{"id":29796,"date":"2026-05-08T19:48:49","date_gmt":"2026-05-08T23:48:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ncnguyana.com\/2023\/?p=29796"},"modified":"2026-05-08T19:48:49","modified_gmt":"2026-05-08T23:48:49","slug":"national-drama-company-presents-1823-revolt-on-may-16","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ncnguyana.com\/2023\/national-drama-company-presents-1823-revolt-on-may-16\/","title":{"rendered":"National Drama Company presents 1823 Revolt on May 16"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"fb-root\"><\/div>\n\n<p>-by Nakasia Logan<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The atmosphere at the 1823 monument will come alive in a few days as the cast of the\u00a01823 revolt reenactment prepares to transport audiences back to one of the most defining\u00a0moments in Guyana&#8217;s history.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As Guyana celebrates its 60th anniversary, the National Drama Company is preparing a\u00a0dramatic retelling of the 1823 Demerara Revolt led by national hero Jack Gladstone.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The production is expected to showcase the courage, resistance and sacrifices of enslaved\u00a0Africans who fought for freedom during the uprising.\u00a0Creative Director Ayanna Waddle explained that the reenactment was designed to educate\u00a0and inspire Guyanese, particularly younger generations, about the importance of preserving\u00a0the nation&#8217;s history and identity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;I am the co-director. Al Crichton is the writer and director, but I do work as the stage manager\u00a0and co-director of the production.\u00a0For me, it&#8217;s really bringing it alive, being part of the production. And I think through the production, I&#8217;ve learned so much more because, of course,\u00a0in his writing, Al Crichton really researched and it had so much in the story that I don&#8217;t\u00a0think we really cover within the history books.\u00a0And I felt like he brought it alive.\u00a0And so for me, it&#8217;s really a learning process,&#8221; she said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Actors participating in the production said the experience has allowed them to better\u00a0connect with Guyana&#8217;s past.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Mark Luke-Edwards, who plays the part of Jack Gladstone, said, &#8220;Happy to be part of the cause and I hope the message is well received by the audience.\u00a0And I&#8217;m glad to be instrumental in the whole celebration of our 60th. And I know the audience will be very informed and entertained.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Another actor, Frederick Minty, who plays the part of Reverend John Smith, noted that being part of the production also gave him a deeper understanding\u00a0of the revolts and the struggles faced by enslaved Africans during that period.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s going to be a task for me to bring over that character\u00a0and of that period of time,&#8221; he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The 1823 revolt remains one of the largest slave uprisings in the British colonies and\u00a0is viewed as a major turning point in the fight against slavery.\u00a0The reenactment forms part of activities commemorating Guyana&#8217;s Diamond Jubilee celebrations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>-by Nakasia Logan The atmosphere at the 1823 monument will come alive in a few days as the cast of the\u00a01823 revolt reenactment prepares to transport audiences back to one&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":29797,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[473,350],"tags":[488,370,994,412,405],"class_list":["post-29796","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment","category-news","tag-488","tag-guyana","tag-national-dance-company","tag-ncn-guyana","tag-ncn-news"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ncnguyana.com\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29796","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ncnguyana.com\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ncnguyana.com\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ncnguyana.com\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ncnguyana.com\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29796"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ncnguyana.com\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29796\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29798,"href":"https:\/\/ncnguyana.com\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29796\/revisions\/29798"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ncnguyana.com\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29797"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ncnguyana.com\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29796"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ncnguyana.com\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29796"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ncnguyana.com\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29796"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}