A scene from the theatrical presentation
“Berbice Uprising 1763-2013”, an entertaining dramatic musical production of modern-day people time travelling back to 1763 and playing critical roles in the Berbice Slave Rebellion, will premiere at the Berbice High School auditorium on Friday, August 9, at
20:00h, with a second showing the following day.
There will be a matinee show on Saturday for children and the adults’ show will commence at 20:00h. The theatrical presentation will conclude a successful two-week commemoration of the 250th anniversary of the 1763 Berbice Slave Rebellion and 175th anniversary of emancipation.
The show will feature music diva Charmaine Blackman in the role of “Nana” (Kofi’s wife) alongside Ras Leon Saul, who plays the lead role of “Kofi Badu” aka “Cuffy”.
National and international boxing champion Clive “Punisher” Atwell is playing a double role – Dutch overseer “Vandenburg” and field slave “Samba”; while accomplished actor Max Massiah is “Akkara”. Local music icon and filmmaker Bonny Alves is the associate director and musical arranger for the production.
Experiencing the past
“Berbice Uprising 1763-2013” begins in 2013 when a Dutch family –- “Rudi van Groenewegen” and his wife “Satayana” (Jenny Langevine) along with their teenage daughter “Yolande” (Shameeza “Jasmine” Wong), who are involved in eco-tourism, visit Guyana on an exploratory trip to set up an eco-tourist resort.
The group is met by “Kofi-I Badu” at the Museum of African Heritage in Georgetown. He is a tourist guide who shows them around and introduces the family to “Sister Roots” (Queen Nzingha) –- the curator of the museum, along with her Congo Nya drummers.
After drinking a herbal concoction prepared by Sister Roots and becoming affected by the throbbing music of the African drummers, Kofi-I and the tourists fall into a stupor and meet up with the past.
They experience a transcendental situation where they find themselves experiencing firsthand the event that decided Kofi’s leadership of the uprising – the decisive moment when the enslaved Africans in the Dutch slave colony of Berbice, led by Kofi Badu, take destiny into their hands and decide to rebel… rising up at Plantations Lilienburg and Magdalenenburg. When they return to the present, they are convinced of their destiny 250 years after the uprising.
Sponsors who have supported the stage play in a major way are the Berbice Bridge Company Inc, Mohamed’s Enterprise; Spicy Dish; the Museum of African Heritage; and the Council of Friends of New Amsterdam (COFONA).
Tickets for the event cost $1000 for adults and $500 for children, and can be uplifted at COFONA’s office in the New Amsterdam Town Hall.
By Guyana Times