The Journey
Theatre Design and Production student Faith James talks to Evvi Persad about the inception of an installation for APA EXPO 2017

What project is Theatre Design and Production embarking upon for this year's APA EXPO

The Period Style Architecture class is building a ship, which we have named The Journey. It encompasses the three main cultures indigenous to Trinidad & Tobago – African, Indian and Amerindian. We are mainly focusing on the religious aspects of these cultures as well as their visual representations. To gather ideas, we have been going to temples, mosques and museums throughout the semester.

Where did the idea of a ship originate?

Our lecturer, Edwin Erminy, initially pitched the idea to us and we found it fascinating. The class then selected the design influences on the ship collectively. Four of us are taking the course this semester – Antonio Achee, Narad Mahabir, Evvi Persad and myself.

What is your contribution to the design?

I am in charge of designing the masts of The Journey. It is influenced by the Egungun tradition which is in turn influenced by the Baptist faith. Egungun translates to “male ancestor” in the Yoruba language. It is a procession for the ancestors, usually performed by the eldest male family members. They tend to wear a lot of stripped cloth very similar to the Pierrot Grenade design, but with more dramatic effect based on fabric quality and volume. The mast is also influenced by the Moko Jumbie tradition. We will combine these inspirations to create the masts.

What is the scale of this project?

Like everything we do at the APA, this project is ambitious, especially so because of the short time we have to accomplish it.

What challenges has your group encountered in developing this project

There are only four of us in the course, and because the project is huge, we need to divide a lot of work among few pairs of hands. We are overcoming this challenge, taking it step by step as we go. We are also definitely pressed for time! We spent a lot of time doing research which gave us a good direction for the design, but the more time we spent on research the less time we had to actually construct. We are then challenged by the availability of materials, or rather lack thereof. We have been using whatever we have in the scene shop, which at the moment is plywood. Elements of the ship are fabric, which we still need to source. Finally, because we don't have a budget for this project, anything that we need to purchase has to be purchased by us… mainly our lecturer!

What is the target audience for this project?

Our target audience is mainly younger children and young adults. We want to make it interactive so they can do various things related to Theatre Design and Production. This involves playing with all the elements of design such as scenery, costume and sound. At the end, they will have the opportunity to record a short video and will be able to submit it to us for posting on our website.
 
Where will the public be able to view this project?

It will be in the foyer during APA EXPO.

What message is the TD&P team trying to communicate through this project?

We are trying to portray that, like everything in the arts, our work starts with a coming together - collaboration. Our ship mixes different cultures that influence each other visually. we are also trying to communicate that we can do all this work and still have fun!