By Chaos, Freelance WriterFOR AVID theatregoers and lovers of the works of Charles Dickens, the words 'Barbara Gloudon had a vision for Jamaican children when she did an adaptation of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens' are enough to strike fear into their hearts.
These words are taken directly from the programme of the play A Carol For Moneybags, now showing at and put on by the School of Drama at the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts, Arthur Wint Drive, St. Andrew.
The Gleaner caught the 2:30 showing of the play at the Dennis Scott Studio Theatre last Saturday, and five minutes in, the first thing that came to mind is that Miss Gloudon, when she wrote the play apparently 10 years ago, is guilty of 'Disneyisation'. That is she has taken a classic and 'dumbed' it down, perhaps in the unfortunate belief that children would not be able to understand the subtle complexities of the original.
The programme explicitly states that A Carol For Moneybags is 'in fact a kid-friendly play'. It also says that Ms. Gloudon '...has brought over different aspects of Jamaican culture and as such has given it a real Jamaican flavour'. Be that as it may, she also managed to miss out on what made Dickens' novel one of a very few truly classic works. The true horror Ebenezer Scrooge goes through is missing, the horror that makes him change his ways. There is no 'Tiny Tim' or real 'Tom Cratchit', the characters in the novel that truly makes one see the transformation Scrooge undergoes from being a crotchety old miser to an old man with a heart of gold, as it were.
However, enough about Miss Gloudon's interpretation and on to the play itself. Directed by Pierre Lemaire and choreographed by Alaine Grant, who played a prominent role or two in the original production 10 years ago, A Carol For Moneybags is, as stated, a kids-friendly play. Mr. Lemaire's direction is obviously above average, given the mostly raw talent he clearly had to work with.
A Carol For Moneybags tells the story of 'Moneybags' (Delroy James), a rich and very mean old man who does not believe in anything sappy, especially Christmas, which he describes as 'sentimental sloppiness'. He even expects his two young employees, Joe (Joel Ellis) and Mary (Dorrain Reid) to go to work on the holiday itself. On the night of Christmas Eve, when he goes to sleep he is visited by three sets of 'duppies' who teach him the error of his ways through song and dance.
A Carol For Moneybags is, taken as a whole, average. Billed as a kids-friendly play, the children who were present did have a ball. Delroy James does an 'okay' job of playing Moneybags, although he tends to move a little too sprightly for an old, miserable man and does not quite convey the sheer miserliness that should define the character. In addition, everyone but him seems to use the infamous 'Bah, humbug' phrase.
He is first visited by the 'duppy' of his former partner in usury, 'Interest' (Clayton Lynch - the names selected are obviously corny beyond belief) who tells Moneybags to 'Stop behave like yuh a sour Seville orange'. Ellis and Reid, who doubled up their roles by also playing the 'Young girl duppy' and the 'Young boy duppy' who next visit Moneybags, descend from the ceiling dressed in camouflage fatigues to the sound of the X-Files theme and engage in a song and dance routine. Finally comes the 'Voice of Tommorow' (Teisha Duncan), who also happens to be the ghost of Moneybag's mother, whose appearance precedes his transformation. Interspersed throughout are various song and dance numbers, including one truly inventive and beautiful scene involving a large red sheet in which 'duppies' truly seem to emerge out of thin air. None of the scenes seemed to evoke the terror that Moneybags should have experienced in order to undergo his change. In fact, he seemed more irritated than scared throughout.
The actors and actresses were enthusiastic throughout, and thankfully over-acting, though not totally absent, was kept to the barest minimum. The set was very basic and was used with decent effect.
The singing was not grating, and at times involved the audience's participation on standards such as Christmas A Come and Jingle Bells. One gripping gospel/blues number came from Tisha Duncan, who sang her heart out with passion. The choreography is efficient, although it does fall down in places. The backstage crew, led by stage manager Samantha Grant, deserves kudos for quick and efficient set changes.
Pierre Lemair has done a good job with what basically is a weak script and the play is worth watching if you are a child or are out for a cheap laugh or two.
A Carol For Moneybags was greatly aided by its music component, which was provided by Dr. Conroy Cooper, who evoked eerie sound effects from his keyboard and was ably assisted by Omaro Mazlyn on congo drums.
