Anthony 'Skeebo' Roberts is evidence that life doesn't have to end at retirement. Though Roberts is not a trained actor, his resume of performances include a range of roles--Bahamian to Shakespeare, comedy to drama, stage actor to on-camera appearances--that reflect not only a passion in the field he stumbled into late in life, but also an undeniable talent he shares with many of his trained peers. "I just always thought that was something I'd like to do--part of my make-up is that kind of creativity," he says. "This is something I'd do for nothing--I'd be on stage for nothing. I love it." His love for performing was discovered early on in primary school at Quarry Mission School. His teacher, Thelma Gibson, would arrange three plays a year for the youngsters, including Roberts, to perform through singing, recitation, and small parts. "I liked it," says Roberts. "I liked performing. I liked making people laugh and having a good time." That soon fell by the wayside in junior and senior high school, however, as no performing opportunities were presented to the students. Instead, Roberts found he had a talent for English Literature and History, and started to develop what would be a lifetime admiration for the great British actors he saw in films, as well as Sidney Poitier. "All of my years I had an admiration for that art form, whether stage or film," he remembers. "Movies where there was dialogue have always fascinated me--the fact that people can hold your interest just speaking for five minutes." Soon after leaving school in 4th Form and taking exams as a private student, that too remained simply an admiration as he started his life as an adult. He sat the exam to enter the public service which enabled him to join the Ministry of Health. Soon thereafter, he received a scholarship to study at the West Indies School of Public Health, going on to complete post graduate work and attend conferences throughout the Caribbean.Finally, from 1978-84, he became Chief Health Officer for part of the country before switching it up and studying public administration at the College of The Bahamas to land him in Resorts International. In the meantime Roberts had formed a family, watched them grow, and continued to observe the world of theatre developing in Nassau. "All during that time, the whole idea of drama was still there under the surface," he says. "I fed that desire by going to all the plays at The Dundas at that time, thinking perhaps by osmosis I'd be part of it." Up until then, he admits he felt somewhat like an outsider, unable to access a world he thought was not compatible with his own. In the early 1990s, however, he says he became comfortable enough with himself to dip his toe in the water. By 1992, Roberts had a breakthrough, allowing him to step from the audience onto the stage itself in what would be a new career as a performer in 24 plays, 4 TV appearances and one euphoric night hosting at The Apollo Theatre in Harlem, NYC, that he cites as one of the highlights of his career and life. That night in 2006, Roberts hosted an evening of song and dance by Bahamian artists that followed the evolution of music in The Bahamas. On stage with Ronny Butler at the end of the final performance, Roberts remembers the feeling of absolute rapt as the audience in The Apollo Theatre cheered. "Can you imagine that a little boy from Nassau Street can stand where all of his musical giants stood and performed?" says Roberts. "As I stood there and the curtain closed, I had an out-of-body experience. I saw myself looking at myself. I don't use the word euphoric ever--but that's what it was. It was powerful," he says. "I cried. Everyone went out to eat and I went for a walk--for eight miles. That night, I couldn't sleep." Having been involved in the theatre world for so long as both an avid viewer and equally avid participant, Roberts was able to watch as theatre came to it's own in Nassau in the late 1980s, providing over a decade of a rich theatre life under the watch of Winston Saunders--and then fall by the wayside for many years. "The idea was to put on five or six performances a year. People began to expect it and we had all kinds of audiences--even the man in the street would hail me as my stage character, recognizing me," Roberts remembers. "There was the beginning of appreciation for theatre, and that's what got people out--they wanted to be a part of it." Now, though, he's excited about what he sees--new theatre groups forming, young actors and playwrights putting on excellent and daring pieces, and the formation of a theatre festival, Shakespeare in Paradise, the third year of which just came to a close with Roberts playing a role in "Julies Caesar". Such a renaissance is important, he says, because artists are able to teach viewers about forgotten or marginalized histories--and histories of a place and culture, which many may have forgotten. As an active member of The Historical Society, Roberts believes this is the most important role he plays as an artist of them all. "I think the stage is a great vehicle to combine my interest in history and storytelling to make people more aware," says Roberts. "I think that's what artists do--look at untold stories or stories between the lines and take these stories and tell audiences how they shaped people and a country. They tell us who we are as a people because I think we're still searching for who we are as a people."

Click here to read more at The Nassau Guardian