Pe­ter Ray Blood

The lo­cal thThe lo­cal the­atre com­mu­ni­ty re­act­ed with grief af­ter news broke of the death of cel­e­brat­ed play­wright Fred­die Kissoon.

Kissoon, 86, was found dead at his home at Di­a­mond Vale, Diego Mar­tin, on Sun­day.

The hold­er of the Hum­ming Bird (Sil­ver) Medal, and in­volved in the­atre for the past 65 years, Kissoon found­ed the icon­ic Strolling Play­ers The­atre Group in 1957 and pro­duced over 140 plays.

A de­vout Ro­man Catholic, Kissoon wore many hats, in­clud­ing be­ing a teacher, au­thor and news­pa­per colum­nist. Ini­tial­ly a teacher at Laven­tille RC School, Kissoon taught for 25 years at St James Gov­ern­ment Sec­ondary School.

Born at 63 Mu­cu­rapo Road, St James, he al­so resided in Pe­tit Val­ley, East Dry Riv­er and Mar­aval, and fa­thered two sons. Hav­ing spent a life­time in the­atre, Kissoon once said his great­est roles have been that of a hus­band and fa­ther.

Yes­ter­day, Na­tion­al Dra­ma As­so­ci­a­tion of T&T (NDATT) pres­i­dent, Trevor Jadunath, said: "Fred­die was one of the icons on the land­scape of lo­cal the­atre and up the Caribbean. He was al­ways will­ing to share his ideas and his ex­pe­ri­ences with all. You can say he was 'user friend­ly.'

"Af­ter lis­ten­ing to his whole phi­los­o­phy on the­atre and his writ­ing, and how he cast­ed ac­tors, he was ex­cep­tion­al. He re­cent­ly par­tic­i­pat­ed in the fo­rums host­ed by the Trinidad The­atre Work­shop and I un­der­stand Tony Hall cap­tured what he said, so at least we have that on record for pos­ter­i­ty.

"He did some of his plays at The Lit­tle Carib The­atre at which I am the man­ag­er. On be­half of Lit­tle Carib and NDATT I wish to ex­tend our deep­est con­do­lences."

Pop­u­lar thes­pi­an Michael Cher­rie said: "I am in shock. There are a whole bunch of artistes who were born in 1930 who in­flu­enced the­atre and the arts and Fred­die was one of them. Artistes like Clint East­wood, Dereck Wal­cott, Harold Pin­ter, Sir Pe­ter Hall and Fred­die Kissoon.

"Fred­die re­al­ly cap­tured the voice of Trinidad and To­ba­go in his plays and writ­ing. He re­al­ly com­mit­ted his role as a play­wright and ac­tor to Trinidad and To­ba­go; all of his en­tire pro­fes­sion­al life.

"The Strolling Play­ers, which he found­ed, is one of the longest run­ning reper­to­ry the­atre com­pa­nies in the Caribbean so he was tru­ly com­mit­ted. We have lost one of our great­est voic­es in the­atre who re­al­ly cap­tured our sto­ries."

Vet­er­an ac­tor/di­rec­tor Ray­mond Choo Kong said: "I am in to­tal shock as I didn't know that Fredie had died. This is sad and trag­ic.

"The man is an icon of the the­atre fra­ter­ni­ty. He has been on the boards, long be­fore a lot of us start­ed. Fred­die car­ried the the­atre ban­ner for many many years while we were still in train­ing.

"I have nev­er had the op­por­tu­ni­ty to work with him but I am aware of the large body of work he has done in the­atre and in film.

"One of the unique qual­i­ties about Fred­die is that he man­aged to utilise the reg­u­lar per­son, the un­trained per­son, and mold­ed them in­to ac­tors. He al­so did all of his writ­ing, di­rect­ing and coach­ing. When you think of it in to­day's the­atre is quite a feat and ac­knowl­edg­ment. Fred­die Kissoon will be missed."

Ha Ha Ha The­atre Com­pa­ny and Nec­es­sary Arts di­rec­tor and mul­ti­ple Cacique Award re­cip­i­ent Pene­lope Spencer de­scribed Kissoon's pass­ing as "a loss."

She said: "I feel so lost be­cause this is a piece of our the­atre his­to­ry that has gone. Con­do­lences to his fam­i­ly."

Re­ports in­di­cate that Kissoon might have died as far back as last Tues­day. It was al­so re­port­ed on so­cial me­dia that the po­lice do not sus­pect foul play.eatre com­mu­ni­ty re­act­ed with grief af­ter news broke of the death of cel­e­brat­ed play­wright Fred­die Kissoon.

Kissoon, 86, was found dead at his home at Di­a­mond Vale, Diego Mar­tin, on Sun­day.

The hold­er of the Hum­ming Bird (Sil­ver) Medal, and in­volved in the­atre for the past 65 years, Kissoon found­ed the icon­ic Strolling Play­ers The­atre Group in 1957 and pro­duced over 140 plays.

A de­vout Ro­man Catholic, Kissoon wore many hats, in­clud­ing be­ing a teacher, au­thor and news­pa­per colum­nist. Ini­tial­ly a teacher at Laven­tille RC School, Kissoon taught for 25 years at St James Gov­ern­ment Sec­ondary School.

Born at 63 Mu­cu­rapo Road, St James, he al­so resided in Pe­tit Val­ley, East Dry Riv­er and Mar­aval, and fa­thered two sons. Hav­ing spent a life­time in the­atre, Kissoon once said his great­est roles have been that of a hus­band and fa­ther.

Yes­ter­day, Na­tion­al Dra­ma As­so­ci­a­tion of T&T (NDATT) pres­i­dent, Trevor Jadunath, said: "Fred­die was one of the icons on the land­scape of lo­cal the­atre and up the Caribbean. He was al­ways will­ing to share his ideas and his ex­pe­ri­ences with all. You can say he was 'user friend­ly.'

"Af­ter lis­ten­ing to his whole phi­los­o­phy on the­atre and his writ­ing, and how he cast­ed ac­tors, he was ex­cep­tion­al. He re­cent­ly par­tic­i­pat­ed in the fo­rums host­ed by the Trinidad The­atre Work­shop and I un­der­stand Tony Hall cap­tured what he said, so at least we have that on record for pos­ter­i­ty.

"He did some of his plays at The Lit­tle Carib The­atre at which I am the man­ag­er. On be­half of Lit­tle Carib and NDATT I wish to ex­tend our deep­est con­do­lences."

Pop­u­lar thes­pi­an Michael Cher­rie said: "I am in shock. There are a whole bunch of artistes who were born in 1930 who in­flu­enced the­atre and the arts and Fred­die was one of them. Artistes like Clint East­wood, Dereck Wal­cott, Harold Pin­ter, Sir Pe­ter Hall and Fred­die Kissoon.

"Fred­die re­al­ly cap­tured the voice of Trinidad and To­ba­go in his plays and writ­ing. He re­al­ly com­mit­ted his role as a play­wright and ac­tor to Trinidad and To­ba­go; all of his en­tire pro­fes­sion­al life.

"The Strolling Play­ers, which he found­ed, is one of the longest run­ning reper­to­ry the­atre com­pa­nies in the Caribbean so he was tru­ly com­mit­ted. We have lost one of our great­est voic­es in the­atre who re­al­ly cap­tured our sto­ries."

Vet­er­an ac­tor/di­rec­tor Ray­mond Choo Kong said: "I am in to­tal shock as I didn't know that Fredie had died. This is sad and trag­ic.

"The man is an icon of the the­atre fra­ter­ni­ty. He has been on the boards, long be­fore a lot of us start­ed. Fred­die car­ried the the­atre ban­ner for many many years while we were still in train­ing.

"I have nev­er had the op­por­tu­ni­ty to work with him but I am aware of the large body of work he has done in the­atre and in film.

"One of the unique qual­i­ties about Fred­die is that he man­aged to utilise the reg­u­lar per­son, the un­trained per­son, and mold­ed them in­to ac­tors. He al­so did all of his writ­ing, di­rect­ing and coach­ing. When you think of it in to­day's the­atre is quite a feat and ac­knowl­edg­ment. Fred­die Kissoon will be missed."

Ha Ha Ha The­atre Com­pa­ny and Nec­es­sary Arts di­rec­tor and mul­ti­ple Cacique Award re­cip­i­ent Pene­lope Spencer de­scribed Kissoon's pass­ing as "a loss."

She said: "I feel so lost be­cause this is a piece of our the­atre his­to­ry that has gone. Con­do­lences to his fam­i­ly."

Re­ports in­di­cate that Kissoon might have died as far back as last Tues­day. It was al­so re­port­ed on so­cial me­dia that the po­lice do not sus­pect foul play.