Acknowlegement

The successful completion of the SBA would not have been possible without the assistance and
cooperation of my family and friends, asa result I would like to convey my hertfelt appreciation to Miss
Tashandra Inniss for taking he the time out of her bust schedule to conduct this interview. Consequently
I would like to thank God for good health and strength that was necessary in order to complete this SBA.
Lastly I would like to thank my Teacher who ahs been helping me to make this SBA a success.

Introduction

The reserc paper is being done in completion of my school based Assessment. However the research is
based on a outstand and courageous woman who has a passion for Theater Arts, Miss Tashandra Inniss.
The researcher’s aim is to use this magnificent experience to assist her throughout her study persuing
thearter arts. She also plans to use this experience to help widen her knowledge and eagerness for
theater Arts.

Reason for selecting person

Miss Tashandra Inniss has been a very interesting person. Ever since the researcher came across her and
her magnificent performance she became her insiparation and role model. The researcher admire her
passion for Theater arts and her body language while acting on stage. Miss Tashandra Inniss has a
unique style and has distintive abilities that the researcher look on with favour.
Research Questions/ Paper
Interview Questions
1. What is your full name?
2. How old are you?
3. Where are you from? And does that affect your work?
4. What is your martial status?
5. Do you have children?If yes how many?
6. Who are your parents?Are they alive?
7. How would you describe your cultural identity/ background?
8. What is your career?
9. What is your highest level of Education?
10.What was your childhood experience like?
11.What is the purpose/ goal of your work/career?
12.What accomplishments have you achieve during you career?
13.How would you describe you first experience acting on stage?
14.Who/What is/are your biggest artistic influences?
15.How do you develop your artistic skills?
16.Does arts help you in other way of life?
17.What comes to mind when you hear the words Theater Arts
18.Are you willing to travel/relocate in the future?If so would you still seek
arts?
19.Were there any challenges that prevented you from achieving your goals? If
so state how you cope/overcom them?
20.Which art trend inspires your current work?
21.Briefly describe how theater arts is inportant to society?
22.How do you define success as an artist?
23.Where do you find inspiration/What inspired you to get into performance?
24.What is your advice to person planning on pursuing arts?
Research Questions/ Paper
Interview Questions
1. What is your full name?
Tashandra Inniss

2. How old are you?

Im 35 years

3. Where are you from? And does that affect your work?
I was born and raised in Veed-en-Hoop, West Demerara but I currently live
in Guyhoc Central Georgetown. No it does not afffect my work because I
somehow amnage to differenciate between my work life and my personal
life

4. What is your martial status?

Singe

5. Do you have children?If yes how many?

No I don’t

6. Who are your parents?Are they alive?

Yes both of my parents are alive but they are seperated. My father lives in
the US and my mother lives with me.

7. How would you describe your cultural identity/ background?

I grew up in an extended family of 15 but somewhat I am the first to be
involved in theater arts. My family members were Jehovah’s
Witnesses.They were very traditional so certain rules and morals were
placed. I was not exposed to theater arts besides going to the cultral center
as a yound child.

8. What was your childhood experience?

Filled with excitement I should say. As I mentioned earlier I grew up in an
extened family. I had a bunch of cousins, sisters and brothers around me so
 it was like growing up for me in that type of envionment I should say
exposed me to a lot of thing. I am old fashion. I preffer to be outside and
play games rather than to be inside watching telivision. That type of
exposure helped me a lot interms of mixing and mingling with people

9. What is your highest level of Education?

I have a diploma in Theater Arts and Cape performance Arts

10.What is your current career?

My career right now is in marketing. I am a marketing coordinatior at GTT

11.What is the purpose/ goal of your work/career?

‘My career goes hand in hand with teather Arts. Sometimes most of what I
have learned in teather arts I get to apply in my job daily like coordinating,
organizing and writing scipts. For instnce if we have to write radio ads and
so on for promotion I got a lot of knowledge on that where I learn from
teather arts that I can apply my daily job.

12.What accomplishments have you achieve during your work career?

‘Well for my work career I successfully manage several marketing
programmes that we had. We had the singing competition which was had
in 2019 and I was the excutive producer on that competition. Almost every
promotion coming out of the marketing deprtment I get to work along with
the people or team interms of managaing and planning aspect of the
promotion’

13.How would you describe you first experience acting on stage?

My first experience acting I was very nervous but at the same time I was
very excited because this is something that I never taught o f myself doing.
Growing up I have never seen myself as oh I will be acting or oh I will be
on stage. That was never me I was always the shy girl. My first experience
acting on small stage was when Carifesta came back to Guyana in 2008. I
applied for the acting course. It wasn’t a big stage but it was a little improv
infront of the group of persons that were graduating but my very first
proformance which was big was when Rob Robinson gave me the
 oppurtunity to perform in Moon in a rainbw shall, Errol John . that was my
first exposure on the big stage and I was very nervous to an extent but I
saw that as an accomplishment I could you that.

14.Who/What is/are your biggest artistic influences?

I would say ron robenson. He has support my career in so many ways. We
have worked on tuns of prjects before and he is somebody I can talk about
anything in theater arts.He is one of my biggest influences, He is what I
woud consider a national icon in Guyana. His acting is just superb and he is
an all rounder, he is just excellent in what he does. Rob Robinson give me
my first major role of acting on stage. My other influence is Al Crighton . he

15.How did you develop your artistic skills?

For me when I first started theater that was something I never really
wanted to do . going to the cultural center as a youn girl I really liked it. To
myself I taught these people can really act but as I got old and I went to
secondarry school I loved writing and making up stories and tell them to my
fiends having them giving me a response to the store or what ever the cae
is but I was never the this forefront person I was always shy so when I left
school I did work study at the Guyana Chronicle. I was exposed to persons
that were involved in Arts and taught to myself maybe I should do in
Theater Arts. I then stumbled upon an article in the newspaper about
auditiong for courses so I took an acting course that when I took an interest
in theater arts and after that I was like something I really love and this Is
something I would really like to push more on and get more on.

16.Does arts help you in other way of life?

Arts can help you with anthing. As long as you are a ceative person there is
absolutly nothing that you cannot do. Arts is not just limited to acting and
going on stage and spitting word. You have a wide viretry of things you can
do from stage management to production management, makeup and I can
go on and on. Fir me arts help help me in a lot of things that im doing
especially in my job. As I said before I was never a forefront person but now
I can go on the radio, I can interview person without any problem
17.What comes to mind when you hear the words Theater Arts?
Life and passion. Its anything that you can explain to anybody through the
passion in you which comes out of you that you can get to show people
who you are, the different tyypes of personilities you can come up with

18.Are you willing to travel/relocate in the future?If so would you still seek
arts?
No matter where I go I would always seek arts. It dosent have to be an
actress but I would probaly seek to be a writer or in the field f project
management
19.Were there any challenges that prevented you from achieving your goals? If
so state how you cope/overcome them?
There is always a challenge in theater arts especially if you are bew or
young because you will always come across people who will say oh
Tashandra is too young or she is not good at this or we will not give her a
chance. I wont say it s a challenge I would more say its proving people
wrong and trying to make a name for yourself. So I took all the negative
and made it positive.

20.What have critics and collectors said about yu pass/current work?

It is interesting. When I first did moon on a rainbow shall he Mr al Crigton
gave me in his rewiews in the newspaper. He said while I was pretty
unversed and certain parts of the play was cringeworthy manage to bring
that character to live. Another review was from gem mahadoo nacemnto
which she said Tashandra Inniss is not a serious actor, she cannot do
serious acting she can only do plasticcomedy which I took and challenge
myself to become better.

21.Which art trend inspires your current work?

I would say a combination of all inspire my curent work. My career is vast.
In marketing I get to go on the radio, I get to do interviews and I get to
speak about the public on whatever promotions we have so that in itself is
almost like I your are putting on persona on the radio so persons can hear
you. On the radio persons can only hear you so when you talk they have to
feel the vibe as like if they are seeing you are speaking to them which is
 called acting. It also comes back to when you have to write a radio script,
how do you want this person reading yur radio script whih comes back to
writing in theater Arts .Plannning a campange aslo comes back to theater
arts comes back to production managing in theater arts. You have to know
what are the resources necessary to move a campanhe from beginning to
ending so evry aspect of theater arts for me has influence my work life.

22.Briefly describe how theater arts is important to society?

Theater arts is very important to society. Not every Guyanese you might
find would’ve completed high school or the necessry education to know
how to read and write. We have a lot of dropouts but they are not dense.
Okay, picture me going and say you know about covid? You need to take
your vaccination and an average Guyanese would say boy don’t stress me
out. They don’t want you to bring a pamplet or a brochure and tell them
read up on covid. In this instance you can use theater arts to do a skit and
show them how dangerous covid is. Its more like action more than words
so those person who you cannot reach through printed materials or social
media where they would have to read you have the oppurtunity to
dramatice it so they can relate.

23.How do you define success as an artist?

Success as an artist for me is exactly what I happening here. Having
students like yourself reaching out to me and say I have an SBA to
complete and I need yo as my study that is success which means my work
has not gone unoticed and I am being talked about in classes which means
people know of my work and performance and is reaching out to me
.success for me is not having a lot of trophies or best play or writing.
Success I knowing that work work is seen and heard so that people would
want to kow mre about you

24.Where do you find inspiration/What inspired you to get into performance?

For me I usually draw my inspiration from scriptures. If I know I have to go
perform i would put my self in character. For me I usually sit in a corner and
I do not run my lines before a play or otherwise I would forget so I just sit in
 a corner an try to be as quiet as possible and try to work on my body
language.
25.What is your advice to person planning on pursuing arts?
If you are or will be involved in Arts in Guyana do not do it for money, do it
for the love of it. Theater in Guyana does not pay so you have to make that
concious decision that this is something I really like even at the end you get
little or no money you know persons will get to know you and your work.
Tashandra Inniss is the kind of person who never gives up on her passion. For her,
the stage is her life, her language, her future. “Theatre is life. I love it. To be on
stage helps you to express your feelings through… the movements of your body
and facial expressions, it is body language and body art.”
Growing up in Vreed-en-Hoop, West Demerara provided the grooming for
Tashandra’s artistic mind. The friendly people and the rural traditions were in
their own way inspirational. Tashandra shared that the community was closely
knit and “everyone knew everyone”. She was raised in a household with 15 family
members she is the last of five children and together they would frolic and play in
the yard, climbing jamoon and mango trees, pelting fruits, playing games and
bathing at the pipe in the yard are all fond childhood memories. Most of the
extended family members were Jehovah’s Witnesses and so a lot of morals and
values were instilled in the household. “There were certain things you could not
do or say although they were rebellions, those are the things that stick with us
even up to this day,” Tashandra says. It was while at high school on the West
Demerara that her creativity flourished. She would write short stories and articles
and share with her friends who took keen interest in her work. She joined the
Theatre Guild after Carifesta 2008 and soon found her talents to be well favoured
by experienced dramatists. Tashandra considers her play Till Death to be her
baby, her most proficient art to date. “I would say it is my most accomplished
piece of work until the next one comes. Till Death is what I started with, that is
what drives me to write more. The feedback was tremendous and I am overjoyed
at the results. Right after I won those awards, I was like ‘I got to start working on
my next piece, so that I create a masterpiece.’”
Her play, Till Death, had stormed away with four 2012 National Drama Festival
Awards including the Best Original Guyanese Play and Best production.Apart from
writing her own play for the 2012 National Drama Festival, Tashandra was the
Production Manager for the play Sizwe Banzi is Dead. She was also cast as the
lead in Mosa Telford’s award-winning play, Sauda. She was always a lover of the
English Language and majored in Secretarial Science, Intermediate and Advance
typing and English at the Business School.
She joined the Theatre Guild after Carifesta 2008 and soon found her talents to be
well favoured by experienced dramatists. She said there were countless times
when she felt her own work was not up to standard. She would find herself less
interested in the piece and wanting to give up the work. It was at times like these
that she would be inspired by people like Ron Robinson, Dr Paloma Mohamed and
her friend Tivia Collins, who serves as her critic.Robinson, she says, “pushes me to
the extent, always telling me not to limit myself to acting, that I can do so much
more and that I should strive for it.”She is motivated by something he says: “If
you think you have done your best performance then you should give up acting
because you’ve done it all. There is always more you can learn.” Her first major
role was the character Mavis in Moon on a Rainbow Shawl. Over the years she
has acted in the Link Show series, Somebody gon Horn yuh, Watch de Ride, Old
Story Time and several other Theatre Guild productions.
She aims to write plays centred on critical social issues in the country, her next
work will be focused on child prostitution and human trafficking.“There is much
more I can do and there is much more to learn. I think the best is to come. I still
see myself writing, acting, directing and even helping out backstage is a pleasure!
I love the art form, I love the stage life.” Tashandra would like to see more street
drama similar to what Merundoi does; she feels it can strengthen the art form. “I
think street theatre is absolutely beautiful. It helps to get people more involved…”
Tashandra now resides in the capital with her family. She adores her nieces and
nephews and shares their youthful joy. She works as a coordinating marketing
agent at GTT. She loves her job lot because it goes hand in hand with Theate Arts.
Supporting Evidence
Conclusion
In conclsion Miss Tashandra Inniss has been active in theater Arts and has
contribued meanfully to the Arts. Her talents and performance are outstanding.
As a performer she believes acting helps you to express your feelings through the
movements of your body ,facial expressions, body language and body art. As the
researcher she insipired me to seek teather arts not just for the fame and hype
but for the love of it. Altough you will face a lot of neagtie and bad comments,
take it and make it an accomplishment.