This past week’s the entertainment scene in “Bimshire” was CRAZY! Here are some spotlight’s on the June Insanity...
Lunar Madness
The ancients worried that a full moon meant lunar madness and tales of Werewolves come from this. However, it was rabid party animals that frolicked under the full moon last Saturday. This is because hundreds of Bajans took in the Heineken Full Moon Party.
Held on the beach on the island’s West Coast the 2nd Annual party brought hundreds of patrons to the Blue Monkey Bar and the surrounding beach. Despite some sound problems and an eventually empty premium bar patrons seemed more than happy that there as no cover charge. Music was provided by hot new band NexCyx and several DJ’s.
On the same night the UWI Mona Campus Players performed “After Mrs Rochester” at the Cave Hill campus. A play about the life of eccentric Dominican novelist Jean Rhys it focused on 'the madwoman in the attic' Bertha Mason, a character from Charlotte Bronte's immortal Jane Eyre that Rhys wrote about in her novel “Wide Sargasso Sea.”
Student Nadia Khan played the “mad woman” with much aplomb and Hilary Nicholsan played the elderly Jean Rhys. The plan it seems is to have more cross campus interaction with Cave Hill’s new Creative Arts Centre.
Peter Boyce, founding member of MADD Entertainment has long been known as a comedian. His group has put out several hit albums, created and own the wildly popular Bacchanal Time tent and his is also one of the most vocal people in the recent UAB Vs NCF Debacle. But recently Boyce showed another side. A member of the Bridgetown Toastmasters, it was announced that Boyce placed third in the Toastmasters International Speech Competition which took place last month.
The competition took place at the Caribbean Toastmasters Conference recently staged in Jamaica.
Boyce represented Barbados Toastmasters and placed third in a keenly contested competition between 9 Toastmasters from various Caribbean islands.
But NCF still making artists Mad.
Boyce may be winning the speech competitions, but he and his colleagues The United Artistes of Barbados (UAB), the trade union representing artistes are at a standstill in the negotiations with the National Cultural Foundation (NCF). Reported here at Barbados Beat in our 23rd issue, the debate still rages some three weeks in....One new area of contention? The NCF's rules for
Pic-O-De-Crop and in Party Monarch, which prohibit competitors from having sponsors with "products or services" which clash with those of the competition's sponsors.
During Crop-Over everyone knows “Tim’s Pon De Highway” is the place to be. However, the popular spot was the venue for a concert for Mad Cobra on Sunday. Local performers Peter Ram, LRG, Brimstone and several others as well as DJ’s Freeedome Soundz, Peter Coppin and John Doe among others.
Weekly Wrap-Up
New exhibit by Goldie Spieler started at Zemicon, Veterans Calypso show “De Big Show” started at the Plantation Garden Theatre… More soca tunes hit the radio including Edwin Yearwood’s “Where I Want to Be” and new tunes by Statement, Don Trent, Smokey Burke and the newly returned Red Plastic Bag.
The Calypso Queen of the World Calypso Rose will be among the many performers at the 5-day 15th Annual African/Caribbean International Festival of Life (IFOL) on July 4th. Rose last year released the official IFOL theme song “Let’s Go to Festival of Life,” an internationally promoted song for Chicago and the Festival of Life
