A legacy of theatrical pedagogy and cultural enrichment
Dear Editor,
Brian Heap joined the part-time faculty of the Cultural Training Centre (CTC) in 1979 as tutor in use of English at the School of Drama. As a consequence of his almost simultaneous foray into Jamaican theatre as an actor, his passion for teaching, and mentorship by Dennis Scott, he pursued a postgraduate Diploma in Drama in Education with one of the leading British teachers in the field – Dorothy Heathcote.
These convergences launched him on a trailblazing path of becoming one of the most creative teachers using drama as a teaching tool in the school curriculum. His publication,
Planning Process Drama, co-written with Pamela Bowell, is an offering of some of their approaches in this regard. It is grounded in theory and illustrated in practice.
Brian’s evolution as a teacher, both at the high school and tertiary level as well as an actor at the very nexus of the post-colonial encounters of Jamaica’s “theatre of the great house” and “theatre of the slave plot”, led to him becoming a very proud British Jamaican and cultural commentator on the arts. His emerging pedagogic, cultural, and aesthetic consciousness fuelled his transition from being an actor of memorable roles in the Pantomime into the role of director of a number of the Pantomimes, with much cultural and theatrical authority.
Brian brought a wealth of experience and expertise to his appointment in 1984 as director of studies at the School of Drama, where he was a much-loved lecturer and director of a number of productions, such as William Shakespeare’s Taming of The Shrew and Arthur Miller’s
The Crucible. His production of Shakespeare’s As You Like It, which he shaped through a definitively Caribbean cultural lens, was particularly compelling.
In 1981, Brian and friends, Pierre LeMaire and Karlene LeMaire, founded Kidstuff, a theatre in education company, with senior students and graduates of the School of Drama. Their signature devices of clowning and comedic use of objects, action, and physical gags had much popular appeal both in schools and at cultural events across the island.
The Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts and especially the School of Drama salutes Brian Heap at this most sad juncture and would like to celebrate his memory as a Jamaican teacher and theatre artiste whose work has contributed meaningfully to the development of the Jamaican theatre, theatre education, and creative pedagogy generally.
On behalf of the board of management, we extend our deepest sympathy to his family.
Walk good, Brian, and may the gifts which you have shared with us and the cultural certitude which you came to embrace continue to be a light of possibility for us on the journey ahead.
Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts
