Winston Sill/Freelance Photographer
O'Neil Simpson in his visually impressive monologue, The Thinker on Wednesday night.TWO PIECES from the third night of competition in Tallawah 2002, being held at the Philip Sherlock Centre for the Creative Arts at the University of the West Indies, stood head and shoulders above the other performances. They did so for very different reasons.
The first piece, an excerpt from Earl Lovelace's classic The Wine of Astonishment, was particularly impressive because of the great direction and acting which the piece involved.
Wednesday night's performances were dominated by entries from Mary Seacole Hall. It was one of the rare occasions that the Seacolites were not performing with Chancellor Hall in their 'Chansea' productions. It was from among these Seacole entries, which were largely unimpressive, that Shawna-Gay Turner's rendition of the excerpt emerged. Turner's performance displayed the ability to not simply act, but to embody the characters being portrayed.
Turner faced a particular difficulty in engaging the audience's attention, but to her credit, she was able to make them see the seriousness of the piece. By the time she had taken to the stage, the audience was having a rollicking good time heckling the performers. They had been particularly cruel to Anthony Patterson, who preceded Turner.
Additionally, Jamaica has a history of making revivalism into the comical. Having a woman tun har roll is almost a guaranteed trigger for laughter. Even so, Turner was able to keep the audience serious (though there were a few inevitable snickers).
Turner also found herself playing two characters, moving from being the narrator to being Bee, the preacher. Her change was quite flawless, but with clear markers so that the audience would not be confused. Although her set and costuming were simple, they were effective. The strength of her performance coupled with Lovelace's powerful words was a wondrous treat to behold.
The other of the night's piece's which was extremely impressive came from O'Neil Simpson. Simpson's piece ended the night with a clear indication that he has the ability to think well outside the box. His monologue, The Thinker, was a visual feast. The piece was based on an exploration of the thoughts of August Rodin's famous sculpture 'The Thinker'. At night, when all the patrons have left the museum, the statue comes to life, and thinks aloud. Simpson selected an amazing score to accompany this piece which must be commended for the vision to which it hints. Unfortunately, his execution of the idea was poor, especially as the audience could barely hear what he said.
The Thinker represented Simpson's second piece for the night. Earlier, he had performed 'Soar Jamaica'. This dramatic dance, also showed that he has much creative insight. However, it was neither as daring nor as successful as The Thinker. It was especially marred by the fact that in its final soar, it failed to fly. Simpson engaged in a symbolic high jump, wearing a shirt marked 'unity', to suggest that unity is the necessary ingredient for progress. Unfortunately, as he slammed into the hurdle (and sent the cruel audience into gales of laughter) the message was just the opposite.
The other pieces which came from Seacole Hall included 'Waking Woman', performed by Morning King, 'Cry for Change' by Sheri Harris, and 'Politics! War!' (We noh wah noh more a dat) performed by Angella McNeil.
EXED Community College began the night with the only play for the evening with their production Dilemma. The other performer for the night, Anthony Patterson, also presented two pieces. Tragically, and much to the audience's delight, his attempts were exercises of what to not do on the stage. In his second piece, Patterson took on the challenge of one of theatre's particularly challenging arts, miming, evidently without the necessary training. The audience, therefore, laughed themselves almost to tears as they watched him attempt to shave a head which constantly changed dimensions. Like in the first monologue, he also had a tendency to merely mumble his words, or throw them away to the back of the stage. Hopefully, he will learn from his mistakes for next year.
The winners from the competition will be selected this evening at 5:00 p.m. Tomorrow, at the same time, the 'Best of Tallawah 2002' will be held at the centre.
