By Kimoy Leon Sing From Trinidad Express

President of the National Drama Association of Trinidad and Tobago (NDATT) Edwin Erminy Bayley has died.

Bayley drowned at Grande Riviere Beach on Trinidad’s north coast on Monday.

The NDATT in a press release extended condolences to Bayley’s husband Raymer Diaz, who is also a member of the association.

NDATT Vice President and UTT colleague Marvin Ishmael said “the Arts community in Trinidad and Tobago has lost a friend, advocate, amazing designer and a man who had a vision for the design fraternity of this country. Humble in his day to day life, he demonstrated exquisite skill in his design concepts with the capacity to always see outside the box. At the Academy he brought my concepts to life in The Odyssey and oversaw his students with gentleness and passion. Words cannot express the void that now has to be filled. I wanted to be his VP at NDATT because I believed and supported his vision. He was a man who led by example, brilliant in his work, humble of heart and forever to be treasured.”

Praised for his contributions for the ongoing NDATT/UTT project DPTT as well as the Prague Quadrennial of Performance Design and Space (PQ) 2019 initiative, Bayley did workshops with refugee children for the student component, NDATT said.

He taught at the Academy for the Performing Arts of the UTT up to the time of his passing and is sorely missed by his students and those who interacted with him there, NDATT said.

He was an architect and scenographer with a Master of Arts (with distinction) from Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design in London. Between 1984 and 2004 he was part of the creative team at the Teatro Teresa Carreño, the most important opera house in Venezuela, where he was artistic production manager and designed opera, dance and ballet productions for the theatre´s resident companies.

Bayley was the technical director of the Caracas International Festival of Theatre and the International Festival of Afro-American Traditions, and has designed over a hundred productions for theatre, opera, musicals, dance, ballet and popular music, as well as corporate, fashion and publicity events in Venezuela, Colombia, USA and Trinidad and Tobago.Get caught up with news from the news leader

Since moving to Trinidad in 2014 from Caracas, Venezuela, Bayley made a significant impact in local theatre, and had worked with various production companies and clients, including the New Play Festival where he was the Set Designer and consultant for the past two years; the Academy for the Performing Arts of the UTT – The University of Trinidad and Tobago; Dimanche Gras; Lordstreet Theatre Company; Raymond Choo Kong Productions; The Lydians Singers; First Citizen’s Bank; and many others.

He was a prominent member of the LGBTQI community and is remembered fondly by his friends there. His Facebook page has been flooded with messages from the Venezuelan community, where he is remembered with love, NDATT said.

A memorial was held for Bayley at the Big Black Box in Woodbrook yesterday (2).

For more on this story go to: https://www.trinidadexpress.com/news/local/national-drama-association-president-drowns-on-north-coast/article_d9dfb1ec-0e9a-11e9-ae30-172ed8713103.html

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