Three actresses spice up local theatre
Stage fright is not an option for local acting group, the Drama Queens. Loving the spotlight and the adrenaline that comes with acting in front of a huge audience, the ‘queens’ of drama are bringing something different to theatre in Guyana.
Three years ago, notable actresses Lloyda Nicholas, Leslyn Fraser and Tashandra Inniss decided to form the group.
“It was not planned or discussed, just three friends referring to themselves as ‘Drama Queens’ because of our own personal issues that we were going through. Since three of us lived for the stage, we saw it fit to start our own production company, and since then it has been nothing short of drama,” Tashandra revealed to Guyana Times Sunday Magazine.
Together, the dramatists successfully produced their debut show “Love & Madness” last year. It was a “raunchy” production that highlighted different relationship issues.
“Acting was never something I dreamt of doing, but I wanted to challenge myself to be bold. My first role was in Errol John’s “Moon on a rainbow Shawl” where I played a prostitute named Mavis. But because I was so green, I felt I did no justice to ‘Mavis’. Give me that script now and Mavis would come alive!” Tashandra recalled.
Although acting comes naturally, Tashandra, an actor for six years, has seized every opportunity to develop herself. She has received training at the Carifesta Acting Workshop, is an active member of Theatre Guild Workshop and is currently a student at the National School of Theatre.
A playwright and director, Tashandra has written and directed “A Darker Side” for last year’s Drama Festival. In 2012, she wrote her first play “Till Death”, which won in the ‘Open Short Plays’ category at the National Drama Festival Awards.
“With the friends I have, I am constantly reminded of how talented I am; but with every character I do, I try my best to portray it as if it were me sitting in the audience and judging myself,” she pointed out.
Speaking with another drama queen, Leslyn Fraser stated she has been acting for more than 28 years and loves every moment on stage.
“My mother always thought I was very dramatic as a child, so when she heard that Harold Bascom was doing an August holiday workshop on acting, she sent me and I fell in love with it. I was only 10 years old at the time,” she recalled.
Leslyn’s debut was in the play “Old Firewood”, written and directed by Harold Bascom.
Drama queen Lloyda Nicholas recalled when she was 7 years old, her mother took her to see “Moon on a Rainbow Shawl” at Theatre Guild. She reminisced that she was entranced by the world created onstage, and knew at that moment acting was her calling.
In addition to acting, Lloyda is also a spoken word artist.
In preparing to go on stage, Lloyda disclosed she does a breathing exercise to calm her as she reviews her script.
“But when I step on stage it is like a light comes on inside me, and the character I am portraying takes over. To be an actor you have to be willing to learn with each production you are in. You have to be willing to go through the process of putting off yourself and putting on and growing into becoming the character. You have to be committed to what you are doing and be disciplined. Generally, while you are in a production your whole life is consumed by it,” noted the actress.
Lloyda is currently in the process of completing two new plays.
The Drama Queens are excited about their upcoming second production, “7 Deadly Sins”.
“Since we’re all passionate about the arts, we would like to see our company prosper in this aspect. We have no intention of biting off more than we can chew but just enough to keep Drama Queens alive,” Tashandra declared. (Guyana Times Sunday Magazine)
