Reigning Carnival bandleader Brian Mac Farlane says the National Academy for the Performing Arts (NAPA) is "fabulous," but he admits there were some issues to be addressed like the door and flooring.
In a telephone interview, Mac Farlane said: "I cannot comment on Rubadiri's concerns but I would imagine he has the arts close to his heart." Recently, the Artist Coalition of Trinidad and Tobago (ACTT), led by its interim president Rubadiri Victor, has continued to raise its concerns about the state-of-the-art edifice's conceptual, technical and programming flaws at a news conference at The Professionals Centre, Mucurapo, yesterday. "There are issues like the doors that take you into backstage. They are eight by eight and are not suitable for bringing in large sets. "For the shows, we had to cut them down and reweld the props," said Mac Farlane.
Moving across to the flooring, he said: "The actual flooring is not the right type. When we spiked the area (marked the area where the performers had to stand) we had problems removing the coloured tape. "When we pulled it off it, it revealed the wooden surface of the flooring. It is like a laminate flooring. The floor surface covering is not going to last long," added Mac Farlane. He and his team had to adjust the curtains, too, he said.
"They need to have different coloured curtains. They had emerald green and yellow and black curtains for the side wings. "Other than that, we covered the 'legs' with black suede," he said. Mac Farlane also admitted there was still a measure of "tweaking to be done."