
Productions for the Tobago Heritage Festival have evolved significantly over the years, incorporating modern technology and the expertise of those with theatre backgrounds.
But did you know the festival’s earliest productions were performed without scripts?
The Tobago Heritage Festival is set to begin in just a few days, once again inviting audiences to travel from village to village and experience elaborate productions that bring Tobago’s rich history and traditions to life.
Although modern technology and theatre training have transformed the festival’s productions, cultural stalwart Annette Alfred recalls that when the event began 39 years ago, scripts were not used.
« Sometimes they didn’t write, they did it orally and they did it over and over and you learned your lines. Les Coteaux does that too, they never used to write 19:06 maybe the other villages who had people who read and learn to write somewhere go and they wrote, but the first set of people did it more like an oral thing and they kept on doing it over and over and you put it together. »
She recalled that when the festival began in 1987, people were eager to get on board.
With limited funding available from the Tobago House of Assembly at the time, many community members volunteered their time, talents and resources to produce various events.
« Those days we ain’t studying about no lighting, fancy lighting, and trussing and all them fancy things. We just wanted to get our idea, our story over to the onlookers. »
Over time, more structure was introduced into the festival. With larger budgets, the ability to include lighting, sound, better props and video production in the performances made for a better viewing experience. Even though most of the plays are now scripted, there is still a lot of improvisation happening on stage.
