- WINSTON SILL/FREELANCE PHOTOGRAPHER
'Hot Spot', a drama written by Basil Dawkins, ran for 121 performances since it opened on December 27 last year up to closing on April 20, with eight shows per week.
Krista Henry, Staff Reporter
JAMAICAN THEATRE seems to be coming to a barrel of laughs, causing major concern for many thespians and theatregoers.
It would seem that comedy is on top, with successful plays such as Passa Passa, More Passa Passa, and Jamaica 2 Rahtid, among others. But there are those who believe the trend speaks to a downward spiral in the world of drama.
Plays which mirror Jamaican life and aim to teach, mostly written by persons such as Dennis Scott and Trevor Rhone, are much a thing of the past.
New playwrights, for a variety of reasons, have a hard time producing such plays, with most opting for the more commercially successful comedies.
Carolyn Allen, tutor/coordinator of the Philip Sherlock Centre for the Creative Arts, UWI, Mona, claims that "from the 70s and 80s onwards, theatre has become a commercial thing. People started coming more to theatre and it became necessary to find something for people to keep coming".
However, for all those who keep on coming for laughs there are those who stay away from the giggles. Well-known playwright and screen writer Trevor Rhone maintains "I hardly go to the theatre anymore cause there is very little thought behind it. There's no reason for doing it, but I suspect to make some money from it". Allen affirms that "theatre that does well commercially is either a comedy or a musical".
Rhone attributes this shift from drama to a variety of factors, including the education of today's youth. Rhone describes his education as, unlike today, not being about getting information but "absorbing social life, social history. You got a sense of where you are, where the people in society are coming from. Going to the plays helped you to see where things were at socially and politically; theatre mirrors society's life and it should apply here as well".
He lamented the fact that students are only after the grade and have no desire to experience theatrical life and claims that it is the responsibility of the tutor to lead them on the right path. According to Rhone, "the current students who are lucky enough to get an education at the university have a responsibility. They need to come out and understand, reflecting the lives of the community".
MORE DRAMA
However, playwright Basil Dawkins claims "there is a perception that there are more comedies being produced than drama, but it is not true". Dawkins asserts that dramas may not have the market pull like comedies but that does not mean they cannot draw a crowd. His production Hot Spot, a drama, ran for 121 performances since it opened on December 27 last year up to closing on April 20, with eight shows per week.
Dawkins further claims that "it is a prevailing thought these days that there is so much stress in society people prefer comedy, but essentially I would say once you have a good story, with all the resources in place, it's not going to be whether it's a drama or comedy". He contends that drama and comedy can co-exist and have merged in the form of 'dramedies'.
Rhone explains that there is great talent, potential and intelligence in Jamaica, citing a student of his who "wrote a really interesting piece for a man of only 21". Allen also confirms the young talent present in Jamaica mentioning the Independent Artist Movement (IAM) which specialises in social change theatre.
The position is not that comedy is bad or not valuable, but that a balance needs to be established. Rhone says "it's OK to write comedies, but comedies with great telling intent. I remember when I wrote Smile Orange in 1971 it really reflected the lives and hopes and pain and loss of the Jamaican society; now I suspect it's just comedy for comedy sake".
Rhone said that the society itself and its leadership, whether it be political or otherwise, is responsible for the lack of interest in the arts and social messages. "I look back on my plays that were written say 20 or 30 years ago and initially I would pat myself on the back thinking I was this amazing playwright because the plays remained so relevant 20, 30 years afterwards. But I had a little bit of awakening the other day; it's not so much that the plays remain relevant, it's the fact that the societies remain static".
"I think that nails it down in terms of our society. Have our leaders pushed this community to do their best? It's a question I want to answer; because the community is the answer. The theatre is part of the community," he said.
NO MONEY
Another reason for the decline of non-comedic theatre may be monetary. According to Ms. Allen, "there is no serious money in theatre but in the stage show kind of thing". She says that if you want to make a living from theatre it becomes a sacrifice. It is a fundamental choice, a choice not many are willing to make. She says that Trevor Rhone is one of the few playwrights to have made the transition from writing plays for the stage and having them produced in print.
Allen says "the production side is difficult", adding that "persons are bawling to Government to give the arts support". One of the effects of the lack of support and expense of theatre, according to Allen, is that a number of persons are going overseas to produce their plays.
Dawkins agrees that funding for theatre is not easy to obtain, with dancehall productions getting more money.
It would seem that the decline of drama and the commercialism of theatre is as a result of a number of factors, a major one being that the society does not value the arts or artistes enough, hence a number of persons opt to go to other countries to truly achieve success.
And if the society does not appreciate what it has, culture-based mechanisms such as the theatre will slowly slip through our fingers.
