The Jamaica Association of Dramatic Artists (JADA) wishes to express our sincere regret at the passing of Stafford Ashani – one of Jamaica’s outstanding actors, film makers and playwrights. He has been aptly described by another theatre aficionado, Trevor Fearon, as an artist of “formidable intellect and focussed determination.”
Stafford Ashani recognized the value of the role that theatre can play in the development of a nation and its people – telling researcher Susanne Schwinghammer-Kogler during a 1995 interview, which she conducted with him as part of a research paper, that theatre can help a people find their identity, repair injured lives, and define the feelings which people have about their culture as a result of their experiences. “Theatre does all of these things,” he added; “it is essential…like water, it refreshes. That’s why I do it and love it.”
But he also acknowledged the roadblocks he faced when it came to production of the epic works which he created; he therefore criticised the absence of sustained sponsorship for the arts and of national investment in the type of theatre spaces which would allow their proper staging. As he pointed out in that Schwinghammer-Kogler interview, while he wrote plays with the intention of seeing them staged, he would not actively seek to have them produced “if it means sacrificing the techniques, the style and the structure that I want to use.”
A Rastafarian, Stafford Ashani made the Rastafarian cause and lifestyle the thematic focus of more than half a dozen of his plays, although he used different structures to enhance the storylines. He produced and co-directed several of those works.
As an actor, Stafford Ashani worked locally with many of the major writers and producers, including Trevor Rhone, Barry and Lloyd Reckord and Carol Dawes. But he was also introduced to international audiences via his work in film – acting in movies such as Kla$h, with Jasmine Guy and Giancarlo Esposito and Just Like America with Andor Lukats, as well as in the Lorimar-produced TV series Going to Extremes, with Erika Alexander.
A New York University-trained filmmaker, Stafford Ashani was also known for the high-quality music videos he produced through his production company, and one of his most recent productions – a video clip for singer Da’Ville romantic ballad Missing You Right Now which Stafford Ashani and Ras Asha directed – debuted at #3 on the RETV MVP Video countdown.
This total theatre artist also worked in theatre at the organizational level. He was a hardworking member of the Visual & Performing Arts Jamaica (VPAJ) Cluster of the Private Sector Development Programme (PSDP) – serving not only as a dedicated workgroup representative but as the informal chair of the (television) writers’ group which grew out of a CPTC/JTI/VPAJ screenwriting workshop and which has been engaging in the scripting of a collaborative television product.
Jamaica has lost a vibrant contributor to the theatre arts – someone who had firm opinions about the huge potential that exists for the industry if concentrated attention were paid to tapping that potential. We will miss him and JADA joins in extending condolences to his entire family – including his father, Victor, and his four children who all reside in the USA.
Dorothy Cunningham – President, JADA
