Nationally recognised dramatic arts director, actor and promoter James Lee Wah has died.
San Fernando-born and based, Le Wah passed away on Saturday. He was 89-years-old.
Lee-Wah was the father of three, His wife Mavis, a Jamaican-born actor, who went on to be a teacher and principal at the Naparima Girls High School, died in 2018.
James Lee Wah: Source - National Drama Association of T&T
Lee Wah was a retired Vice-Principal of Naparima College, who once led the San Fernando Drama Guild, co-founded the San Fernando Theatre Arts Workshop and who founded the San Fernando Arts Council.
He was remembered by the Southern Academy for the Performing Arts (SAPA) which noted that as a Literature and Theatre Arts devotee, his contributions to the arts in the South was nonpareil and has cemented his place in history.
Lee Wah was born 1931, educated at Naparima College and returned there in 1956 where he taught before his retirement in 1998.
He taught English Literature and inaugurated the Shakespeare Festival during the 1960s, and established the school’s Literature and Debating Society.
Lee Wah assumed the leadership of the San Fernando Drama Guild n 1956, becoming its art director in 1976.
In 1969, he founded the San Fernando Arts Council, and in 1976 co-founded the San Fernando Theatre Workshop.
He is credited with helping the establish the National Drama Festival, Secondary School’ Drama Association, and the National Drama Association of Trinidad and Tobago.
