Alwin Anthony Bully (23 November 1948 – 10 March 2023) was a Dominican cultural administrator, playwright, actor and artist, who designed the national flag of Dominica.
"[10] He additionally drew inspiration from his parents' interest in Dominica's historical traditions, as well as from the likes of his folklorist cousin Mabel "Cissie" Caudeiron and poet Ralph Casimir.
[9] In 1967, Bully went to Barbados to study for a BA Honours degree, majoring in English and French, at the University of the West Indies (UWI) Cave Hill campus,[11][12] where he established a drama society.
[20] He composed more than 50 songs, used in the many plays he directed in a style that he referred to as calypso theatre, with his theatrical work earning him a long list of awards.
[28] Honor Ford-Smith, Professor Emerita at York University, writes: "[H]e transformed Caribbean theatre from colonial amateur theatrics to a place where the complexities of imagined community and nation can be envisioned and enacted.
... His plays combined popular realism, topicality, comedy, romance, politics and music as tactics for opening access to the stage and creating work that would appeal to everyone.
"[29] Paying tribute to Bully, alongside Jah Shaka, who died in April 2023, Global Voices stated: "Both were enormously influential in their respective spheres, breaking new ground.
Both were closely connected to their roots, and both — Dominican playwright Alwin Bully and Jamaican dub pioneer Jah Shaka — who passed away recently, were quintessentially Caribbean.
...incorporat[ing] aspects of Dominica's natural features, and the spirit character and values of our people"; the Prime Minister also lauded Bully for "the many national organisations he spearheaded, including the National Cultural Council, the Dominica Artists' Guild, the Writers' Guild, the Carnival Organising Committee and the Komité Pou Etid Kwéyòl" as well as for "the mentorship he provided to young playwrights, actors, directors, writers, costume designers and other creatives, who now proudly speak of the influence he had on their lives and work.