Fort Charles, Port Royal...

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Fort Charles, Port Royal... by AmitabhS
Fort Charles, Port Royal..., a photo by AmitabhS on Flickr.

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In The Groove: Randy's Record Store Keeps A Jamaican Musical Tradition Alive

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"All the world's a stage ... ." The words echo from William Shakespeare's As You Like It. For the Ward Theatre, the stage is the world from which voices echoed, scenes were enacted, and emotions played out to a rousing audience. All that echoes now are sounds of silence, ricocheting from the dark and dim emptiness, and rays of sunlight that permeate the doors and dissipate into the opulent interiors. Charles James Ward built the present structure, its third avatar, in 1912, the theatre opened its doors on December 16 of the same year. Ward, who was the custos of Kingston, is the 'Nephew' in the rum manufacturing company J. Wray & Nephew, which provided the enabling funds. "The Ward Theatre is a magnificent structure, with history written deep into its fabric", said Doreen Thompson of the Ward Theatre Foundation. The Ward Theatre, over the decades, has had its share of anticlimaxes. Here once stood Kingston Theatre, built in 1775...
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