“In the theatre, you never know what’s gonna happen”
- Dr. Nicolette Bethel
Nicolette Bethel was born and raised in Nassau, Bahamas to parents Keva (the principal and then the president of the College of the Bahamas) and Clement (who was a concert pianist and a composer and a choral director) Bethel. She studied at Trinity College at the University of Toronto and at Corpus Christi College, where she got a PhD in Social Anthropology. She also lived and worked in the UK and Canada and later moved back to the Bahamas where she served as Director of Culture for the Bahamas for five years.
When Nicolette moved back to The Bahamas she got involved with Dundas Centre for the Performing Arts, which was the community theatre of the time. During this time, she met and married her husband Phillip Burrows and they moved to Canada for a few years. Upon returning in 2000 they formed Ringplay Productions, mostly with the former members of the Dundas repertory company. She later went into the government to work as Director of Culture. Years later she left the government and produced Shakespeare in Paradise.
Nicolette is a playwright, poet, fiction writer, and anthropologist who is the Chair of Social Sciences at the University of The Bahamas. She is also a theatre producer and director and is the founder and Festival Director of Shakespeare in Paradise, co-founder and Vice-President of Ringplay Productions, and Vice-Chair of the Dundas Centre for the Performing Arts in Nassau, Bahamas.
Nicolette Bethel and Philip Burrows - a married couple at the helm of A Year of Bahamian Theatre.
College of The Bahamas Professor, Dr Nicolette Bethel (front) with CN Members Pam and Patti.
A scene from the 1990 production of "Powercut." left to right, Lynn Lowe as Darlene and N. Bethel as Tanya. Photo by Peter Ramsay
Proposal Committee Member, Chair of Social Sciences and Associate Professor Dr. Nicolette Bethel.
