Tanya Batson-Savage, Freelance Writer
The musical 'Curfew' presented by the Ashe Ensemble attempts to deal with the state of rampant crime in Jamaica. This scene was shot at the launch of the production, held at the Courtleigh Auditorium, St. Lucia Avenue, New Kingston, recently. - WINSTON SILL/FREELANCE PHOTOGRAPHER
CURFEW, WRITTEN by Michael Holgate and directed by Trevor Nairne, attempts to deal with the state of rampant crime in Jamaica. As such, it does what possibly too few productions are currently doing, that is, boldly stare in the face of Jamaican society. Unfortunately, Curfew presents an overly simplistic solution to the crime situation.
Yet, the musical, presented by the Ashe Ensemble, is well intentioned. Alas on its opening night, Thursday, March 9, it had teething trouble, and then some. The production was staged at what is now dubbed the Courtleigh Auditorium, the space formerly housing the Island Cinema in the Island Mall, New Kingston.
IMPRESSIVE RHYTHMS
Curfew's strongest element is its music, which is a very good thing for a musical. Music and lyrics are also by Holgate and several of the songs are impressive rhythmically, melodically and lyrically. Additionally, the production presents the rare treat, outside of productions like the National Pantomime, of having live music for both instruments and voice and it helps that several of the voices were quite striking.
Ron Steger's set design, which veered from the insistent realism that is employed in most of our productions, was also imaginatively rendered. The stage was separated into two spaces, with a radio announcer's booth on one side and the larger portion of the stage becomes an inner-city community, of which a standpipe plays a prominent part.
A striking element of the set, however, is the use of two light posts leaning toward each other. This inward leaning seemed to represent the decay rampant in the society where even basic facilities are in a questionable state, or more symbolically, that even the physical environment becomes bowed by social pressures.
Unfortunately, the production was simultaneously too overzealous in attempting to capture the gritty street credibility needed to render an honest portrayal of life in Jamaica's inner-city street, while being unable to accurately capture that gritty rawness.
DISCONNECT
The production's zeal was represented by the choreography (by Holgate and Kelly Barrett) which generally used the vocabulary of Jamaican popular dance but often resulted in a great disconnect between music and movement, so that it was unclear what the players were moving to.
True grit also failed to come through the performances. Though one of the most intriguingly-played characters in the production, Michael Holgate's rendition of Satta, the villain lacks true menace. Erica Allen's (as Jeanie) use of language, however, was perfect, as she captured a decidedly broad accent. Othneil Nation (Trevor) unfortunately had a tendency to forget the characters' names and even called them by his own.
TOO PREACHY
Additionally, the characters experienced very little development and Trevor's zest for change was badly tempered by the fact that the production was simply too preachy so that the villain was far more charismatic than the hero. Furthermore, the earnest presentation of the musician as the curative balm, in association with the media, begs for greater insight.
Holgate needed to have further explored the psychic split which he hints at in the rabble as they shift between the desire for 'freeness' and easy money and later quake under the pressure of Satta's cruelty. Additionally, greater exploration of the character Gungo (Orlando Pinto) was also needed, so that one could adequately understand his place on the border between good and evil and why he finally makes the choice he does.
