Government will be introducing a community drama programme to give persons across the country an opportunity to hone their skills.
Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley made the disclosure recently as she addressed the closing ceremony for the Blu Escape Arts & Culture, Community and Technology Summer Programme, at the Errol Barrow Centre for Creative Imagination, The University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus.
Ms. Mottley told her audience: “I am now about to approve a community drama programme. Why? Because this country has lost the art of being able to produce productions at the community level and at the national level.
“And we’re going to go through step-by-step … to make sure that we create the opportunities, not just in our schools but in our communities, in sports and artistic activities because…even if you don’t end up doing this for a living, you have an appreciation and a discipline that makes you a stronger, better, more empathetic, more disciplined person, and this is to make you the best that you can be.”
Sixty young people between the ages of 10 and 17 participated in the two-week pilot programme, hosted by a number of partners, including Cirque de Soleil, 7 Fingers Circus, Square Circle, and Government. The campers showcased their newly acquired skills in acting, juggling, dancing and clowning, among others, during the closing ceremony.
The Prime Minister stressed the importance of the camp, saying: “When you create an environment where people can emerge as artistes and sports people, you [have a situation where they] are global citizens with Bajan roots….”
Minister of State in the Office of the Attorney General, Corey Lane, described it as an empowerment camp, while stating “we are in a new day and we have to do things in a new way”.
Mr. Lane continued: “This represents one of the new ways of doing things, particularly with the young people taking arts and culture [and] merging it with technology in this new day, in this new way.” He told the young people they had been given a pioneering role within this sector, and urged them to be ambassadors for the programme.