THE FOURTH Caribbean Schools Drama Festival (CSDF) slated to be held in Jamaica, from November 18 to 25 is at risk of being cancelled. So said the chairman of the voluntary organising committee, Quindelle Ferguson.
"Jamaica has been asked to host the festival this year, but sadly, the level of private, public and NGO support has made it very difficult to finalise the plans," she told The Gleaner.
She further stated that the Ministry of Education had given the amount promised to assist with the $2 million budget and that portion would go towards food and transportation for the 120 participants.
She lamented the fact that contributions from the private sector had been slow in coming in.
"I am appealing to business large and small to assist us in whatever way they can," Miss Ferguson said.
Every two years one of the participating Caribbean territories is asked to host students from the region attending the festival. This year eight Caribbean countries have confirmed the participation of their second-year students of performing arts in the festival in Jamaica.
Passionate practitioners
According to the committee chairman: "We are passionate practitioners of dramatic arts, many of our members are prominent actors, script writers, drama tutors and technical theatre practitioners who got our start in the 51-year-old Secondary Schools Drama Festival.
"We are appealing for support of this fact approaching festival, that will serve to develop young practitioners and a further appreciation of the dramatic arts."
Jamaica has met with a great deal of success in the past three festivals, hosted by the Governments of Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana. In 1994, a contingent of Jamaican students performed at the first Caribbean Schools Drama festival. Their entry, The Culprit received the award for best production and five acting awards.
In 1996 Jamaica presented Trevor Rhone's Old Story Time at the second festival, which received awards for best costume and four acting awards. In 1988, The Runaway was staged at the National Cultural Centre hosted by the Government of Guyana. That production received the award for best production and five acting awards.
