Guest Book

The Visitors' Journal - Memorable Moments

 

---

This section contains visitors' Memorable Moments, letters and insight from visitors about theater, arts or whatever made their trip to Barbados one to remember and cherish.

We would love to hear about your experiences  and memories, so please send us an e-mail and your comments will be added to this growing collection of Memorable Moments!

Click Here To Send Us Your Comments

Discover These Memorable Moments!
Theatre Moments!	Music Moments!	Activities Moments!	Special Moments!

Theatre Moments

Storytelling

They came from all over the Caribbean, Trinidad, Jamaica, The Caymans, Guyana, Antigua and Barbados. Trinidad was the best represented, many of its story tellers, like Paul Keens Douglas, are known all over the world. Paul is the brother of Michael Keens Douglas, who host the show "Cloud Nine" on CBC radio in Canada. Nine story tellers regaled us with music, rhyme, comedy and drama. An invited guest from Boston, John Porcino, told a wonderful tail of the wisdom of an old jewish rabbi. The prose was so lyrical that the story slid into and out of song at ever turn.

My favorite storyteller was Amina Blackwood Meeks. Yes, West Indian storytellers have ample names. Amina lives in Antigua, and her accent, slow and del_iber_ ate, was strikingly different to the Bajans and the Trinis, particularly the Trinis with their sharp, machine gun fast, razor sharp twang. Amina was the most dramatic speaker, a deep rich voice punctuated the words. Terse, tight irony, contrasted with the others lighter verse. Her comedy was never light, it was passionate.

Dey is telling we, dat, we is a developing nation. How a nation does develop. We should put a big sign up by de airport, "Dis Island Under Construction". Or better still, "Future Site of ---". And dem big belly exec- cute-ive, acome from world organisation wit dey brief case and dey belly full of reco-men-day-tion....Dey coming to reco-men, we caint sell no more ripe banana cas, dem no tink de skin look like how dey does tink de skin should look like, before a little Caribbean sun ketch it.

Black people na have no shame. Why Ono dont just pack up and leave. Ono bad word cussing, water selling, goat peddling, good for nothing, lazy infestation. Ono is not include in the all inclusive, non productive, coconut drinking, fun seeking, beach combing, disinfected, sunblocked, sunstroked, sun worshippers, from all de places too numerous to mention... but I know dat.
 

Comedy Theater

We went to "Pampalam". I thought it would be overacted and envisioned loud Bajans shouting out their lines. In fact it was very sensitive. At one point a young man transformed himself into an 80 year old, with only the aid of a hat. His face took on a slightly grim look, his actions and words were slow and deliberate. He became the 80 old he played, silent knowing looks, a slow nodding of the head and vacant stares, took the place of words. He was good. The play was all in verse and song. A tribute to the poetry of the West Indies. West Indians talk in prose;

"Politicians are so full of air, dey does open up dey mouth, before dey put dey mind in gear".

The play was about gossip, local folks meeting at the bus stop or the park to lime and old talk about the days events and other people's lives. Mostly, quite malicious talk about the friends who were not there. The audience was spontaneous, and because it was in verse, they often anticipated the lines and shouted them out, laughing in advance of the joke. A big black woman seated beside me, clapped her hands and slapped my leg with a hearty "Yey brother..., alright man". Very disconcerting really to Mother and I, the only whites in a sea of beaming black faces. "Give it to him sister", she shouted as one character encountered her husband telling tales behind her back. I was not able to participle to the full extent, but I did laugh out loud, now and again.

---

A Caribbean Christmas

Pavarotti Performs at Holders Hill

Hey !! I saw Pavarotti performing at Holder Hill in Barbados. I was sitting on a rug with my picnic basket and my sparkling wine and lovely company. Sitting under the stars on the wide open polo field. Imagine it !. There were shooting stars in the sky that night and he sang loud and strong across the field and to the sky. It was magical. Just beyond your Imagination !