T’was the night before elections and all was abuzz with loudspeakers and final attempts to sway the crowd. But atop a hill in Radio Range, it seemed the outside was muted in a quaint auditorium with a stage set to tour the Caribbean, sharing snippets of history, Caribbean mythology, and … scriptures?
With a colourful evening that can be described as a welcomed and bold embrace of Caribbean culture, the St. John’s Lutheran Primary School hosted, what we hope will be the first, Caribbean Folk Beats.
Exploring six of our countries through song, drama, and laughter, we learned about folk tales from St. Lucia, Grenada, Guyana, Dominica, Trinidad & Tobago, and, of course, Antigua and Barbuda. Not only did each folk tale contain a morale lesson but the Lutheran Primary School was able to tie each lore back to the core of their foundation – the Bible.
Principal of the school, Mrs. Joycelyn John noted that it had been a while since the upper school presented a play. Having always expressed an interest in the arts, Mrs. John handed the reins to the school’s Early Childhood Director Mrs. Evodia Cassius-Noel. “I left it up to her to choose the play. I trusted that whatever she did it would align to our mission here at St. John’s Lutheran.”
And that it did. As the audience erupted into bursts of laughter from the clever anecdotes, comedic timing, and hilarious “reminders” from the young actors to “say your lines” and “move over there”, the cast weaved both Caribbean and Gospel songs into their transitions. In the Antiguan and Barbudan Jack-O-Lantern tale where a young boy disobeys his parent’s curfew to attend a cockfight, he soon learns the consequences when a Jack-O-Lantern follows him home. While the tale reminds us to be obedient and make wise choices, it also stands on Psalm 119:105: “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.”
One of the more interesting tales of the evening came from Grenada, featuring the famed cultural creature, Jab Molassie. Depicted as people drenched in black oil or paint, with bull horns, this figure is often the brunt of controversy, meandering through a devilish symbol and a cultural one. The audience waited with bated breath as the cast braved such a controversial character, taking us through history and the symbolism of this creature. The presentation revisited the lessons of emancipation, reinforcing the power of freedom, and reminded the audience that, as Caribbean people, we have notoriously turned our “pain into pride”. And of course, to ground this freedom in Christian values, we were quoted, “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free” (Galatians 5:1).
During a conversation with Mrs. Cassius-Noel, she shared her passion for the tales of her home country, St. Lucia, and the other territories. She grew up with these and saw this as the perfect opportunity to expose students to their culture while teaching morales. “They were part of my childhood, they were sometimes told in ways that were vivid, a little frightening, but always memorable. But what stayed with me most wasn’t the fear; it was the grounding. After every story, there was always that quiet but powerful reminder: ‘Why should you be afraid if God is always with you?’ That shaped how I understood these tales, not as something dark, but as something cultural, imaginative, and ultimately harmless when placed in the right context.
“So, when I began drafting the script, I was very intentional.The inspiration also came from a gap I see every day in education. Our children are learning global content, but not always seeing themselves, their culture, or their stories reflected in meaningful ways. This production became a way to bridge that gap, to celebrate Caribbean identity while still keeping Christ at the centre.”
And indeed, they did. The adults present lingered afterward, sharing their own versions of some tales and reliving the characters they remembered from their childhood. Between congratulatory messages, the staff was encouraged to make Caribbean Folk Beats an annual staple in their calendar of events, exploring different islands and bringing that pride and celebration to our Caribbean culture.
Also to be commended were the lighting design, costumes and set changes that rivalled the seasoned theatre festival presentations. With effortless scene changes and lighting cues that enhanced the set and drew its audience into the world of the tales, the St. John’s Lutheran Primary School succeeded in not only a laudable evening of theatre, but one that was successfully grounded in Caribbean culture and Christianity.
Review by Zahra Airall for Creative Arts Reflections by PetraTheSpectator