Empire fallen (1)

DEAR READERS, permit me to don my historian’s (if I can dare call myself so) cap for a short while to talk, briefly, about something that is not in vogue at this time in our history and maybe never be again, what with all the various types of entertainment around, especially those facilitated by the digital technology that has infused most of our daily lives.

I do so with an agenda in mind which will be revealed in the end. In this endeavour, I must give considerable credit (to say the least) to the late great Warren Alleyne, a national treasure if there ever was one, whose research I drew on heavily for this piece. Onward!

It may not be very apparent from the current cultural landscape, but historically speaking, Barbados has had a long theatre tradition (in this instance, we are talking about the Shakespeare/ Frank Collymore variety, not the Jet Li/Arnold Schwartzenegger type!).

Apparently, that was not so much the case in the very early stages of the island’s colonial history: one would imagine that the early settlers were to be busy trying to denude the island of vegetation, and setting up the plantations from which they would, in many cases, derive considerable wealth.

It seems it was only well into the 18th century (1700s) that theatre started to be a “thing” with one of the early beneficiaries of that being no less a person than George Washington. During his visit to the island in 1751-52, he saw a play called the Tragedy Of George Barnwell at a venue he did not name, but was suspected to have been a place called the Bridgetown Playhouse.

That, along with hundreds of other buildings, was destroyed in the big fire of 1766. Pervading economic difficulties in the island for several years after essentially halted the putting on of any major public entertainments.

It was only from 1783 with the opening of the Patagonian Theatre in James Street that theatrical activity, with the putting on of plays and concerts, got going again. Thereafter, over the next century and a half, several other theatres opened, primarily in Bridgetown, but also in Speightstown and in the Garrison area.

Several companies

These included, but were, by no means limited to, the Temple Theatre (1807) in Reed Street, Theatre Royal (1812), Lyceum Amateur Theatre (1830) and, notably, Marshall’s Hall (1861) on Hincks Street (yes, that building that is still there has been around for quite a while).

These venues were the home of several theatre companies with such names as the Lyric Amateur Company, the New Amateur Dramatic Society and the Tonic Sol Fa Society.

So, there were theatres located at various places around Bridgetown. Readers may also be interested in knowing where theatres were almost located. One such place was what is now Jubilee Gardens.

In 1882, a company called the Assembly Rooms Association Ltd had an interest in setting up a theatre in The City. It went about securing the funding for the venture and petitioned the Legislature for the said site with the intention of locating the property there.

The lease was granted in exchange for a nominal sum, and for a period of 500 years! So, it is entirely possible that that area might look considerably different today. However, for some unknown reason, the project did not materialise and the company itself went of business in 1886.

Theatre was taken quite seriously then, with local performances being given across several seasons at the respective venues, with some Bridgetown-based companies even going out from their homes to other venues such as the Victoria Hotel in Broad Street and Archer’s Hall in Speightstown, to perform.

Also, the theatre/concert hall spaces hosted international acts as well, such as opera companies from Italy. Local audiences were able to catch the performances of popular international classical pieces such as Handel’s Messiah and Gilbert and Sullivan’s H.M.S. Pinafore.

Despite the substantial interest of local people (meaning those who could afford it – middle-class whites and free coloured people), many of these operations did not survive for particularly long periods, falling victim to financial difficulties for various reasons, or to destruction by disasters.

In fact, by the waning years of the 1800s, the most significant theatre taking place was at what was the Commissariat Stores of the local garrison located on Bay Street, where the Garrison Dramatic Club put on productions from 1893 until 1905. That was when the British troops left, and the building was bought a few years later by the company we know today as the Barbados Light & Power Co Ltd.

Next: The story of the Empire. Randy Batson is a researcher, social commentator and social advocate. Email ranric1@hotmail.com