The name Penelope Spencer is synonymous with drama.
Officially, she has been an actress for approximately 20 years. But she was “thrown” into the theatrical spotlight long before that.
“I was always dancing, and I like to talk plenty,” she chortled.
“I always had something to say, and my teacher at Pleasantville Junior Secondary at the time said, ‘Go and join the drama class.’”
Unfortunately, that year, she was not chosen for a role in the play they were doing.
“But I’m so determined,” the lead actress of Mary Could Dance fame told WE.
“I went back the next year, and I got a really good part.”
But even before that, the foundation for her entrance into the theatre world was laid.
“I think Best Village was my school, my education in theatre. I started off as a dancer.” Spencer was enrolled in the Arawak Dance Group when she was about nine years old.
“I’ve always gotten thrown into these things somehow.”
Over the years, Spencer came into her own as a playwright, actress, director and producer—skills she credits to her determination, love for learning and the people who willingly gave of their time and talent to mentor her.
“I admired how Tony Hall and Raymond Choo Kong were able to act, direct, and produce all one man alone. I admired people like Christine Johnson from the Baggasse Company. She was the woman, chief cook and bottle washer…And she was the only person saying, ‘You know what, I’m going to give you money for your transport’ because I was coming from San Fernando to Port-of-Spain. She was a mentor to me. I loved her.”
Actor and voice coach, Sonya Moze, Spencer said, was another one of the many people who took her under their wings and helped her to get to where she is in the industry today.
“I remember one workshop I had with Efebu Wilkinson (Dr Lester), who totally is one of my mentors and role models. I was about maybe 19, 20, and he asked, ‘Who wants to act?’ I put up my hand. ‘Who wants to direct?’ I put up my hand. ‘Who wants to produce?’ I put up my hand. He said, ‘Okay, Penny, you can’t do everything.’”
But she did, and now, a thespian within her own rights, she sees it fit to give back through her work with the young people who attend her Necessary Arts Production classes. She facilitates theatre art workshops covering basic acting, acting for screen and voice training. The Port-of-Spain school was founded in 2002 by Naima Thompson and Lydia Ledgerwood, and through her work there, Spencer, the mentee, has become the mentor.
“You know, the first time somebody used that word to me, I was like, ‘What? Me? Mentor?’ I couldn’t understand that somebody looked up to me and admired me and was able to see how I work and respected that. So that was eye-opening to me.”
Spencer has also been teaching drama and storytelling, and creative writing at Newton Girls’ for over two decades.
“But I didn’t think anybody looked up to me, so that is a wonderful feeling now,” she beamed.
“This means that young people want to emulate me, so I have to be responsible, because they’re watching.”
She offers classes for young people ages six to 17, with two cycles a year.
“And we don’t limit it to acting. We talk about everything in life, and I give my advice.”
But although that was not what Necessary Arts was set out to be, Spencer is pleased that after so many people have given of their time and talent to her, she can pay it forward to the future of theatre in T&T.
“Necessary Arts will always be a vehicle for young people to find themselves. Obviously, we do an acting course, but it is one of the vehicles that could open you to everything, to life.
People come there to learn how to communicate. People come there to learn how to act. People come there to learn how to find friends.”
She said some of the participants are from children’s homes, but no one would know because of the way in which the programmes are structured.
“Because the idea is for us to be together doing something we love without prejudice, without envy, to stimulate minds. Our motto is ‘stimulating minds through artistic expressions.’”
Spencer recalled that in the years leading up to establishing herself in the theatre world, she had to fight for everything.
“Coming from San Fernando to Port-of-Spain, as a single mother, sometimes I had to go on the highway and ‘mop a drop’ as we used to say long time. Because most times I would only have $10, and that was to go back home.”
But she believes these experiences helped her become the fighter she is.
“And that’s being part of a mentor; fight for what you really want. That is what I always tell my young people.”
Being realistic is another part of the task she has taken on when guiding juvenile participants. She believes that knowing their limitations is key, and tactfully channels those not cut out for acting in a different direction.
“I see a lot of people who really want to act, but I don’t think they’re ready or it’s for them. But I’m finding ways to tell them to help them go into something else. That can be challenging sometimes.”
Spencer relies heavily on her spirituality to get her through the tough times—a coping mechanism she said she didn’t come to understand until later in life.
“I may not have seen it then, but I think God protected me in all these years. Imagine me at 17, 18, mopping a drop on the highway from San Fernando to Port-of-Spain. Who knows what could have happened?”
For her, the drama and bacchanal of theatre are what she lives for, and it takes care of her.
“A lot of our parents think it’s only good for a hobby, but the arts are a viable source of income. I do it full-time, and I live. I have my own car, I travel, I do vacations. I’m an artist. I write, I act, I direct, I produce, I cast. It’s a wonderful field, and I love how I’ve seen young people whom I teach grow.”
