By DENISE MAYCOCK

Tribune Freeport Reporter

dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

THE Grand Bahama Plays and Films Control Board has been created as a regulatory body to approve and rate local productions for public viewing for audiences on the island.

Dr Ian Strachan, executive vice president of University of the Bahamas and campus president of UB North, serves as chairman of the board. He said the 14-member board is made up of actual artists and practitioners.

Since the appointment of the board last November, some six productions have been reviewed. The board hopes to see more work from artists in the performing arts, and even a new cinema in Grand Bahama hopefully in the future.

“We want to let the wider community know we are here and working and we want to work with artists here on the island,” Dr Strachan said.

There is a Bahamas Plays and Films Control Board in New Providence. Mr Strachan commended the government for also creating one for Grand Bahama.

“Grand Bahama has a rich and deep community of very serious artists in the performing arts, and it is only right and fitting that this board be constituted to do the regulatory work that the Plays and Films Control Board does, which is largely to ensure that the right audience is identified for any given piece of performance,” he said.

Dr Strachan stated that this protects the artist and the audience.

“We want to note that the decision was made to constitute the board largely of actual artists and practitioners – people who know the field very well. They are not guessing and wondering. They are in fact people who stage plays who are involved in films, and they know the field,” he said.

Dr Strachan said persons who are interested in staging a play such as a school, church, or someone who just wants to get into that field must reach out to the Plays and Films Control Board to ensure that it is properly rated for the public, and also to ensure that the space they are using is appropriate and safe to host a crowd of people, which is also under the auspices of the power of the board.

He noted that persons who are preparing for a production should submit their script about 30 days before the date of production.

“Our goal is to get back to them within 14 days or 21 days at the latest because we realise they start promoting their shows seven to 14 days out, and so they would want to know what the rating is so they can properly let parents and adults know,” he explained.

Additionally, Dr Strachan said the board plans to hold workshops for writers, artists, and dramatists.

“We only want to see the industry and the orange economy grow. We do not want to see ourselves as a regulator, but also as (an entity) which encourages theatre arts,” he said.

The other board members are: Liselle Harris-Russell, vice chairman; Kerel Pinder, Remardo Russell, Dave Mackey, Cranston McDonald, Brion Roxbury, Geo Pierre, Alfred Anderson, Lisa Davis, Mark Gardiner, Tim Aylen, Monique Leary, Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture cultural division representative, and Eustacia Smith.