Errol Barrow (Captain John Morodore) trying to get Cammie Tudor (Simon Alleyne) (left) and Sleepy Smith (Sean Michael Field) to see things his way.

by Andrea King

The auditorium of the new Errol Barrow Centre for Creative Imagination (EBCCI) had a fitting christening last Tuesday with the staging of Hilary Beckles' third play, The Redemption of Sister Dinah.

The construction and first use of the centre represents a significant achievement for the University of the West Indies Cave Hill Campus and its principal, Beckles, since an initiative of Barrow as Premier of Barbados and later Prime Minister, was making free education available to all Barbadians. The play is a tribute to Barrow, as well as a commemoration of the 40th anniversary of Independence.

The Redemption of Sister Dinah depicts the dismantling of the colonial power that characterised the struggle for Independence in Barbados in 1966 from a national and community perspective, and features a cast of 20.

Beckles' script, his best by far, was replete with ideas, ideals and intentions born out of those times, that still reverberate and echo through time 40 years later. The Redemption of Sister Dinah would make an excellent television drama.

It was directed by Harclyde Walcott and features Myrna Squires as Sister Dinah, Captain John Morodore as Errol Barrow, Sean Michael Field as "Sleepy" Smith, Simon Alleyne as Cammie Tudor, as well as Victor Clifford, Patrick Maxwell, Kenneth Jack Lewis, Dyrstra Browne, Vilmore Johnson, Llvonne Clarke, Ayesha Gibson, Patrick Foster, Kaye Foster, Ria Borman, Philip Eno, Gordon Browne, Wendell Thomas, Akil Ifill, Adrian Archer and Robert MacGeoch.

The auditorium of the EBCCI, depending on its configuration, could seat between 250-300 people, and all seats were taken on the play's opening night.

The play, in three acts, ran for three hours, during which Field, Alleyne and Clifford gave stellar performances for a first night. It continues tonight, and December 1, 2 and 3 at 7 p.m.