GoodHeart | Barracks Entertainment creating a platform for youths

FOR THE last 11 years, Fabian Barracks, writer, director and founder of Barracks Entertainment, has been empowering young people through the arts. He not only uses theatre for entertainment, but also gives young people an avenue to help them combat many of the issues that they face in life.

While growing up, Barracks said theatre provided a space for him to escape from his reality and to express the very strong emotions that he was experiencing. He is paying it forward, and in return, he is providing this avenue for other young people to express themselves.

“I know the youth are troubled, and they experience all the emotions and situations that adults go through. Sometimes it is even worse because they do not have the experience or mental capacity to navigate these difficult challenges,” Barracks said.

Barracks Entertainment, he said, is the voice of the youth, for the youth, by the youth, and it ensures that young people’s voices are amplified, especially through its productions. Noting the range of issues that young people encounter, including socio-economic, psychological and developmental challenges, Barracks said the theatre outfit gives young people a creative platform to be seen on a bigger stage nationally, which their previous experiences may not have allowed.

PROVIDING PRACTICAL SOLUTIONS

“Through our work, we provide practical solutions to some traumatic situations such as child abuse, abduction, early sexual initiation, mental health, poor parenting and self-esteem, among others. We also provide employment, training and a platform to hundreds of young people, some of whom are fresh out of high school and have a burning desire to pursue theatre,” Barracks said.

Barracks Entertainment targets primarily schools with its productions. For that reason, it is proud that many young people can say that their first exposure to quality theatre is through a Barracks Entertainment production.

Over the years, the company has brought a number of true-to-life stories to the fore. Plays such as Wah Sweet Nanny Goat, Black Sheep, Ananda Alert, and Force Ripe have earned the film and theatre community’s respect and have motivated Barracks to push the envelope a step further each time. Both Ananda Alert and Force Ripe earned multiple nominations for the Actor Boy Awards. He won the Actor Boy Award in 2018 for Best Comedy for Black Sheep and the Youth View Award for Favourite Local Theatre Play in 2017 for Wah Sweet Nanny Goat.

Over the 11 years, his productions have impacted the lives of over 40,000 youth in Jamaica directly, through involvement and contractual employment; and through training and exposure, at least 300 youth since 2010.

“Every year for Child Month prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, we would launch a new play that deals with a different issue. In 2019, we also established The Barracks Theatre, which served as a youth theatre hub. We were running shows from Monday to Sunday during the morning hours to facilitate school groups to view our plays. We also had tours across Jamaica with a mass youth audience in order to sensitise them to issues that affect them,” Barracks said.

“We have partnered with the Ministry of Education and Ministry of Health in doing a number of school tours to sensitise youth to sexual and reproductive health issues, such as teen pregnancy and early sexual initiation. Our work connects deeply with the youth, and because of the authenticity of the scenarios presented, we have been able to grow our reach and popularity among the youth,” he added.

Albeit the coronavirus pandemic started a year after Barracks established a physical space of its own, due to the overwhelming requests from young people on social media, they have decided to expand their digital plays through a YouTube series called Balla. In comparison to previous works, Balla is a bit more risqué. The eight-episode series explores teenage sexuality and many issues that the generation faces during their high-school years, from struggles with identity, friendship drama, and suicidal thoughts to familial issues.

CAPTIVATING SERIES

They were able to cast a whole new crop of young people through social media auditions and produce this very low budget film-series on YouTube. This series has captured the hearts of the young and old in Jamaica.

“Our youth are very present on social media, and during these times of lockdown and distance learning, we had to play our part in empowering and educating youth through our productions,” Barracks said.

Barracks Entertainment has also shot another series called True Colours, which is slated to be launched in May for Child’s Month. “Taking our work digital has posed many challenges: the biggest of them all is financing the projects. We do not have an in-house editor for our company, so we have had to outsource videography and editing. As a result, the expenses are extremely high. Thankfully, we have a dedicated and passionate set of youth who gave us their talents for a small stipend and sometimes only refreshments,” Barracks said.

Preparations are also now in high gear for the release of Balla Season 2. In leading up to the release, Barracks Entertainment has started a social media competition called ARTZONE, which provides weekly thematic prompts that encourage young people to be creative and produce a short one-minute video.

“Each week, the submissions are posted, and they are to promote their entries. The most-liked entry will win $5,000. This has been a very exciting way in which we have been engaging our youth during the pandemic and doing our part in giving them a platform to showcase their talent with the potential of winning $5,000 every week,” Barracks said.

While it is not in a position to accept every single young person that reach out, Barracks Entertainment often hosts virtual auditions on its pages to give fresh faces an opportunity to join its productions.

To learn more about Barracks Entertainment, visit @barracksentertainment on Instagram, Facebook or YouTube. Have a good story you’d like to share? Email us at goodheart@gleanerjm.com.

keisha.hill@gleanerjm.com