Past meets future in Sean Paul’s ‘Dynamite’ at The Ward

The Ward Theatre seeps with history. Gifted to the city of Kingston in 1912 by Colonel Charles Ward, this landmark occupies a site in downtown Kingston which has been in continuous use as a theatre since the 1770s. In its heyday, the largest and most historic theatre in the English-speaking Caribbean saw major performances by international acts and groups, namely Paul Robeson, Arthur Rubinstein, Marian Anderson, Ballet Nacional de Cuba, The Dance Theatre of Harlem and the National Dance Theatre Company of Jamaica. It also served as the venue for the launch of political parties – the People’s National Party, on September 18, 1938, and the Jamaica Labour Party, on July 8, 1943 – as well as the stage from which National Hero Marcus Mosiah Garvey made some of his well-known speeches.

In 2021, The Ward Theatre is being thrust into the future – the year 2062 to be exact – significantly, 100 years after Jamaica would celebrate independence. All this comes together in Dynamite, the Storm Saulter-directed music video for the song, a collab with platinum-selling dancehall artiste Sean Paul and Australian pop singer Sia.

ORNATE LOCATION

“The reason we wanted to film at Ward Theatre is that it is such an ornate and historical location … the fretwork, the mouldings, just the age of the building. You can’t deny how much history you feel when you are in the location. And because we were telling a story that was set in the future, it was good to see the contrast of holograms and these crazy costumes against this very old architecture. I thought it was very interesting, and it reminds you of time,” Saulter told The Gleaner.

“ Dynamite is a music video but also a work of Afrofuturism, which is a cultural aesthetic, philosophy of science and philosophy of history that explores the developing intersection of African diaspora culture with technology,” he added.

According to Saulter, the setting is Neo-Kingston, 2062. “Jamaica’s Centennial is an opportunity to think about and discuss what Jamaica will look like 100 years after independence. Are we going to have these megastructures? Are we going to be more environmentally conscious? Where are we really going to be?”

Saulter noted that there were bureaucratic challenges involved in getting permission to use the theatre, which is under construction. However, Grammy award-winning artiste Sean Paul was adamant that The Ward Theatre was needed for this video shoot. The theatre, which seats over 800 persons on three levels, was officially closed in 2007 because of disrepair.

“It was very hard to get permission for this location. We didn’t know at first why we couldn’t get it, but then we finally got permission the day before [the video shoot] and we realised that the location was practically a construction site. The entire Ward Theatre was being refurbished. Many of the ornate plaster and stuff that was supposed to be on the wall was even off the wall and being cleaned up. So we understand why it was hard to get the location. So we are very grateful to the mayor and the mayor’s office for giving us permission to film there, and we are happy that they are happy with the final result,” Saulter shared.

Of course, he had come up with different options when the team found out that they may not have been able to film at the Ward. “But something was pulling us to that location, and we didn’t stop until we got it,” he said.

Mayor of Kingston, Senator Delroy Williams, posted a clip and tweeted about the video last weekend, “As many will see some of our repairs including the new seats are displayed. Looking forward to the next phase and the day when many more such activities will take place inside the #wardtheatre. #stillbelieving.”

The video for Dynamite was released last Friday and has so far racked up close to one million views.

yasmine.peru@gleanerjm.com