Some of the top black artists in the United States are honouring the late Mr.

Charles Lathan for his part in helping to make the National Black Theatre Festival an international event.

The Festival, which runs at two-year intervals, is scheduled to be held in Winston Salem, North Carolina on July 31 through August 5 of this year.

Mr. Lathan and his family attended the 1991 National Black Festival which hosted such greats as Ruby Dee, Danny Glover, Denzel Washington, and Maya Angelou.

It was then that he became enamoured with the thought of creating a Bermudian show.

In fact, he was so impressed by what he saw there, that he returned home and began to develop the idea and he succeeded beyond anyone's expectations.

Mr. Lathan was instrumental in taking the Bermudian theatre company Creative Perceptions to perform at the 1993 National Black Theatre Festival.

Mr. Lathan (known as "Charlie'') and his wife Mrs. Olive Lathan, who is affectionately known as "Dimples'', introduced the play "A Night Out At Collage''.

The play, written by Bermudian Patrice Frith, went over well at the Festival, receiving rave reviews from major newspapers throughout the United States.

Creative Perceptions was scheduled to return to the Festival this year but due to Mr. Lathan's death last June, no one else has so far been as committed to the endeavour.

The Festival's technical coordinator, Mr. Arthur Reese, and producer Mr. Leon Hamlin, said they wanted to pay tribute to Mr. Lathan and acknowledge how vital he was in organising the effort and at his success in elevating the Festival into an international event.

Mr. Lathan and Mr. Hamlin met in 1990 when the North Carolina Black Repertory company came to Bermuda to perform at a fund raiser for the Bermuda Handicapped Association.

Mr. Hamlin and his wife Mrs. Silvia Hamlin became good friends with the Lathans and their friendship served to form a strong relationship between the Bermudian theatre and the National Black Theatre.

Mr. Lathan arranged for Mr. Hamlin to look at a video of A Night Out At Collage and insured that suggestions from the producer were taken.

The result was one of the best plays presented at the Festival, earning Mr.

Lathan the honour of being the first to bring a foreign company to perform at the Festival.

This year's Festival is being chaired by Billy Dee Williams and will include performances by theatre companies and scholars from Brazil, Cuba, South Africa, Nigeria, The Republic of Benin, Ghana and England.

Among the many stars scheduled to appear at the Festival are Della Reese, John Amos, Marla Gibbs, Dick Gregory, and Isobel Sanford.

"The National Black Theatre credits Mr. Lathan for his kindness and compassion and it also commends his vision for bringing together Black Theatres from around the world,'' said Mr. Reese.

Mrs. Latham told The Royal Gazette that both she and her husband were always very much into the theatre.

" We went to all the shows around the Island and when we travelled we would go and see all the great shows, as many as we could.'' "My husband loved the theatre and when Auther Reese invited us to go and see the National Black Theatre production in 1989 we never missed one after.

"Charlie was a `people' person -- very positive, always looking for something constructive to do and always interested in progress.'' she added.

"After his death the National Black Theatre asked me to continue on where he left off but I did not feel I could take on that type of responsibility.

"When we went to the 1991 production he was very excited about an idea he had to do a Bermudian show and when he saw Patrice Frith he urged her to do something for the next production in 1993.'' remembered Mrs. Lathan.

"We both had a great time the productions were all so fantastic and when the Bermudian show went on to become such a success it was really a great thing.''