Saba’s own Dahlia Hassell had everybody on the Unspoiled Queen talking about The Lion King Show she put on stage at Eugenius Johnson Centre in Windwardside. The show was performed four times and was sold out each time, having a total audience of over 400. I watched the last performance and was stunned by the enthusiasm and skills that were expressed during the show, so I decided to have a talk with the director, Dahlia Hassell.
This young lady went to primary and secondary school on Saba before leaving to go to the United States to study biology. During her college years, she often visited the theatre and became involved in the annual college play. She acted, danced, sang and was involved in sound and light production as well as costume design and stage set design. She graduated in May 2014 and returned to Saba, planning to spend at least one year on the island in order to give back to the community and leave her mark. She assisted in coordinating the environmental awareness program, Sea and Learn, after which she was appointed as the Saba Bank Science Officer at Saba Conservation Foundation, where her task is to monitor data about marine life on the Saba Bank. NOT LONG after returning to the island, Dahlia was approached by Stacey Simmons, project leader of Child Focus Foundation, an after school activities centre on Saba. Stacey was aware of Dahlia’s stage experience and asked if she would be willing to coach a theatre group as an after-school activity. Child Focus staged A Charlie Brown Christmas in December 2014, under the guidance of Dahlia Hassell and assistance of Stacey Simmons and parent/volunteer Tara Every. Starting in February, these three women, better known as “The Dream Team,” settled on the decision to perform The Lion King, which has been a hugely popular Broadway musical. The story, based on the 1994 Disney movie, tells how Simba, a lion cub, was tricked away from his throne by his devious Uncle Scar, who wanted to be Lion King himself, and Simba’s struggle to get his rightful place in the Circle of Life. The tale appealed to Dahlia a lot because, as she explained, coming back to the island is part of her own circle of life. SHE NOTED that she could never have done it without the support of the many volunteers and the Saban community. “It’s easy for me to approach people here because I am a Saban; but whatever I asked for, I got, whether it was money, materials or time, and I think that is Saba’s strength. It is a community where people still care about things and are willing to give their time and money.” Child Focus Foundation provided financial support for the project in cooperation with other donors, including Windward Roads, Saba University School of Medicine and Saba Lions Club.
Dahlia was surprised to find so much talent on the island. Not only with the kids, but also with the adults who stepped in. “There is so much creativity here. We did everything ourselves, made the costumes, created the decor and came up with wonderful ideas for the sound and lighting. Many of them didn’t even know themselves they had it in them!” DAHLIA STARTED with the original script from The Lion King play and worked out the scenes in a way that would show off the child
ren’s talents best. “They should be the centre point, so they had to feature most in the scenes with dancing, singing and acting.” She divided the musical into 14 scenes, seven performed before and seven after the intermission. She used the original sound track from the musical and sometimes the audience would sing along with the more popular tunes. “It’s amazing how those kids performed. They didn’t have any stage fright and just enjoyed being there and doing their part. We adults were nervous before the show; but because of them, we relaxed and just enjoyed it too.” And that’s what I noticed when I watched the performance: sheer pleasure in producing this wonderful show. 
“There were so many people who supported me. There were many challenging moments, but Stacey and Tara were very encouraging and, together, we made our dream come true. As an experienced art teacher, Stacey continuously provided us with creative advice and ideas. She produced many of the costumes and masks, supported by a wonderful team, consisting of Marvi Johnson, Tara Every, Gloria Marin and Jenny Landazury of the Saba Artisans Foundation. Pauline Every was responsible for the elaborate make-up, which was quite a job with so many actors. Adam Watkins, a film and TV editor who has previous experience working in London, donated his time to programming the lighting and sound effects which varied for each scene.”
The backdrop scenes were digitally projected on a white cloth screen which was initially painted to portray a vast savannah, allowing it to become versatile later on during scenes of the elephant graveyard, the stampede, etc. Sound and lighting equipment was provided by The Saba Festival Foundation (supported by Public Entity Saba) as well as Child Focus Foundation. Under the guidance of instructor Guyquade Lavia, the Mankind Drummers performed an opening act on djembe drums and kept the crowd entertained between the scenes.
“RIGHT NOW I’m too tired to think of a next show,” shared Dahlia. “The Child Focus theatre group has grown a lot and we will have two groups now. But I also feel very happy about what happened. I think the show unified the various groups on the island and everybody enjoyed it. That will definitely be my inspiration for the next show.” Reporting by Marga Hart
