January 2, 2005 – Pistarckle Theater will present Salt Fish and Bakes on Jan. 28, 2005. Mr. Lawrence will direct and will be on island from Jan. 3-28. He is available for interviews. Salt Fish and Bakes has been produced extensively in the U.S. to enormous acclaim by the critics. The play addresses issues pertinent to the Virgin Islands.
Lawrence, born in the Caribbean country of Guyana, began collecting stories from his 95-year-old grandmother several years ago. These stories inspired him to create this comic drama, based on his family's life in Guyana and his transition to living in America.
According to Lawrence, "Food in Guyana is-like everywhere-the glue that holds family together. My granny nurtured everyone with her food, as she did while tending to my aunt. That's the beginning and the center of this story."
"Salt Fish and Bakes is a theatrical tribute to a Guyanese matriarch as seen through the lens of her mischievous grandson. The embodiment of this family's love, discipline, cuisine, and pride, Granny tends to an ailing daughter while preparing a traditional dish, salt fish and bakes, which she will serve to the ancestors as soon as they arrive. As the stage is filled with the smells, sights, and sounds of this distinctive meal, Granny conjures and corrals the memories of her rascally grandchildren, Susan, Patrice, Kibian, and Gavin.
Adult actors traverse time and continents as they look back and reenact their formative years as Guyanese youngsters under the tutelage and watchful eye of their matron. Granny metes out Caribbean family justice as pranks, escapades, and capers are exposed. Propelled by driving rhythms of reggae, calypso, and ska, Gavin Lawrence directs his own family's saga from South to North America, a legacy filled with West Indian humor and human pathos."
"Propelled by rhythms of the Caribbean, this theatrical journey from South to North America is Lawrence's own family's saga, a legacy filled with West Indian humor and pathos. The tale revolves around a 92-year-old matriarch, the embodiment of the family's love, discipline, cuisine, and pride, who tends to an ailing daughter while preparing a traditional Guyanese dish – salt fish and bakes. As the stage fills with the smells, sights, and sounds of this distinctive meal, Granny conjures and corrals her rascally grandchildren, meting out Caribbean family justice as pranks, escapades and capers are exposed.
Performances are Jan. 27, 28, 29, Feb. 4, 5, 11, 12, 17, 18, 19 2005 at 8:00 pm at Pistarckle Theater in Tillett Garden. Call 775-7877 to book tickets.
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