Alan Hewitt passed away on the 16th of August 2013.

A memorial service will be held on Saturday 14th September 2013 at 2:30pm at the Cayman Islands Baptist Church, 163 Pedro Castle Road, Savannah.

The Cayman Drama Society wishes to express their deepest condolences to Maureen, Anika and Robert.

Alan became an active member of the Society in 1988, having a passion for theatre.

Alan’s first appearance for the Society came in “Fiddler on the Roof” which was staged at the Harquail Theatre in 1988. Alan moved on to appear in over 10 CDS productions throughout the 90’s.

The following is a tribute to the late Alan Hewitt from Alan Hall

Alan Hewitt R.I.P.

Every theatre company has a small number of “prima-donnas”, willing to perform only leading roles in major productions, so that they will always remain centre-stage and receive the maximum audience applause and critical acclaim. Fortunately, the Cayman Drama Society has always had a large number of dedicated individuals, looking only for the joy of participation and the personal satisfaction derived from knowing that they have been part of a team responsible for providing a high standard of live entertainment for the Cayman public.

Alan Hewitt fell most definitely within the latter category. Although he was regularly present at the theatre whenever auditions were being held, he never sought selection for a leading role. Even if he knew that he would not be available to take part in a production, because of other family or school commitments, he would help out at auditions by reading lines to enable other cast members to be selected. Those directors like me planning a major musical production always knew in advance that at auditions we would have too many women and children, but never enough men. It was therefore necessary to prepare a list of men whom we thought we could call upon if needed, and there was always such a need. For me, Alan Hewitt was always at the top of the list.

Alan particularly loved musicals, because they gave him an opportunity to dress up in multiple costumes, and required a modest amount of singing and dancing, both of which gave him a great deal of enjoyment despite never claiming any proficiency at either. For the many supporting roles and chorus characters which he took, I cannot recall any occasions when it was necessary to provide him with specific direction. Alan had a rare natural ability to remain in character even when in the background when the main action and dialogue was taking place elsewhere on stage. Many of the roles which he undertook had no dialogue and the characters were not even named, but his acting ensured that who he was and what he was doing became clear to every member of the audience.

Alan’s first appearance for the Cayman Drama Society came in “Fiddler on the Roof” being staged at the Harquail Theatre in 1988. The director was Jon Vaughan, drama teacher at the Cayman Islands High School, who persuaded him to join the cast as a Jewish Villager. Alan stated modestly that “his undoubted talent soon had him playing the Beggar, the Fisherman and the lower half of an 8ft ghost.”

One of the backstage crew of “Fiddler on the Roof” was Colin Wilson, who had recently completed the writing of his second play, a local thriller entitled “Beirut”, who was so impressed by Alan’s acting ability that he offered him the role of a gambling drunk. Despite claiming that he was totally unsuitable for the role, Alan reluctantly accepted the offer, claiming that he did so only “for the sake of thespianism and the performing arts in general.”

In early 1989, Alan returned to the CDS stage in the chorus of Gilbert and Sullivan’s “Pirates of Penzance”, directed by Bob Drennan, successfully portraying both a pirate and a policemen. Later the same year the CDS produced a series of one-act plays, one of which was “Sganarelle”, a comedy by the French playwright Moliere.

This was also directed by Bob Drennan, who asked Alan to join the hugely talented cast including Tony Rowlands, Peter Riley, Penny Phillips and Ann Smith. Alan was to play the role of Lelie, a young man in love with Celia, played by the theatrical ingénue Mary Elizabeth Ebanks in her first and only role for the Drama Society.

The following year, Alan returned to his love of musicals, with a small role as “The Man” and in the chorus of “The Pirate Princess” a Caribbean musical which I directed and which was staged during Pirates Week in 1990 at the newly-constructed Prospect Playhouse. This was followed in 1991 by his appearance in multiple chorus roles in “My Fair Lady” directed for the CDS by Jackie Balls.

1992 should have been one of Alan’s greatest moments on stage as, for the first time the Cayman Drama Society introduced excerpts from the works of William Shakespeare, including Henry IV Part I (with Alan as Gadshill), Midsummer Night’s Dream (with Alan as Lysander) and The Merchant of Venice (Alan taking the leading role of Shylock). Sadly, a reporter from the Caymanian Compass, sent to review the production, was determined to prove that he knew more about Shakespeare than those involved in the production, and in a 2-page spread in the newspaper viciously and unjustifiedly criticized everything about the production, including even my own welcome page in the programme. Unfortunately, Alan’s portrayal of Shylock was cruelly likened to that of “a London East End schmatter-merchant”, and it appears that such comments were hurtful to him, resulting in his absence from the stage for a few years.

During the 80’s and 90’s the CDS used to put on “Club Nights” about every 3 months, which were opportunities for the members to entertain themselves, without the presence of paid audience (or critics!), with songs, skits, play-readings, impromptu performances and quizzes. During his hiatus from major productions, Alan continued to be fully involved in all such activities as the informality provided opportunities to indulge his versatile talents. During this time he also served as Bar Manager at the Prospect Playhouse. Upon his return to the stage, he listed his theatrical credits as “veteran bar-tender and occasional actor”.

Alan was eventually persuaded to return to the boards in 1995 when further one-act plays were to be presented including Moliere’s sequel to “Sganarelle”, “The Doctor in Spite of Himself”. In his usual modest style Alan confirmed that “the chance of returning to the stage in the second Sganarelle was one he could not turn down (having performed so brilliantly in the first).”

During 1996 and 1997 Alan expressed his love of music and comedy, by undertaking a role for which he is probably best remembered, that of the Chairman in a series of Olde Tyme Music Halls, in the style of English Victorian theatre (similar to American Vaudeville), consisting of period songs, comedy sketches, melodrama, magic tricks, jugglers, acrobats, and dancers. The job of the Chairman, which came naturally to Alan, was to act as MC, introducing each of the acts with a stream of exaggerated verbosity, and to engage in humorous repartee with both the participants and the audience, and to lead the audience in singing favourite songs. In this role, which he repeated on 3 separate occasions, he provided a glittering performance of rare perception.

Alan’s final CDS performance in a major musical was in the 1998 production of “The King and I” which I directed. As usual when holding auditions, I was overwhelmed by the number of women and children who showed up, far more than we could possibly provide costumes for or fit on the stage. Included amongst the children were Robert and Anika Hewitt, who were both keen to act as Royal Prince and Princess, and whom Alan had brought to audition, without any wish to participate himself. After confirming that both Robert and Anika would be included in the cast, I was able to twist Alan’s arm to play the role of Captain Orton, to which I suspect he agreed on the basis that he would be acting as chauffeur to bring the children to rehearsals and performances, so may as well also be in the production. It was a particular pleasure to me (and undoubtedly even more so to Alan) to have 3 members of the family in a production which fulfilled the CDS objective of providing family entertainment.

A very dry sense of humour was one of the greatest talents which Alan brought to the theatre. As well as entertaining audiences, he equally well kept cast and crew amused during rehearsals and backstage during performances. He had also mastered the use of sarcasm to poke fun only at himself, and never at others, and always with a twinkle in the eye.

I feel obliged to mention something else which Alan also always brought to the stage – his beard. I suspect that if asked to play a role which would require him to shave, he would have declined the role. Unfortunately, his beard brought certain problems, and often caused confusion to audience members, because he regularly appeared on stage with his “doppelganger” Peter Riley, of similar size and shape, and who usually wore an identical beard. On one such occasion, I met a woman in the foyer who confessed that she was coming to watch the play for the second time, having been so confused the first time. Throughout the play, Alan and Peter had been appearing in different scenes and she had mistakenly thought that one actor was either playing 2 roles, or the same role with amazing costume changes. It was not until the final scene that they both appeared at the same time, hence the woman’s total confusion and need to come back to watch the whole play again.

I should like to close this tribute to Alan Hewitt on behalf of the Cayman Drama Society by quoting from one of Alan’s own tongue-in-cheek comments in one of our theatre programmes – “A rarely seen talent – we should all be honoured.” It was, and we were.

Alan Hall Former CDS Chairman, director, and fellow actor