Tanya Batson-Savage, Freelance Writer
LEFT: Barbara McCalla and Noelle Kerr in another scene from the play 'The Ties that Blind' by Jarmilla Jackson.
RIGHT: Barbara McCalla and Christopher McFarlane perform in the play 'The Ties that Blind' by Jarmilla Jackson at the Philip Sherlock Centre for the Creative Arts, University of the West Indies, Mona campus on Sunday, October 30. - PHOTOS BY RICARDO MAKYN/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
ON SUNDAY morning, three one-act plays were birthed at the Philip Sherlock Centre for the Creative Arts, University of the West Indies, Mona campus. Two spoke of love; the first attempted to cross the political, and the latter, the class divide. The third departed from tales of star-crossed lovers to give a story of fatherhood and responsibility.
The occasion was the November instalment of the centre's monthly Sunday morning readings dubbed 'New Writers, First Plays'. The featured works were taken from the Department of Literatures playwriting course which took place last summer.
Trevor Rhone, who also acted as the morning's host, had seen the new works from gestation to maturity, having been the course's tutor. The morning saw readings of The Ties That Blind by Jarmilla Jackson, Consequences by Camille Pennycooke and The Missing Link by André Duhaney.
SPEAKING VOLUMES
Of the three, André Duhaney's displayed a superior sense of cohesion with well crafted characters. Despite the playwright's commendable use of dramatic irony, the play lagged in the middle and the question of the morning was whether this could have been fixed by tightening the script or making the direction more active. Ably directed by Carolyn Allen, The Missing Link was buoyed by gripping performances by Alwyn Scott, Andrew Clarke and Petra-Kene Williams.
The production spoke volumes about the young playwright's potential and the work certainly seemed to have grabbed the imaginations of those present. Pennycooke's Consequences, directed by Carol Lawes, also sparked an interesting bout of conversation when it ended.
The story took place in what was clearly an affluent high school and played into the class politics, the bubbles and brews under the surface and also spilled over into the rest of the world. Its protagonist, Debbie, found herself under the bared claws of a group of affluent students who insist on showing her, her correct place.
The antagonists were a comic treat being of the feather-brained variety who evoke visions of executions. In general, the piece was reminiscent of the flick She's All That. Although interesting, its end was somewhat problematic and the writing tended to be a little too obviously preachy not leaving anything for the joy of inference.
The morning had begun with Jackson's The Ties that Blind directed by Christine Bell. The story provided a tale of how political wrangling can wreak havoc on personal lives. It was particularly interesting that Jackson decided to make the tale of politics and the way that green and orange clash when spurred on by mindless prejudice (as though there is another kind) into a personal tale.
This allowed it to show how destructive garrison politics can be, but retained the emotive quality of the tale. The character Dorothy, played by Barbara McCalla, was particularly intriguing, presenting a ghastly vision of how far people will go in the name of hatred.
In his introductory words, Rhone said, "Much to my distress, I discovered that most of the students were doing the course for the grade." He noted that the greatest challenge had been to convince the students to "give value to their experiences" and "access their imaginations". He noted that at the end the fruits of their combined labour were enough to "satisfy (his) soul". By the end of the morning, it was clear why.
