"Except for the Ramayan Ballet," said Seeta Persad, "not many people are involved in local productions in T&T." The dedicated playwright/actress intends changing this and, having written several Indian plays, has written a full script and trained 15 actors to do various roles.
The members of the Princes Town Theatre Workshop (PTTW) will be hosting Persad's latest play, Parosin � The Lady Next Door, in Central Trinidad shortly. This drama tells the story of an older woman, Sundari, played by Persad, who finds it difficult to settle down after her husband divorced her.
According to Persad: "Based in Indian culture, this play shows a woman's struggle to live on without her husband at her side. In the play she says there are no genuine men out there as we live in an age called Kali Yug (Dark Age) where everything is an illusion or maya. The play unfolds when Sundari's daughter Priya (Carol Singh) confronts her mother saying she will not be able to move on in life, leaving her mother in a huge house with no company."
Parosin � The Lady Next Door was originally written by Persad for the Prime Minister's Best Village Trophy Competition. It got tremendous reviews on social media for its Best Village staging at the South Academy for the Performing Arts (SAPA) last month.
Persad is the head of the PTTW, which was formed in 1987 with a cadre of talented young people pulled from the southern districts. Its primary objective is to promote theatrical productions with accompanying music and songs.
The group has acted as a vehicle for several talented people to showcase their abilities on several stages including the Best Village competition, Mastana Bahar, Tassarama, Teen Talent, Caribbean Tarang, and numerous productions in the Caribbean, North America and the United Kingdom.
Persad said since Parosin's southern staging, people in Central has been requesting that the play be staged there.
"It is very costly to stage a production," said Persad, "but I am making the sacrifice as its seems that no one else is doing Indian theatre in T&T. I have a strong cast of actors, drawn from the teaching and protective services.
"Theatre arts have impacted positively to instill a sense of greater confidence and communication skills in the young members of the PTTW."
Indian theatre is missing on local stages and Persad has taken up the task of filling that gap.
In the 2015 edition of the Prime Minister's Best Village Trophy Competition, the play Tulsi's Journey copped four awards, including Best Acress, Best Devotional Song and Best Story and placed fourth among 12 finalists in the theatre category.
Married to Frank Persad and the mother of two sons (Vishal and Veda), Persad is the grandmother of two. Through the years the PTTW has produced 25 plays under her guidance. They include Maya; Curse of Khekayi; Rama's Story; Raja of the Village; Sitara-Reach For A Star; Hari Narayan; Meera; Colour of the Rainbow; Mere Pyar'; Kalyani-In A Woman's World; Dekh Tamasha; Shiva's Third Eye; Mere Dil Diya; Hath Toe Se Hath; Paisa; It's All About the Money; Tulsi's Journey; Lakshman Rekha -Crossing the Line and 2016 production Parosin–The Lady Nest Door.
She said numerous artistes had benefited from their experiences and have gone on to seek employment in related fields such as public relations and advertising.
Persad's trove of trophies and awards includes trophies won for Best Costume Designer and Best Written Script; Excellence in Journalism award from the Edinburgh Hindu Temple; Best Dramatist from the National Council of Indian Culture (1994;, Personality of the Year 2013- Vedanta Society; MP for Princes Town Award for Social Work; Mandingo Road Community Could Independence Award; Rio Claro Hindu Temple Award for Religious work; San Fernando Art Council's Award for Journalism and Drama; bmobile Shiv Shakti Award for promotion of Culture; Gobio Guadeloupe Award for Promotion for Culture; Nirmal Massive Gosine Award for Journalism; Vessigny Community Council Award for Culture; and, Best Coverage for Tassa from the Tassa Association of T&T.
The cast for Parosin–the Lady Next Door includes Persad, Carol Singh, Balraj Harry, Vaneera Vkar, Varma Maharaj, Chandini Chanka, Rennie Lallan, Tracy Jagersar and Nirmala Maharaj. Bobby Mohan and the 868 workshop orchestra will provide live music with tassa drumming by Dynamix Tassa Drummers. Dances will be done by the Nrtya Shakti Dancers and the Padma Priya Dancers.
Parosin–the Lady Next Door will be staged at Gaston Courts, Chaguanas on October 1 at 6.30 pm. As a prelude to the play, 30 minutes of pre-show songs and music by Girlee Sahadeo, Frank Persad and Shalini Juteram will be performed.