Extended History

Scripted by Mariel Brown

Introduction

The story of how Queen’s Hall got built is nothing short of inspiring. Both the fact of its construction and its continued existence are testimony to the power of individual dreams and the tenacity to see them through to fruition.

Download the extended history here.

Note from Writer

When I was commissioned to write a history of Queen’s Hall, I was slightly skeptical about the possibility of finding anything interesting to write about. Before I began my research, the Hall was just that to me – a performance hall. It has always been a fixture in my life – as a resident of St Anns, I have driven past it more than most; as a little girl I went to many school prize-givings there; I performed there and I attended all sorts of shows. Queen’s Hall having existed for longer than I have been alive, it never really occurred to me that there was a time when Trinidad had no national concert hall; nor did I have any sense of the struggle, determination and perseverance that was required not only to get the hall built, but to keep it open. However, once I started reading the faded, book-worm-eaten documents that have been filed away by various Boards of Queen’s Hall and Concert Hall committees since the 1950s, my complacence dissolved, leaving me eager to read more into the Hall’s history.