10 Weeks In Jamaica: Theatre Conversations from Jamaica to the World! Announces Upcoming Event

10 WEEKS IN JAMAICA: Theatre Conversations from Jamaica to the World! is a series of lively weekly discussions with Jamaica's leading theatre artists exploring the histories and memories of-and future visions for-the Jamaican stage. Produced by Boston-based international theatre production company Akiba Abaka Arts, in partnership with Kingston-based talent agency and production company RAW Management, the series has been connecting Jamaican theatre artists with a global platform of theatre makers looking to gain new knowledge, share best practices around progressive theatre-making, and engage members of the greater Caribbean Diaspora longing for familiar stories of home.

"10 Weeks in Jamaica" weekly conversations stream live each Sunday at 4 PM through Jan.3, 2021 on the Akiba Abaka Arts YouTube page here. Previous episodes are available for on-demand viewing on the same site.

The next conversation on Sunday, December 20 at 4 PM is Queer NARRATIVES FROM THE JAMAICAN STAGE and brings together a mix of theater practitioners, academicians and playwrights with Jamaican backgrounds including: Karl Williams, an award-winning actor, director and playwright who serves as Deputy Chair of the Speech, Communications and Theatre Arts Department at Borough of the Borough of Manhattan Community College/City University of New York; Webster McDonald (above, right), a Jamaican theatre practitioner and educator who is currently a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Theater and Dance at the University of Kansas; and Simone Harris, a Maroon activist, queer dance artist and business consultant. The conversation is moderated by Jamaican-American theater entrepreneur, actress and director Akiba Abaka.

Abaka says she aims to create a space where the work, the writing and the inquiry of queer people in the Jamaican theater space is celebrated. "Rather than dictate how this discussion goes, as a moderator I want the panelists to carve out the conversations they want to have," Abaka says. "We've not seen queer Jamaicans talk about their Jamaican stories. I hope viewers take from this the vital theater work and the stories being told by these artists."

Other topics are likely to arise as well, Abaka says. Noting that she and two of the three guests currently live in America, Abaka is eager for the panel to explore issues of a Jamaican artistic life abroad - is it an expansion or an exile? By offering their stories and experiences, she hopes to show another side of Jamaica's caustic homophobia -- that the country is becoming more progressive about gay issues and artists. "In a country still reconciling its colonialist past, it doesn't help to leave any groups of people behind; that doesn't move the country forward," she says. "This is going to be a really good and relevant conversation across the Caribbean."

Future programs in the series include:

Sunday, December 27, 4PM EST

LEADERS OF A NEW STAGE

Speakers: Evone Walters, Andrew Barracks and Rayon McLean

Sunday, January 3, 4PM EST

AFRO-FUTURISM AND THE JAMAICAN STAGE

Speakers: Tanya Batson Savage and Michael Holgate

More about the "10 Weeks" series:

Often seen as an ideal tropical vacation destination, the island nation of Jamaica is a tourism and cultural hub of the Caribbean best-known globally for ska and reggae music, world-class sprinters, ganja culture, sunshine and beautiful beaches. Yet, Jamaica also possesses a theatrical legacy with catalytic approaches to decolonization, language reclamation, indigenous narrative formation, community development and nation-building. As the world focuses on achieving racial equity, the rich history and contemporary narratives of the Jamaican stage provides valuable learnings for theatre practitioners and audiences in search of models and memories of progressive community-building through the arts.

"When Jamaica closed its borders to travelers earlier this year we were scheduled to be on the island to work on a new play, Bar Girl of Jamaica by Robert Johnson Jr., work with Jamaican theatre practitioners, and engage the theatre community for future collaborations" says Akiba Abaka, co-artistic director of Akiba Abaka Arts. "But the pandemic forced us, like many others, to do a major pivot and reimagine how to engage the Jamaican theatre community without being on the island".

The idea for "10 Weeks in Jamaica" came about during a virtual meeting of Jamaican theatre artists hosted by Kingston Creative, where Abaka's team met Nadean Rawlins, founder and managing director of Raw Management Agency, and Evone Walters of Artribute JA, a performing arts company. The group discussed the challenges of creating sustainable theatre in Jamaica and saw an opportunity to connect Jamaican theatre artists with the global theatre platform HowlRound at Boston's Emerson College and the Martin E. Segal Theatre Center at City University of New York, whose Executive Director Frank Hentschker, provided advised the team on bringing the series together.

"This partnership with Akiba Abaka Arts is timely because it comes at a period in our generation when the landscape of the Jamaican theatre is changing right before our very eyes," Rawlins says. "With Akiba Abaka Arts' mission to provide access to theatre practitioners to tell stories on the global stage, and RAW Management's commitment to promote Jamaican talent internationally, together we are able to contribute in reshaping the narrative of Jamaican theatre.", says Rawlins.

"HowlRound is a platform made by and for global theatre makers to connect around ideas that challenge our status quo. We couldn't be more excited to be in conversation with an incredible group of Jamaican artists and culture workers for the first time through the 10 Weeks in Jamaica project," says Jamie Gahlon, director and co-founder of HowlRound. "The possibilities for connection, inspiration, and learning that it provides embodies the power of what our virtual meeting ground can offer," Gahlon says.

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