Angela and Neville find marriage a very bumpy rideLOUIS MARRIOTT has reopened his play Playboy, which will be running at the Dennis Scott Studio Theatre at the School of Drama until September 1. The play deals with a topic which far too many Jamaicans are familiar with. It deals with a man, an original player (OP), who decides to marry and soon after decides that 'I Do', doesn't mean 'I Don't Have To'. As such, he soon begins his philandering ways, even though the honeymoon is scarcely over.
Playboy looks at the lives of newly-weds Angela and Neville and incorporates a few mild twists, as Neville is manipulated by his girlfriend and Cynthia's friend takes a more active role in her friend's marriage.
The cast is essentially the best thing about the production. Angela is played by Marilyn Brown, who is making her stage debut in this production. The role of Neville is shared by Paul Skeen and Dayne McDonald. On the night The Gleaner saw the production, Dayne McDonald played the role. Erica Brown plays Cynthia while Nadia Khan, who made her debut in Dirty Diana, alternates with Karen Harriott for the role of Claudette.
Louis Marriott also plays two small roles.
The cast is a strong one and each of the characters seemed to have had a good grasp on their characters. This was especially true for Ms. Khan, who exuded great energy and seemed to hold all the attention as soon as she hit the stage. Khan's character is loud, manipulative and sometimes witty and she played it to the hilt, drawing in the audience despite her lack of morals. She is a woman who knows what she wants and is quite willing to use her sexual prowess and Neville's weaknesses to get what she wants.
McDonald also did a good job and was able to deliver his most interesting line, "Cho!", very well, getting the audience to laugh with each repetition, despite the number of times it was used. However, his character was only mildly interesting.
Angela also suffered from the same fate. While Marilyn Brown's performance was strong, the character seemed to be the least developed. It isn't clear how she moves from a hands-off position to simply blurting out sensitive marital information without even thinking of her friend's feelings.
Cynthia suffers from the reverse. While the character was given sufficient depth, Erica Brown did not handle the role well. Her character tended to blend into the wallpaper, as she played the role of a woman who was a doormat trying to pretend it had a backbone.
The set displayed an interesting use of space, which helped to enhance the play's meaning. Rather than creating different scenes, all three scenes in the play were always on stage, with lighting used to differentiate between the active and inactive ones. This allowed for quick scene changes, as well as an ease of dialogue where the characters needed to be speaking from different settings. This helped the dramatic irony in the piece, as the difference between Neville's actions and his lies could clearly be seen, while the innocence and patience of his wife were also clearly established.
The play's real shortcoming was in the script and, to some degree, the direction. Playboy seemed to be headed toward being a satire, but ran out of gas on the way. It manages to be funny, but often misses the cutting wit that is necessary for satire.
Additionally, there was at least one attempt at broad comedy, which never really quite made it. Although it was a single scene, it was a sufficiently significant one to make it worthy of note. In fact, it was one which would have truly redeemed Angela's character, which evidently would have benefited from more direction.
Additionally, the play had one scene too many or was one too short.
To cap it off, the truly cathartic scene, where Cynthia really stands up for herself, was inadequate. There was just enough to get the audience going, but not enough to bring the kind of elation that it should have evinced.
As a result, Playboy presents an interesting diversion from too much farce, but it fails to live up to its true potential.
