In Town(e), comedy, curiosities and quirks meet in St George
A warts-and-all screenplay encapsulating the quirks and curiosities of St George as seen through the eyes of one of its fiercest advocates is in the works.
Kristin White, award-winning Bermudian writer, entrepreneur and social justice activist, has been working on the original comedy series Town(e) since 2017 and believes it could contribute to a “creative renaissance” in Bermuda.
She has based the main character, Kristin, on herself. The character will be played by celebrated local performer Nishanthi Bailey, and the character’s husband, Marcus, will be played by Daren Herbert, the award-winning Bermudian film and stage actor known for his role in the Netflix comedy series Kim’s Convenience among other prominent roles.
Atlanta-based production company Cupcake Rapture Studios will direct and produce the series. Bermudian company 7 South Productions will film it. The first two episodes are ready to be shot and will be screened locally in the new year.
Ms White, who owns the popular St George book and retail store Long Story Short, and created the Haunted History tours in the town, told The Royal Gazette: “It will be filmed in St George’s, so it is set against this incredible, charming background, which is the muse for the show. I want it to feel like a love letter to this beautiful, sometimes dysfunctional town that has been a major part of my life.
“St George’s in Town(e) is like New York was to Sex in the City; it couldn’t have been based anywhere else. It must feel rooted in place – in St George’s – which is very much a key character in the show.
“The entire first and second seasons are in St George’s, but I have done one City of Hamilton episode.
“I wanted to see more of Bermuda on the screen in a narrative way — it’s really lacking. The only time we see Bermuda on TV is in tourism ads. There has been some good commercial work and interview series, but we don’t really have a lot of creative TV projects happening — creative fiction, creative non-fiction and film we don’t see as much.
“That has been something we artists talk about a lot; we want to showcase Bermuda as more than a tourism destination.
“I felt that this was my chance to add my verse through this powerful play and see if I could be part of a creative renaissance in Bermuda. This feels like a unique project and I’m happy to be spearheading it.”
Kristin White’s St George’s retail store Long Story Short features Black and female authors, artisans and entrepreneurs. The business also offers cultural tours and experiences. Celebrities, influencers and athletes including Issa Rae, Yara and Keri Shahidi, and Troy Mullins have taken the tours with Ms White, who has been featured in Afar Magazine, Travel + Leisure, Essence, Condé Nast Traveler.
In 2019, Ms White began curating and hosting Bermuda trips, and has worked with travel groups and influencers to create experiences. These experiences and events are offered under her brand Untold Stories.
Before her career in tourism, Ms White was a non-profit leader focused on youth and community development, and in 2020 she cofounded the group Social Justice Bermuda, a collective advocating for radical social change.
As a blogger on kristindotcom.com, Ms White’s writing has been featured in Elle Canada, Toronto Star and travel magazines. She is the cofounder of the Brackish Pond Literary Collective, a space designed to expand on Bermuda’s literary tradition via workshops in history, literature and craft. She is also the co-editor of Bermudian literary magazine Still Vexed.
Ms White is The Bermudian Magazine’s Best of Bermuda Community Activist of the Year (2018 and 2020), Blogger of the Year (2017 and 2019) and the Town of St George Cultural Ambassador of the Year for 2019.
So far, there are three seasons with five episodes per season. Ms White said the second series would be about efforts to put St George on the map.
Town(e) takes a deep dive into the interpersonal relationships in St George — “a small town on an already small island”. Some of the Unesco World Heritage Site’s key players will likely be recognisable throughout the script.
The play’s pitch summary sets the scene: “An entrepreneur in Bermuda navigates small-town politics, clueless tourists, marriage and the vestiges of colonialism, all while growing her business, managing her temper and balancing a rum swizzle.”
Ms White added: “It is meant to be an unflinching look — it will be very in-your-face but always with a tinge of humour. There is for me this interesting and fraught relationship with tourism where we are Black people in service to White people mostly, and the racial tensions that come with that. It will look at what it is to be here as a colony; everyone is calling it a post-colonial world, but it isn’t for us.
“Being Black and working in international business is also a key part of it — the economic landscape of the island and how it impacts us in our jobs and relationships, and with our country.”
Ms White said that while it was generally difficult to secure funding for TV work and creative projects in Bermuda, she hoped that the screening of the first two episodes would attract financial support.
“The funding and resources aren’t there in Bermuda,” she said. “These episodes I will fund myself and once we have the two episodes, it is a proof of concept so we can shop around. Ultimately, the goal is to film all of the episodes.
“I would like to see Bermudians working in the arts in a full-time capacity. I was so excited when Daren read my script and told me he felt it had power and merit. That was very affirming for me.
“I’m excited about other actors who have submitted to play main characters; I’m still looking for background characters for non-speaking roles.
“This is my first foray into the film format and is rooted in my belief that Bermuda can be doing this on a full-time basis.”
• Anyone interested in auditioning for the remaining parts in the show can reach out to Cupcake Rapture Studios on +1-404-704-6664 or e-mail phaedra.dill@gmail.com
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