Brodber
Over the next several months, aspiring artistes will be vying for prizes and placings in the annual festival competitions. In celebration of the arts, we will be looking at what the festival movement itself means to a community, as well as chat with past winners to see where the movement has taken them. This week's artiste is Andrew Brodber
Franklene Frater, Gleaner Writer
HIS IS a household name in drama circles. A former multiple award-winner in the School's Drama Festival, Andrew Brodber has been performing since the age of six or seven and knows no other lifestyle but this.
His dramatic though enigmatic and even brooding personality seem to speak not only to his natural temperament, but also to the marks of, and concentration on his craft. He sees himself as having been chosen at his early schools - Dunrobin Preparatory and Primary - simply because of his ability as a child to remember, analyse and replicate what was given him.
He recalls his first dramatic performance as an interpretation of the song He's so shy for which he played the 'shy guy', Other members of the class, being truly shy, were unable to do the portrayal which he obviously did satisfactorily. Brodber's career had begun.
It was later, however, at Calabar High School, which he describes as having a structured drama programme, that he became a staple in the School's Drama Festival, winning what he modestly describes as "several medals."
Such an integral part of his life did speech and drama become that Brodber later enrolled in the Jamaica School of Drama where he completed a diploma. After which, he did his Bachelor of Arts, also in drama, at the Brockport College in Rochester, New York.
IMPRESSIVE LIST
Brodber has an impressive list of awards to his credit, including several high school awards for excellence in speech and drama. He has won JCDC literary silver and bronze awards for poetry, has been best actor (JCDC), best in speech, best overall in category and, as though that were not enough, he has also received a national book development award of high commendation for children, and for his final year production at the Jamaica School of Drama he was nominated for the JCDC best actor award.
There are several most gratifying events in his life as an artiste, however, such as his multiple-role performance in the drama school production of Trial of one short-sighted black woman versus Mammie Louise and Safi Safrita May. He was the only male in the cast.
Brodber worked overtime playing all the male roles - a challenge for any artiste and one he relished. He also fondly recalls audience reaction to the person he played in Dangerous Liaisons for which he was chastised backstage by even experienced practitioners in the art who saw him as "wicked". But one of his highest commendations has been his Actor Boy award as best actor in a supporting role meaningful, as it represents the highest form of recognition from his peers.
Since returning to Jamaica Brodber has been employed by the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission, in which capacity he coordinates speech and drama islandwide.
Brodber asserts that a true dramatic artiste is required to engage more analytical skills than the average person as, in addition to the normal skills associated with English literature, he or she has to utilise skills associated with the body and emotions. No other employee is required to do this. The dramatic artiste, he says, is also required to perform a delicate balancing act as he/she not only observes and interprets personally but must do so in the way a writer or playwright sees fit.
In answer to the query of how one prepares oneself for a difficult or demanding role, he spoke of the process of emptying oneself of all concerns and living in the character, becoming in essence the character for at least an hour before the performance. Without this, he insists the struggle would be to present the character with relative ease rather than presenting oneself.
And, as a former participant in the School's Drama Festival, now coordinator, how does he feel about his role in developing speech nationwide? Brodber sees his role as a divine one which sees him purposefully preparing students to execute self-expression, build self-esteem and through these means assist in nation-building. Brodber says he has seen entire communities transformed, simply because of the involvement of one or two of it members who have succeeded with the help of the entire community which has come to prominence because of this fact.
Although he laments the fact that bread and butter issues often take people away from the arts, he is gratified to see many who have missed opportunities to excel in other areas and therefore being ostracised by society have been able to 'make it' or become somebody 'overnight' because of succeeding in this area. He speaks fondly of communities which have been put on the map because of the success of one or a few of its members.
One could see, through his deeply thoughtful, deliberate comments that one was indeed interacting with someone whose life had come full circle.
