By Lincoln DePradine

While thousands gathered in Toronto last weekend for carnival festivities, one man returned from the Caribbean to the city, where he once lived and was a cultural figure, to present a play at the Consulate General of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago on Sheppard Avenue West.

THABITI and his wife, playwright Cherryll Birchwood Uzoruo, and members of The Tobago Drama Guild (TTDG) were here for the stage presentation of “Blood Money’’.

The play is written by Uzoruo and directed by THABITI, a veteran in film, stage, radio and television. He once served on the board of the directors that organized Toronto’s carnival when it was known as Caribana.

THABITI and Uzoruo both were satisfied with the Toronto response to the play, describing the visit as “successful’’.

“It was an awesome experience, and that is quite a proverbial understatement,” said Tobago-born Uzoruo, a graduate of the University of Winnipeg and the University of Manitoba, and a member of the Tobago Literary Hall of Fame.

“Blood Money’’, which ran July 27 and 28 in Toronto, attracted maximum capacity crowds on both nights.

The play – in the words of the producers – is a story of “ill-gotten gains and its karmic impact within a small, inter-connected community’’.

The drama of the play is infused with infectious music, folklore-inspired song and dance, and a speech band prologue.

For most of the cast and crew, it was their debut on a Canadian stage.

“This was always a dream of my husband, THABITI, and I bought into the idea of a cultural exchange between the motherland, Trinidad and Tobago, and the adopted space of many, Canada. We appreciate the love, the understanding of the multi-layered complexities of the messaging,’’ said Uzoruo.

“Moving from text to presentation, before an appreciative audience in Canada, has renewed my faith in the worth of the work and its claim as a teaching tool and mirror to society. Thanks to all for the collective sharing and community spirit. My gratitude goes out to Acting Consul General Tracey Ramsubagh-Mannette for the Consulate’s generous support; and, of course, the cast and crew of both spaces, without whom the work could not have been brought to life.”

TTDG was founded by THABITI in 1999 on his return to Tobago from Canada.

In 2015, during a tour of New York, TTDG received the United States Congressional Award for Community Service; and, in 2019, the Tobago Medal of Honour for long and meritorious service in Culture and the Arts.