Relive Diary of Confinement

On a rainy windswept night in rural Tobago a cast of 16 actors braved the elements and the gods of circumstance to present the Diary of Confinement, Shango Baku’s retrospective drama of the 1970s. The play revives the Black Power uprising that shook the nation in its eighth year of Independence. Death Row prisoner Andy Thomas provides the focus for this evocative docudrama. Three years previously the Diary had premiered at the same venue, Goodwood High School, with almost the same cast. Major roles were played by Thabiti, Errol “Blood” Roberts, Helmer Hilwig and Shango Baku. This time round Thunder Sowevhi took on the role of Narrator in place of the project’s administrator, Theodora Ulerie. The Tobago Drama Guild’s (TDG’s) young ensemble again invigorated the piece with eye-catching performances: Antonio “Chiller” Franklyn as the Black Power leader, Amanda Gregg and Sheena Nelson as Desperate Housewives and Teneriffe Mapp as the prison psychiatrist. Thabiti’s riveting portrayal of long-term prisoner Andy Thomas anchors the piece.

 

 

Teneriffe Mapp’s sensitively etched psychiatrist provides the perfect foil for the play’s opening encounter, and sets the tone for Baku’s wordy drama. Baku plays himself, a crusading Rastafarian journalist fighting for Thomas’ release. His character unfolds in a series of fascinating two-handers with the prisoner, the Attorney General, (ably played by “Blood” Roberts, a manipulating Minister with political savvy) and Helmer Hilwig as a passionate Archbishop defending the Church against slander and detraction. Tony Hall’s well-crafted direction is underscored by the late Wilfred Woodley’s expressively subdued soundtrack, specially written for the play. As the curtain came down an audience of 100 cheered appreciatively, then remained rooted to their seats. Stage manager Cherryll Uzoruo improvised, introducing key figures in the collaborative production between TDG, Culture House (Trinidad) and UK-based charity CETTIE.