Jamaican Theatre

de bene esse: literally, of well-being, morally acceptable but subject to future validation or exception

The Jamaican Theatre: Highlights of the Performing Arts in the Twentieth Century 

by Wycliffe and Hazel Bennett.

Available at the National Library of Jamaica! 

Together, the Bennetts have produced the first book of its kind, a panorama of performance, from the imported touring companies and fledgling local elitist groups of the 1920s and 1930s, to the birth of the Little Theatre Movement during the war years; from the small, ambitious groups of the 1950s and 1960s to the thriving commercial “roots theatre” of the new century.

The book also chronicles the development of drama on radio and television, and Jamaica’s small but important film industry. In extensively documenting and analysing dance, it considers modern foundation groups like Ivy Baxter and the National Dance Theatre Company, as well as their precursors and myriad offspring.

The authors also treat music in all its variety, from classical through the Frats Quintet to reggae.