 ROBERT
"Bobby" CLARKE
Robert Clarke is a graduate of the Edna Manley College for the
Visual and Performing Arts. He first came to Pantomime as a
dancer in "Ginneral B" and went on to perform in five
other pantomimes. His acting credits include JBC Tv's "Junction"
and on stage - "God Spell", "Man Talk" and
"One of Our Sons is Missing". As a director he has
several plays under his belt including "Jack and the Gungoo
Tree", "Nuff Respect for Nature", and "The
Rose Slip". His directing credits for the Pantomime include
Jangah Rock, Miss
Annie, Comboluh,
Iffa Nuh So, Zu-Zu
Macca and Nuff
and Plenty.
Bobby has also worked in radio as presenter and producer. He
is currently on the staff of the Edna Manley College's School
of Drama.
 BOBBY
GHISAYS
Bobby Ghisays was well known as a director, actor, and television
host. He directed three pantomimes - "Johnny Reggae",
The Pirate Princess" and "Ginneral B". Bobby
covered everything from opera to drama, musicals to melodrama,
revues to comedies. He also directed television commercials
and radio jingles.
Bobby was trained at the Holy Cross College in Massachusetts
where he gained a B.A. in English Literature and at the the
Royal Academy of Arts. His local credits include "Annie
Get Your Gun", "Come Blow Your Horn", Eight O'Clock
Jamaica Time", "Come Back to Jamaica" and "the
Dread Mikado". In 1980 he was invited by Black Theatre
Canada to direct Lorraine Hansberry's classic "Raisin in
the Sun". That was his second stint with Black Theatre
Canada. In 1976, he had been invited to co-write and direct
the revue "Bathurst Street."
As an actor, he was in "Old Story Time", and the BBC
Film "The Fight Against Slavery" and in two Pantomimes
namely the revival of "Queenie's Daughter" and "Pirate
Princess". After giving many years to Jamaican theatre,
Bobby Ghisays died in 1990.
 Brian
Heap
Brian Heap is English-born but Jamaican by assimilation. A graduate
teacher from the University of Newcastle on Tyne/University
of Leeds he has shared his special skills in drama in education
and therapy with a wide audience in Jamaica. He has worked as
regional coordinator for Very Special Arts, an international
programme which seeks to enrich the lives of the disable through
involvement in the performing arts. His classroom years include
work at St. Joseph's Teacher Training College, and he was Director
of Studies at the School of Drama (Edna Manley College). Brian
is a senior lecturer at the UWI, Mona, and Artistic Director
of the University Players.
His theatre credits include appearing in "Raisin in the
Sun", Trevor Rhone's "School's Out", Louis Marriott's
"Bedward" and Derek Walcott's "Remembrance",
and in the pantomimes "Pirate
Princess", and "Bruckins".
His deep interest in Jamaican Folk Culture and extensive travels
throughout the island has given him particular insight into
the taste and flavour of Jamaican life, a quality which he uses
to great advantage as a director. Brian has directed 15 pantomimes
and the acclaimed Augus
Mawnin.
Norman Rae
Norman Rae a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, studied at
Oxford University and London University . He returned to Jamaica
and was actively involved in the theatre scene as a director
and as a critic where he wrote reviews for the Daily Gleaner
and the Jamaica Observer. He was awarded a silver Musgrave Medal
for his contribution to Jamaican theatre. He also produced a
radio serial "A Time to Remember".
Rae’s credits include The Fantastiks, A Funny Thing on
the Way to the Forum, and most recently Into the Woods at the
Ward Theatre. He directed four pantomimes, Anancy and Doumbey,
Hail Columbus, Dickance for Fippance and Brashana O!
Lloyd Reckord
Lloyd Reckord studied at eh Bristol Old Vic Theatre School in
England and was invited to join the Old Vic Company where he
appeared in productions of "Romeo and Juliet" and
"The Merchant of Venice". He later directed plays
in England at the Royal Court Theatre, London, the Pembroke
Theatre, Croydon and The Tower Theatre, Islington. On his return
to Jamaica he wrote and directed two short films and television
documentaries for the BBC. He founded the Actors Theatre Company
and the National Theatre Trust which went onto present several
plays and foreign films to the Jamaican audience.
His directing credits include the pantomimes Busha Bluebeard,
Finian's Rainbow, Queenie's Daughter
and Sipplesilver.
.
• Timeline •
Home • History |
