Philip Sherlock, UWI campus, facilitates ‘Graffiti’

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Jamaica Youth Theatre (JYT) will present its production for 2010 at the Philip Sherlock Centre for the Creative Arts on the University of the West Indies, Mona campus from September 10-12.

This year, the group will restage the piece, Graffiti, – performed at the Contacting the World Inter-national Theatre Exchange in the United Kingdom in July of this year.

Graffiti: From Walls to Stage tackles local and international issues affecting today’s youth. Issues such as the Armadale fire, happenings in Tivoli Gardens and the Israel/Palestine war, are just some of those the production deals with.

This is done through poetry, dub rhythms, dance, song and multimedia.

The Graffiti idea came about through cultural exchange with the Radiator Factory Crew from Denmark, JYT’s twin company, when it was realised that the youth in both countries have much to say against those societal institutions and individuals they view as oppressive.

The common themes expressed by actual graffiti were transformed into theatrical pieces written and directed by JYT members.

In Graffiti, there is the cry for oneness, equality, children safety and the celebration of the power of reggae music to unite people across borders.

JYT is a group of young performers from diverse sections of the island. JYT was formed in 2004 with students who had received acting awards at the annual Secondary Schools Drama Festival, which is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year.

Awards

Current membership includes students at both secondary and tertiary level, from urban and rural communities.

In 2007, JYT received the Prime Minister’s Youth Award for Excellence in Arts and Culture. After staging Errol Hill’s Man Better Man, the group received an Actor Boy Award for Best Drama.

Group member Danar Royal was nominated for Best Choreography (2008). In 2008 and 2009, the group participated in the annual tertiary-level theatre competition ‘Tallawah’, receiving several awards.

The group has represented Jamaica at the biennial Caribbean Schools Drama Festival a number of times and has kept walking away with the award for Best Production.

JYT’s latest project was the Contacting the World theatre festival in July, which took place in Manchester, England,with companies from the United States, Switzerland, Denmark, Amsterdam, South Africa, The United Kingdom, Indonesia and Iran. JYT did the last performance of the festival, leaving the audience stunned and begging for more: “Jamaica Youth Theatre’s Graffiti was an extremely polished performance.” (review by Poppy Helm).

A special high-school performance will take place on Friday, September at 1 p.m.. Pre-sale group discounts are available.

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