Contributed
Lawrence Woodham was given Best Supporting Actor from the Actor Boy Award in 2007 and Sakina Deer was nominated for Best Supporting Actress, both in 'Uptown Bangarang - Part 1'.Leethan Grandison, Outlook Youth Writer
"A really great talent finds itself in execution."
- German writer, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
The talent of Sakina Deer, stage name 'Precious', and Lawrence 'Max' Woodham of the play Uptown Bangarang - Part II have had patrons lapping up their act.
For their performances, Woodham was given the Best Supporting Actor award at the Actor Boy Awards in 2007, and Deer was nominated for Best Supporting Actress.
Outlook Youth recently sat down to have a chat with these actors shortly before one of their shows. Both are positive youngsters. Throughout our chat with them, they were bubbling with enthusiasm.
Sakina hails from what she calls an area of "lower real estate value" in Kingston, while Lawrence admits to being an uptown boy. Their origins, they say, have nothing to do with their talent.
"I'm from Duncan Avenue [yeah big up the crew (laughing)], and many would regard it as ghetto," states Sakina.
"Ghetto is a state of mind, it is about how you think and I'm not from the ghetto; I just from a area of low real estate value. And although I grew up mostly with my grandparents because my mother was away trying to make ends meet, I never turned out as bad as the world would expect you to be."
Had to work hard
She adds, "It was instilled in me that, to be something better, I had to work hard for it and that was the only way that it would come … and then again I used the situations of persons around me to motivate me because, no matter what, you always have persons who were worse off than you."
"I never grew up in an area of low real estate value or where there was violence, but I grew up in a single-parent home with my mother," Max followed.
Sakina credits her entrance into theatre to Father Ho Lung and the Jamaica Music Theatre Company (JMT).
"Initially, I started off with Father Ho Lung, appearing in Jesus 2000, Amazing Grace and Moses."
She adds, "I have also worked with Robin Baskin, Michael Daley and Jenny Stephen."
Lawrence also performed yearly with JMT from his debut on stage in 1999. He has also performed in Once On This Island and The Wiz, in which Sakina appeared, Sarafina, Deliver Us and Purlie. He says, "Professionally, I started out in the production True Colours."
Their worst moments, the actors both say, have been "demanding motivators".
"You know you always want to be better than how you were, so that I would say is my demanding motivator," states Lawrence.
Both agreed on several things during our conversation.
"Sometimes things in life will get you down and it's up to you to rise above them," commented Lawrence.
"I found this out from my mother … you know you always saw food and you figure out everything was OK, and it wasn't until after I when out on my own I really saw life for what it was."
Always obstacles
Sakina responds, "You always gonna have obstacles, it's a part of life, and it's for you to decide what you do from it."
She adds, "You know, if you go outside and trip and your toe bleeds, you know you should wear a shoe next time."
Acting is not all that these individuals do. Lawrence 'Max' Woodham is a talent singer, despite his off-note singing in the production. Sakina is also an MC and is involved in commercial videos.
The Uptown Bangarang crew has been on tour, travelling the Caribbean and United States.
When asked about this, Sakina relates the excitement of being asked for her autograph for the first time in Barbados. Max adds, "When we are on tour, the feeling is just fabulous, the fans are just great."
At yard and abroad, "The older actors have been nothing but helpful," comments Lawrence.
"Can you imagine what can be learnt when you working along with Ruth Ho Shing, Maylynne Walton … There has never been a moment that I regretted being with them," says Sakina, to which Lawrence adds, "and we thank them for that."of Youthlink magazine on news-stands on Tuesday.
