Caribbean festival performers enlisted in the COVID fight

In Trinidad and Tobago, performers at major cultural festivals have been tapping into traditional art forms to encourage their communities to continue following COVID-19 health protocols as the country lifts restrictions on public gatherings.

The United Nations partnered with Purpose and local stakeholders — such as the Tobago house of Assembly (THA) — through the Verified Initiative to deliver these life-saving messages within the national cultural context. Campaigns were developed around the Hindu celebration of Divali and the first-ever Tobago Carnival.

Tobago Carnival

For performer Kurt Layne, who brought to life the role-play associated with the traditional mas character, Midnight Robber, the opportunity to share his story about staying safe during the pandemic was about more than just a campaign; it was personal.

“My mom had passed away from COVID,” he said. “I would tell anyone, and especially [those] close to me, to always stay on the right track in terms of keeping up with the COVID protocols.”

“Pow pow, I shot COVID dead,” he declared, grabbing the attention of a group of kids with his ‘Robber Talk’.  

Draped in the Midnight Robber’s distinctive macabre ensemble that blends influences from film depictions of the American Wild West with West African culture, Layne’s ominous delivery invoked the best of the character’s oral skill and energetic delivery to drive home a message of hope and optimism to his young listeners.  

“Join hands with we; each other do their part and for sure, we’ll have a great start.”

Like the Midnight Robber, many of the traditional mas characters found in Caribbean Carnival celebrations are highly anticipated for their unique performance style.

The Dame Lorraine — a temptress with exaggerated voluptuous curves — isn’t associated with verbose social commentary. She puts on her own show, pairing imitative costumery inspired by 18th and early 19th century French plantocracy with provocative dance moves.

Performer Lesley-Ann Ellis played on the attention-grabbing elements of the Dame Lorraine mas to promote continued sanitizing and mask wearing in her own calypso:

“This thing have to end so cough in your sleeve; stay your distance let this virus leave.”

Unlike the Midnight Robber and Dame Lorraine characters - who trace their roots back to Trinidad - the ‘speech band’ is an oral tradition unique to Tobago, where it has been practised since the 1800’s to comment on topical community issues.

Local writer Antineil Blackman, who worked with students of Signal Hill Secondary School in Tobago to prepare their speech band performance, noted that the artform “already has that sense of community within it without even trying to put any emphasis on it.” Signal Hill Secondary School student, Clorysa Gill explained how speech band can captivate a crowd. “[W]hen you say, ‘stop yuh bow, Mr. Fiddler,’ the way you project your voice [and] the tone you say that, that could tell you OK, people listening to my speech now.” It was perfectly suited for community-led messaging on COVID-19.

Gill performed alongside her theatre classmate, Princess Des Vignes.

Divali Utsav, Trinidad

In Trinidad, the Verified team worked with popular chutney singer, Nishard M. to incorporate COVID safety messaging into his special “Divali Utsav” backyard concert staged with other local entertainers on 24 October 2022.

Nishard M. reflected on the lessons of the pandemic experience, particularly during the lockdown when in-person gatherings were not allowed and no on-site concerts were staged.

“It would have taught us not to take certain things for granted,” he said, “but let us also remember not to take COVID for granted because it’s very much around.”

As in Tobago, the theme of community-led messaging from trusted voices was key.

Nishard M. invited his grandmother to join him on stage to wish Shubh Divali to all, and to share this special message:

“Remember as we move forward, please continue to protect your loved ones with vaccinations and continue to observe the health protocols.”