Photos & Video: “Emancipation: A Love Story”

December 4, 2013

Local secondary school students — who will be representing Bermuda in the Caribbean Secondary School Drama Festival in Barbados — held a preview of their play entitled Emancipation: A Love Story, written by Dr. Kim Dismont Robinson and directed by Alan C. Smith.

The preview performance was held on Sunday [Dec 1] at the Berkeley Institute, featuring a cast of talented students from The Bermuda High School, Berkeley Institute, CedarBridge Academy, Saltus Grammar School, Somersfield Academy and Warwick Academy.

According to the programme [PDF], “The play is a powerful work of historical fiction, offering a glimpse into the physical and psychological experiences of the Africans who eventually became African-Bermudians during the course of a transatlantic experience that begins in Angola more than 500 years ago.”

The programme said, “The Ministry of Education received an invitation to participate in the Caribbean Secondary School Drama Festival [CSSDF] and approached The Bermuda Shakespeare Schools Festival [BSSF] to coordinate a Bermuda cast for the CSSDF Festival.

“The Ministry knew the work of BSSF and were aware of the committee’s desire to establish a relationship
with drama programmes in Caribbean schools. The BSSF Committee selected Alan C. Smith as the director.

“He proposed to mount an abridged version of the play by Dr. Kim Dismont Robinson, Emancipation: A Love Story, a docudrama about Bermuda’s History. Through auditions, a national cast was formed representing students [who have participated in the BSSF Festivals] from six of the local high schools [public and private].

“This has been a remarkable collaborative effort through the Ministry of Education, BSSF, Director, playwright, the ‘all-school’ audition and The Department of Community and Cultural Affairs. This production has produced a new version and interpretation of an original Bermuda play performed by a Bermuda National Schools cast.

“We are proud to be presenting this play at the CSSDF Festival. Further, these young actors will be ambassadors for Bermuda participating in a Youth Forum and giving a presentation about Bermuda’s culture in one of the schools in Barbados.”

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