An unflinching theatre activist, Drenia Frederick is a graduate of Sir Arthur Lewis Community College, Division of Teacher Education, the University of the West Indies (Mona) and the Edna Manley School of the Performing Arts (Jamaica, 2002).
Recently honoured as one of her country’s outstanding young women, Drenia is a powerful director of considerable experience in stage and film and is recognized for her unique style – a combination of spectacle and symbolism.
A playwright and an actor involved in the arts in St. Lucia for over 15 years, her directing credits include several major works including Pappyshow Park(1998), Desiree(1999), Revelations (2000), Sarafina (2003), Anthem (2004) and Tinday (2006), and Esperance: Hope of an Island, commissioned in 2009 to mark the 30th Anniversary of her country’s Independence.
As a freshman at UWI, her presentation of a production at Tallawah staged at the 1999 annual Performing Arts Festival, won awards for Best Director and Best Production from the Philip Sherlock Centre for the Creative Arts.
In 2002 Drenia directed the short film By Choice By Chance produced by the Aids Action Foundation and Right Angle Imaging. Her work later took her to Boston (2004) directing the Iyanola Experience multi-media immersion project for the Port Castries Animation Centre.
Drenia Frederick was the first Artistic Director of the St. Lucia Arts Festival Company for 3 years during which time she played a major role in shaping the annual Kalalu World Music Festival as well as Word Alive a performance poetry event now into its 6th edition.