On the evening of Saturday, February 10th, the Royal Caribbean Hotel was stirring with activity as the Sunshine Theater hosted its 19th Annual Theater Arts & Culture Awards Banquet at the resort’s ballroom.
The elegant atmosphere was marked by a distinctive sign of community support as over 200 persons, from all segments of society, presented themselves as part of an entertaining experience over a fine and sumptuous dinner aptly catered by the renowned English Rose Restaurant. But this was by no means any regular restaurant setting. It was a regal occasion with modest entertainment provided by DJ Sugar.
The formal event was chaired by Ms. Farah Banks. A fervent prayer of thanksgiving for the opportunity of celebrating life, with culture and the arts, was rendered by Mr. Timothy Hodge before all joined together in lustily singing Anguilla’s national song. Mrs. Mona Fleming, President of Sunshine Theater, then welcomed the large number of guests who virtually filled the spacious room.
After making her general welcome remarks, Mrs. Fleming particularly acknowledged the presence of Hon. Deputy Governor, Perin Bradley; Hon. Leader of the Opposition, Pam Webster; and Justice Don Mitchell. She then went on: “Our honorees this evening have been extraordinary in areas of art, culture and community service. The Sunshine Theater has pioneered these three awards in line with the theater’s ongoing efforts to honor, inspire and include all Anguillians as partners in the wonderful world of arts and culture.”
Mrs. Fleming explained the various awards as follows: “The first of the three awards is the Artist of the Year Award. This award is bestowed upon the person who has contributed significantly to the arts in Anguilla in 2017. The sponsor of this award, since its inception, has been the firm of D-3 Enterprises. The second award is the Community Service Award. This person is chosen for voluntarily giving of his time, efforts, and talents outside of employed work, in carrying on the common cultural norm of Anguillians helping each other, whenever and wherever possible. This award is sponsored annually by the Anguilla Social Security Board. The third award is the Theater Arts Award. Individuals are selected for this award exclusively for their work in the Sunshine Theater. This includes, on stage, backstage, front of the house, or any ancillary work in, or for, the theater. The sponsor of this Award is Webster Law. On behalf of Sunshine Theater and our generous sponsors, I wish to once again say to you all, tonight, thanks for coming and hearty welcome.”
Recipient of the Artist of the Year Award was Mrs. Patricia Adams who was formally serenaded by Ms. Amethyst Davis with a poem entitled “I’m a Woman”. The Community Service Award was presented to Mr. Kenn Banks. He was admirably serenaded by Ms. Sandra Liddie with the song “Stand Up For Love”. The recipients of the third award, the Theater Arts & Culture Award, were Ms. Shamecia Hodge and Ms. Glennecia Samuel, who displayed a short extract of the play “Pepper in Dier Soup”. They were serenaded by Ms. Clara Reyes who sang the song “This is Me”.
The keynote address was delivered by Anguillian, Mr. James L. Fleming. He is a playwright, a theatrical personality and financial professional, residing in the U.S. Virgin Islands. In promoting the importance of the arts and culture in a society, Mr. Fleming noted: “I came across an article by Arthur Schlesinger Jr., an American historian and the son of a noted historian, in defense of the National Endowment for the Arts which was legislated in the US in 1965. The article related some interesting quotes from US Presidents, ranging from George Washington, to John Quincy Adams, to Lincoln, to Franklin D. Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy, highlighting the importance of the arts.
“Kennedy said of Lincoln, and Roosevelt in particular, that they ‘understood the arts, far from being an interruption or a distraction. It is very close to the center of a nation’s purpose. It is a test of the quality of a nation’s civilization.’ If you don’t have arts and culture, and if it is not at the center of your national agenda, it is reflective of the quality of your civilization. Putting it more bluntly, the less you focus on the arts and culture, the worse the quality of your society.”
Mr. Fleming emphasized: “I would say, without the slightest equivocation, that it is the composers, the painters, writers, musicians, actors, and generally culturists, who contribute to the very nature of a nation. They are critical in helping to form the traditions, mores, ethics, and the ethos of the society.”
Mr. Felix Fleming, founder and Director of Sunshine Theater, told The Anguillian that year after year he is impressed with the turnout at the Annual Awards Banquets. He noted that every year he sees new faces, although many in attendance are repeat guests over many years. He said that he is encouraged and inspired to keep on bringing new and exciting plays to the stage and to keep on doing what he is called to do best, which is to direct local theatrical work in pure art form.
In a message to the banquet, Mr. Fleming said: “It is extremely difficult to build and sustain a place where designers, actors and technicians can come together to build something unique and present the results to you. But we continue to do our best with the little that we have. Our goal is that, for a few hours at a time, you can transcend to a ‘place’ where life is enchanting, heartbreaking and heroic.”
Upon reflection, he surmised, “The recent disastrous hurricane has shattered many dreams, including ours in the theater, but our true Anguillian spirit will not allow us to wallow pitifully in our unfortunate circumstances. Rather, this spirit will give us cause to rise again like a phoenix out of the ash-heap of disaster to live and strive again.”
