Niques Francois
author, playwright, director, digital content creator
About
Niques (Veronique) Francois is a writer, a director and a teacher. She is passionate about youth work, activism and writing. Niques began writing short stories and speeches at the age of ten and plays in 2014. Her repertoire includes three Acts scripts, short plays, television scripts, poems, songs, fiction novels, non-fiction essays, website articles, musicals and dramatic plays. Throughout the years she has worked with various schools, churches and drama groups to stage productions in Trinidad and Tobago and even in Grenada. In April 2017 she staged a well-received play entitled ‘Where Sarah Gone?’ and in 2022 she is due to publish her debut novel based on that said play. Through her work she expresses the desire to portray the culture of the Caribbean to the global community. As a native of Trinidad and Tobago, she believes that the Caribbean culture is unique, entertaining, beautiful and worthy of acknowledgement.
Mission
To tell engaging stories and help others do the same.
Vision
To become one of the most influential Caribbean Creatives in my generation.
History
Niques began her career as a high school science teacher at the age of 19. She quickly discovered that she had a knack for providing information in a fun and interactive way and became many of her students’ favorite teacher, fondly referred to as ‘Franny’.
In 2014, she was invited by a teaching colleague to participate in a local Christian Drama Festival. Although she was then the Social and Cultural Leader for her church district she was reluctant at first, but that year she formed a Christian Drama Club called SCENE1 to participate in the Festival. SCENE1 went on to win various categories at subsequent drama festivals with scripts directed and written by Niques.
In 2016, Niques wrote, produced and directed her first stage play with SCENE1; this play was called ‘Cast the First Stone.’ In 2017, at the school she was then employed (Bishop’s Centenary College), she and her colleague Nyol Manswell formed a Drama Club and produced their first musical ‘Where Sarah Gone’ to renown success.
In 2018, inspired by the amazing talent of the girls they saw at Bishop’s, Niques and Nyol established BE Entertainment with the aim to provide opportunities for upcoming performing arts.
Niques left her position as Head of Department of Math, Science and I.T. at Bishops in 2021 to pursue a career as a full time artist. She is the Head Teaching Artist for Girl Be Heard Trinidad and Tobago, the Creative Director at BE Entertainment, she published her debut novel in 2022 (Where Sarah Gone?) and began creating comedic videos online that same year.
Over the years, Niques has built a name for herself as a mentor, artist, content creator and leader in the burgeoning creative industry across the Caribbean. Her mission remains the same to tell engaging stories and to help others do the same.