| Greta
and Henry Fowler
Greta
Fowler
 On
the passing of Mrs Greta Fowler, M.B.E. in Paris on November
30, 1978, Michael Manley, the then Prime Minister of Jamaica
gave the following tribute to the "doyenne of the art where
all the arts meet":
"The word "theatre"
in Jamaica has, for more than a generation been synonymous with
the Fowlers. And in the early days of the forties, Greta Bourke
as she was then, wrought many a miracle, when plays were mounted
without benefit of budgets, without recourse to training courses
for potential actors and with no source of fees for those who
may have made claim to being professional. But with enormous
imagination, fantastic resourcefulness and total commitment
to the theatre, the show always went on.
There is no record of the number of Jamaicans who owe their
start on the boards to the encouragement of Greta Fowler. By
her sheer enthusiasm and determination she laid the solid foundations
which are now the basis of a vibrant Jamaican theatre which
is so evident everywhere today.
Before Independence she was made a Member of the Most Excellent
Order of the British Empire in 1975, the Institute of Jamaica
awarded the Gold Musgrave Medal to the Little Theatre Movement
the organisation which she founded alongside her husband in
1976. She received the Order of Distinction (Commander) for
her contribution in the field of the Arts.
Apart from a natural and genuine love of the theatre, Greta
Fowler recognised the enormous potential which it had as an
important unifying social force and the annual pantomimes over
the years have drawn some major sociological conclusions which
have been all the more effective because they have been clothed
in the guise of wit and humour, with rich use of our dialect
and riotous song and dance.
She understood, deeply that many of the social problems in the
country could be diffused by presenting them in a different
perspective. For all these reasons, I feel that Greta Fowler
was a towering figure in the national life of Jamaica. She merely
used the theatre as her medium."
A Thanksgiving
Service for the life of Mrs. Greta Fowler was held at the Little
Theatre on Wednesday December 20, 1978. The remembrance was
given by Rex Nettleford. Her ashes were interred on the theatre
grounds, beneath the Edna Manley sculpture "The Serpent".
Henry
Fowler
Mr. Henry Fowler, O.D., M.A., died in Oxford,
England, on February 14
Henry
Fowler, grew up in colonial times, when the Jamaican identity
was associated with a culture rooted in a distant land. Even
though, as a Rhodes Scholar, he was educated in “Mother
England,” he set his sights on helping to build a new
Jamaica, according to the vision of Norman Washington Manley
who was to become one of the iconic figures of Jamaica’s
quest for nationhood and who Fowler greatly admired.
After studies in England, Fowler returned to his native land
and plunged into the social revolution which was being born.
Self-government was the immediate goal and he took on the role
of Editor of the newspaper, Public Opinion, a vehicle for discourse
on what the future held. He became part of a band of social
activists/idealists who began to lay the groundwork for the
“new Jamaica.” Along with journalism, he also embraced
the cause of education, founding the Priory School, which came
to be widely regarded as an institution for the elite. However,
along with Knox College in Manchester and Excelsior College
in Kingston, it was part of a new ethos, challenging the old
definitions of education and setting new boundaries for the
young.
Besides assuming the role of headmaster of Priory, over succeeding
years, he expanded his involvement in the quest for an education
system relevant to the hopes and aspirations of a new generation.
Among various appointments, he served as advisor on education
to successive Jamaican governments and also represented the
nation as Ambassador to the United Nations Educational, Scientific
and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), helping to place this country
on its agenda through his interest and influence in education
and the arts.
Henry Fowler had a deep passion for the arts, the theatre in
particular. Perhaps his most noted monument is the establishment
of the Little Theatre Movement (LTM), which he co-founded in
the 1940’s along with his first wife, Greta Bourke Fowler.
The LTM and the Little Theatre which it built, have remained
beacons in Jamaican and Caribbean theatre for over six decades
now.
Under LTM auspices also, the Fowlers established the Jamaica
Theatre School in the 1970’s and later handed it over
to the Government. It was renamed the School of Drama and became
a component of the Cultural Training Centre, now the Edna Manley
College for the Visual and Performing Arts.
Henry Fowler also led the establishment of the Ward Theatre
Foundation in response to the urgent need to save the landmark
building and preserve its heritage as a part of Kingston’s
cultural history. To the end of his life, he retained his interest
in the LTM and the Ward and continued to be passionate in his
advocacy for the maintenance of these symbols of national creativity.
A Rememberance
to Henry Fowler was held at the Little Theatre on Monday March
26. It included tributes from his family, his second wife Beryl
Chitty-Fowler, friends and the performing arts community.
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